The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers (The Philosophy of Popular Culture)

In 2008 No Country for Old Men won the Academy Award for Best Picture, adding to the reputation of filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who were already known for pushing the boundaries of genre. They had already made films that redefined the gangster movie, the screwball comedy, the fable, and the film noir, among others. No Country is just one of many Coen brothers films to center on the struggles of complex characters to understand themselves and their places in the strange worlds they inhabit. To borrow a phrase from Barton Fink, all Coen films explore "the life of the mind" and show that the human condition can often be simultaneously comic and tragic, profound and absurd. In The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers, editor Mark T. Conard and other noted scholars explore the challenging moral and philosophical terrain of the Coen repertoire. Several authors connect the Coens' most widely known plots and characters to the shadowy, violent, and morally ambiguous world of classic film noir and its modern counterpart, neo-noir. As these essays reveal, Coen films often share noir's essential philosophical assumptions: power corrupts, evil is real, and human control of fate is an illusion. In Fargo, not even Minnesota's blankets of snow can hide Jerry Lundegaard's crimes or brighten his long, dark night of the soul. Coen films that stylistically depart from film noir still bear the influence of the genre's prevailing philosophical systems. The tale of love, marriage, betrayal, and divorce in Intolerable Cruelty transcends the plight of the characters to illuminate competing theories of justice. Even in lighter fare, such as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, the comedy emerges from characters' journeys to the brink of an amoral abyss. However, the Coens often knowingly and gleefully subvert conventions and occasionally offer symbolic rebirths and other hopeful outcomes. At the end of The Big Lebowski, the Dude abides, his laziness has become a virtue, and the human comedy is perpetuating itself with the promised arrival of a newborn Lebowski. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers sheds new light on these cinematic visionaries and their films' stirring philosophical insights. From Blood Simple to No Country for Old Men, the Coens' films feature characters who hunger for meaning in shared human experiencethey are looking for answers. A select few of their protagonists find affirmation and redemption, but for many others, the quest for answers leads, at best, only to more questions. “Written for both fans of the Coen brothers and the philosophically curious, without the technical language . . . educational and entertaining.” — Library Journal Joel and Ethan Coen have made films that redefined the gangster movie, the screwball comedy, the fable, and the film noir, but no matter what genre they’re playing with, they consistently focus on the struggles of complex characters to understand themselves and their places in the strange worlds they inhabit. To borrow a phrase from Barton Fink , all Coen films explore “the life of the mind” and show that the human condition can often be simultaneously comic and tragic, profound and absurd. The essays in this book explore the challenging moral and philosophical terrain of the Coen repertoire. Several address how Coen films often share film noir’s essential philosophical assumptions: power corrupts, evil is real, and human control of fate is an illusion. In Fargo , not even Minnesota’s blankets of snow can hide Jerry Lundegaard’s crimes or brighten his long, dark night of the soul. The tale of love, marriage, betrayal, and divorce in Intolerable Cruelty transcends the plight of the characters to illuminate competing theories of justice. Even in lighter fare, such as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski , the comedy emerges from characters’ journeys to the brink of an amoral abyss. However, the Coens often knowingly and gleefully subvert conventions and occasionally offer symbolic rebirths and other hopeful outcomes. At the end of The Big Lebowski , for example, the Dude abides, his laziness has become a virtue, and the human comedy is perpetuating itself with the promised arrival of a newborn Lebowski. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers sheds new light on the work of these cinematic visionaries. From Blood Simple to No Country for Old Men , the Coens’ characters look for answers—though in some cases, their quest for answers leads, at best, only to more questions. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1 – The Coen Brand of Comedy and Tragedy Chapter 1. Raising Arizona as an American Comedy Chapter 2. The Human Comedy Perpetuates Itself: Nihilism and Comedy in Coen Neo-Noir Chapter 3. Philosophies of Comedy in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Chapter 4. No Country for Old Men: The Coens' Tragic Western Chapter 5. Deceit, Desire, and Dark Comedy: Postmodern Dead Ends in Blood Simple Part 2 – Ethics: Shame, Justice, and Virtue Chapter 6. "And It's Such a Beautiful Day!": Shame and Fargo Chapter 7. Justice, Power, and Love: The Political Philosophy of Intolerable Cruelty Chapter 8. Ethics, Heart, and Violence in Miller's Crossing Chapter 9. "Takin' 'er Easy for All Us Sinners": Laziness as a Virtue in The Big Lebowski Chapter 10. No Country for Old Men as Moral Philosophy Part 3 – Postmodernity, Interpretation, and the Construction of History Chapter 11. Heidegger and the Problem of Interpretation in Barton Fink Chapter 12. The Past Is Now: History and The Hudsucker Proxy Chapter 13. "A Homespun Murder Story": Film Noir and the Problem of Modernity in Fargo Part 4 – Existentialism, Alienation, and Despair Chapter 14. "What Kind of Man Are You?": The Coen Brothers and Existentialist Role Playing Chapter 15. Being the Barber: Kierkegaardian Despair in The Man Who Wasn't There Chapter 16. Thinking beyond the Failed Community: Blood Simple and The Man Who Wasn't There Contributors Index Back Cover "Before collaborating on the writing and directing of over 13 films, Joel Coen studied film at New York University, while Ethan Coen studied philosophy at Princeton University. In this text, 14 scholars in both philosophy and film and media studies investigate the philosophical themes and underpinnings of their films. They explore such topics as the competing theories of justice that exist in Intolerable Cruelty , laziness as a virtue in The Big Lebowski , Ed Crane's various types of Kierkegaardian despair in The Man Who Wasn't There ; Blood Simple 's oscillation between classic noir and postmodern conventions, and the ethical landscape in No Country for Old Men. Edited by series editor Conard (philosophy, Marymount Manhattan Coll.), this volume is written for both fans of the Coen brothers and the philosophically curious, without the technical language. Footnotes are included at the end of each essay for deeper exploration." --Library Journal, 12/15/2008 Many critics agree that Joel and Ethan Coen are one of the most visionary and idiosyncratic filmmaking teams of the last three decades. Combining thoughtful eccentricity, wry humor, irony, and often brutal violence, the Coen brothers have crafted a style of filmmaking that pays tribute to classic American movie genres yet maintains a distinctly postmodern feel. Since arriving on the film scene, the Coens have amassed an impressive body of work that has garnered them critical acclaim and a devoted cult following. From Raising Arizona and Fargo to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country for Ol Many critics agree that Joel and Ethan Coen are one of the most visionary and idiosyncratic filmmaking teams of the last three decades. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers investigates philosophical themes in the works of these master filmmakers and also uses their movies as vehicles to explore fundamental concepts of philosophy.