I recently had the realization that the Coen Brothers have very likely been quietly making films that depict the switching of gender roles and the depiction of the contemporary male as a mostly sad and sidelined figure in todays world.
Most people know their famous comical film The Big Lebowski. The Dude is a single character. However, despite all his efforts to live a quiet life, he is thrust into the wonderful world of women simply because he has the same last name as another man. His rug is stolen. His home is p~~~ed on and trashed. And his efforts to find justice result in him encountering a trophy wife, an artsy woman (Maude, whose name references a TV show) who tries to shock him with the word vagina and then uses him for his seed, and as a pawn to swindle money from her wealthy father.
As soon as I thought that perhaps the Coen Brothers might be cleverly doing this with their films I ran some of them back in my mind. I don’t know every single film by them well, but I know some.
Raising Arizona has a strong female character in a traditionally male role that commands her husband to steal another family’s baby so she can have one because she is barren. I’ll leave you to ponder that.
Barton Fink moves to Hollywood after some brief success in depicting the common man. He is offered a thousand dollars a week to write a wrestling picture but he becomes unable to write. In his room is a picture of a beautiful woman on the wall. He eventually meets another famous writer, William Preston Mayhew. He then meets Mayhew’s mistress secretary Audrey who describes Mayhew’s wife as “disturbed.” Since Mayhew is a drunk and cannot help Barton with writing, Audrey gives Barton some tips. Barton eventually learns she is Mayhew’s ghostwriter. Barton falls into a similar situation with her. He sleeps with Audrey and wakes to find she has been murdered while he was asleep. He becomes “trapped” in LA as a result of not being able to write what the studio wanted. The film ends with him surreally in the picture depicted on his bedroom wall sitting next to the beautiful woman on the beach.
In Fargo Jerry Lundegaard—a sad male character—needs money to repay a loan he embezzled. Despite his wife’s family being wealthy, he decides to hire someone to kidnap his wife to get the ransom money from his father in law. This kidnapping mirrors The Big Lebowski where a character needs money but assumes their loved ones will not give it to them so they scheme a fake kidnapping to get the money. The kidnapping goes wrong and all hell breaks loose. Police officer, Marge Gunderson (another female in a traditionally male role who is also 7 months pregnant) heads the investigation to the murders. Her husband is a sad fat artist painting stamps. Along the way we meet another sad man, Mike Yanagita, an old friend of Marge from high school. He makes advances towards Marge with a fake story but is rejected. He then cries because he is so lonely. The only strong male characters in this film are the mechanics and murders, those sidelined by society, or men with money. In the end Marge solves everything and captures the remaining killer. Jerry Lundegaard is captured screaming and crying while trying to escape from a hotel window.
No Country for Old Men revolves mostly around men, strong male characters, and incredible violence between men revolving entirely around money. Moss is pursued by a terminator like character, Anton Chigurh, who is looking for the money Moss took from a drug buy gone wrong. Moss tells his wife, Carla Jean, to hide elsewhere to keep her safe. In the end Moss is killed when his mother in law reveals his location by accident. Carla Jean is the only one who stands up to Anton Chigurh and refuses to call a coin toss for her death or salvation. Chigurh likely kills her but we do not see this happen on screen. The film ends with the sheriff telling his wife about a dream he had about losing money his (dead) father had given him, and his father making a fire in the snow and waiting for him to arrive.
In A Serious Man the main character, Larry Gopnik, is informed by his wife, Judith, that she wants a Jewish divorce from him so she can marry another man, Sy Ableman. Eventually Sy Ableman is killed in a car crash and Judith insists that Larry pay for Sy’s funeral. Nothing goes well for Larry and the film ends as a tornado is approaching while he tries to get into a locked school building.
Inside Llewyn Davis is a slightly surreal film that depicts Llewyn Davis struggling for success as a musician. His musical partner, Mike Timlin, killed himself before the events in the film. Llewyn spends a large portion of the film chasing a cat, Ulysses, that was lost when he left a friends apartment. He eventually learns from a very angry X girlfriend, Jean, that she is pregnant and Llewyn might be the father. Jean then asks Llewyn to pay for the abortion. Llewyn eventually goes to pay the doctor for her abortion and learns that the money from the last abortion for another X of his he paid for was never used, and she had the baby without telling him. The film operates as a loop with the events seeming to replay as the film ends.
There are many more details in these films that point to the Coen Brothers depicting the current state between the sexes. These are just a few of their films too, and not a complete list or full in depth analysis.
OldBill 3 years, 3 months ago.
