In my recent post about A Serious Man, I said "Actually, the Coen Brothers seem the sort who care about their viewers’ opinions about as little as I cared about the plight of Larry Gopnik..."
This is not true. I did care about Larry Gopnik, which I realized after talking to my mom. I think sometimes when people have such inconceivable bad luck, I get frustrated and take it out on them, because it is easier to feel anger and fed-uppedness than it is to feel sadness and sympathy. I felt this same sort of frustration during the first part of Jane Eyre, which is why it took me until the third read to actually enjoy the book. It's easy to start blaming the recipient of the misfortune for the misfortune. I think this is what I did with poor Larry ("Just STAND UP FOR YOURSELF and PUNCH SOMEONE ALREADY!"), which is why I left feeling cold hearted.
The larger point of this post is that I don't ever want the aim of criticism to supercede my natural human reaction the things. I do not want to fall into the trap of snark for snark's sake. Obviously, I hope to analyze movies fairly, objectively, and level-headedly, but I hope to always leave room for compassion and empathy, because what are movies if they cease to make us feel anything?
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Rachel,
ReplyDeleteYes, I did feel sorry for Larry Gopnik, because I thought at heart, he was a good guy just trying to live a decent life, but everything (and everyone) seemed to be against him. I've read in reviews of the movie, that he was supposed to be a modern day Job. But even Job, as bad as things were for him, didn't completely lose his hope, and things improved for him by the end of the story. But poor Larry, his life was a train wreck with a tornado about to hit! (literally!) And I HATED how the movie ended!!! Sarah and I were like (WHAT?!!!) The message of the movie seemed to be that life is absurd, and while I agree that it can seem that way at times, I don't really believe that to be ultimately true. If there is no hope, then we're all screwed! But...there is hope, even for Larry. :)
Love, Mom