Secular
Although O Brother, Where Art Thou? contains several supernatural events, being based on the Odyssey, Everett stubbornly refuses to believe in such things. He frequently asserts that anything that happens has a rational explanation, often to our comedic relief. This is in contrast to the Odyssey, in which the main hero (and everyone else) believes the gods to be real, despite both stories having similar supernatural events.
When Everett and the others first meet the blind handcar driver, they are told that they will find fortune and experience many extraordinary things (including a cow on a roof, heh). Everett, of course, seeks a rational explanation, insisting that the blind man buried the treasure himself. Similarly, when the three men are incapacitated by the "sirens", Everett doesn't think the toad is Pete, even though he has no alternative explanation as to where Pete is.
The most notable example of Everett's secularism, however, is in the final few scenes of the movie, when the three men are saved from the police by a flood. Everett goes on and on about how the flooding was always going to happen, and that the movement to hydroelectric power would spell the end of religion and other "backward ways". This is a call-back to their conversation with the blind handcar driver, who said that they had a limited amount of time to find their treasure before it would be buried at the bottom of a lake.
In all of the above events, Everett's explanations are at least somewhat feasible. None of these seemingly supernatural happenings can offer a waterproof argument that there are gods and supernatural forces in the story.
However, I did notice one thing that cements the story as one that's impossible in reality. In both the movie theater scene and Tommy's rescue from the KKK, the main characters whisper to converse with each other. In the theater, as Everett and Delmar converse with Pete ("We thought you was a toad!"), none of Pete's fellow convicts seem to notice at all, despite sitting next to him. Similarly, when the trio get Tommy's attention, the Klansmen holding him by the arms continue to walk forwards, not even turning their heads. How is this possible? Is some god using their power to deafen the people around them? In any case, such events are impossible in reality, and show that O Brother, Where Art Thou? indeed takes place in a world separate from our own.
When Everett and the others first meet the blind handcar driver, they are told that they will find fortune and experience many extraordinary things (including a cow on a roof, heh). Everett, of course, seeks a rational explanation, insisting that the blind man buried the treasure himself. Similarly, when the three men are incapacitated by the "sirens", Everett doesn't think the toad is Pete, even though he has no alternative explanation as to where Pete is.
The most notable example of Everett's secularism, however, is in the final few scenes of the movie, when the three men are saved from the police by a flood. Everett goes on and on about how the flooding was always going to happen, and that the movement to hydroelectric power would spell the end of religion and other "backward ways". This is a call-back to their conversation with the blind handcar driver, who said that they had a limited amount of time to find their treasure before it would be buried at the bottom of a lake.
In all of the above events, Everett's explanations are at least somewhat feasible. None of these seemingly supernatural happenings can offer a waterproof argument that there are gods and supernatural forces in the story.
However, I did notice one thing that cements the story as one that's impossible in reality. In both the movie theater scene and Tommy's rescue from the KKK, the main characters whisper to converse with each other. In the theater, as Everett and Delmar converse with Pete ("We thought you was a toad!"), none of Pete's fellow convicts seem to notice at all, despite sitting next to him. Similarly, when the trio get Tommy's attention, the Klansmen holding him by the arms continue to walk forwards, not even turning their heads. How is this possible? Is some god using their power to deafen the people around them? In any case, such events are impossible in reality, and show that O Brother, Where Art Thou? indeed takes place in a world separate from our own.
Of course, another explanation is that the Coen brothers weren't too worried about having an airtight plot.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how setting the story in a less overtly religious world changed things. In Homer's world, where gods are explicitly both real and malevolent, Odysseus shows his wisdom by always listening to and respecting them. But in our world, that same wisdom is shown though Everett's determination to believe in the rational explanation.
I never thought about the incontinuity of the movie. Maybe I was caught up in the absurdity. But you make a good point. SO much of the story is based off of Everette's rationalization of the events and yet he takes part of the oddities. I figured that O Brother Where Art Thou? would be based off real life, but as you said, it's a world separate from our own.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I think the inconsistencies of the movie are mainly for comedic effect, and especially Everett's secularism. It's pretty funny how Everett brushes off pretty much every supernatural event in the movie with rationalization. It's even more humorous when you consider that his movie was released in the 21st century, probably to a secular audience, so that while we agree with Everett on his worldview, at the same time he goes to ludicrous lengths to assert himself.
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