For the 2011 film:
- Aluminum Christmas Trees: Yes, Shakespeare trutherism really does exist, and dates as far back as the turn of the 20th century. Many of the conspiracy theories presented here are ones held by real people, who refer to themselves as "Anti-Stratfordians." And yes, a lot of Oxfordians (Anti-Stratfordians who believe Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, wrote Shakespeare's plays) believe the incest thing really happened.
- Applicability: Kyle Kallgren thinks
that Emmerich's unironic Anti-Stratfordian stance may have reflected Emmerich's wealthy upbringing much like Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford, and not knowing the genuine hardship experienced by many artists. He cited montages of Globe Theatre productions in the movie being loud and explosive like his past movies and compared in-universe audiences' reaction to the audiences who enjoyed his blockbusters. Considering Roland Emmerich has stated that this is his favorite of his works, you can tell there is a personal layer to this. - Audience-Alienating Premise: A movie about unironically portraying the single most beloved author in the English language as a murderous buffoonish fraud and one of the most admired English monarchs as having so many bastard children she lost track of them, unknowingly sleeping with her own son and then having another incestuous child. And at an even slightly deeper level of analysis, a movie that requires detailed historical knowledge of the period to understand what’s going on, while also being sloppily researched and screwing up the order of events so that even history buffs will hate it.
- Genius Bonus: The film can be pretty hard to understand without some prior knowledge of Shakespeare and his time period, due to the Anachronic Order of the plot. Granted, the more you know about Shakespeare and Elizabethean England, the more holes you'll see in the film, though that could be considered a genius bonus of a different type, depending on preference.Kyle Kallgren: It's a paradox. You have to know the period to understand what's going on, and if you understand what's going on, you will hate what's going on.
- Magnum Opus Dissonance: This is Roland Emmerich's favorite of his own movies, in spite of being a major Creator's Oddball for a Disaster Movie expert.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: De Vere is something of a classist asshole and complete snob who is not the most likable of heroes, to say the least.
