This is the moment in the film that summed up some of the themes
and ideas we have encountered throughout the works we’ve covered in class. As
we’ve seen in the novels, the stereotypical representation of the old South as
backwards and flooded with zeal is alive and well throughout the film. (We get somewhat the same notion of backwardness that we see in the Bundren family
in Faulkner’s “As I lay Dying”).
The technological advancement the South finally goes through, marks an important shift in the film’s plot. Whether it have been an act of God or not, the shift into an age of modernization is the very thing that saves Everett, Pete, Delmar, and Tommy. On a side note, I find it a bit ironic that Everett gets on his knees and prays for God’s mercy and just moments after he is finally “saved” (perhaps baptized, depending on how you look at it), he goes on to say “Out with the spiritual mumbo-jumbo and the backward ways.”
The film plays with religion similar to ways Flannery O’Conner’s “The Displaced Person” does. The Coen Brothers paint us images of religion being misused and abused (the Bible salesman taking advantage of Everett and Delmar) contrasted with positive images of the way things should be (the surreal baptism ceremony). As Mark wrote, this is ultimately a clash between good and evil in which good triumphs, but evil still prevails.
I really enjoyed the film. It had the perfect mix of comedy and really neat allusions. I’ll never forget the part where they ask Tommy why he would sell his soul to the devil and he simply responds with “Well I wasn’t usin’ it.”
Q: Everett always seems to have an explanation for everything.
He claims the manner in which they were saved (at the end) has a “scientific explanation.”
Are you entirely on board with this? Does the film give you enough evidence or
reason to believe that this was an act of God and not mere coincidence?
No comments:
Post a Comment