Romeo & Juliet

People have done several different things that reflect the themes of Romeo & Juliet. They have made comics that show what the play would be like today. Some have used references to the couple in songs. This link with the balcony scene, where Romeo and Juliet are smoking cigarettes and the caption is "Romeo & Juliet The Cigarette Break" refers to the present. Since smoking cigarettes has gotten more popular over the years, there's a good chance Romeo and Juliet of today could have smoked cigarettes. The rap artist Silk E Fyne came out with a song called "It's like Romeo and Juliet," http://www.metrolyrics.com/its-like-romeo-and-juliet-lyrics-silk-e-fyne.html which is a song based on merely sex. This "version" considers the idea that Romeo & Juliet are one of the ultimate symbols of love, and uses that to compare them to hot sex. This doesn't add to my understanding of the play at all, and I think it is unfortunate that this song is associated with the play. Through searching "Romeo and Juliet" on youtube, I found that the artist Dire Straits used Romeo and Juliet for one of their song titles, http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4TDrE67mI and it was covered by The Killers. The song is all about the play and how they share love for each other. The music video makes references to the play, which includes the balcony scene and a couple all over each other. Romeo and Juliet are seen as more sexual in this version compared to the play. There is also a commercial for H & M clothing that is 5 minutes long, and there are a ton of connections with the play, it is pretty much the play, except very contemporary. It takes place in the city, and when Romeo is lying dead in the middle of the road, cops are present, and Juliet is having flashbacks to their past sexual encounters with each other. It is contemporized through the sex appeal, environment, and technology. At the end, Juliet picks up Romeo's cell phone and points it towards the cops, and she is shot. This interpretation does not really add to my understanding of the play at all.