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Film Analysis: The Great Depression

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The Great Depression is hardly an era 21st century Americans would find comical, but the Coen Brothers use humor appropriately to create a culturally acceptable backdrop for retelling recent history amidst its difficult and often repugnant circumstances. They adhered to principles of artistic integrity, and tell the story using a genre that made it possible for most viewers to gain some insight and perspective into the culture and religion (Tillich:48; Miles:x). One reason the film works it because they intertwine the culture and religion of the Deep South during the depression era with aspects of Homer’s epic, the Odyssey. The dominant religion practiced in the Bible-Belt was Christian fundamentalism, and there were a good many Pentecostal …show more content…

For Filene, the film lacks legitimacy. In his opinion, it is a “fad-film” that endangers folk culture by “diluting Southern distinctiveness.” Meanwhile, a critique by A. O. Scott is much more complimentary of the film’s careful detail in matters relating to community and culture as well as class and race. Scott values the creativity in main characters’ journey through Mississippi during the Depression. Although I think his critique missed the depth of the film, Scott recognizes that it invites audiences to experience “social transformation, from superstition and local concerns” and to imagine the excitement of new technology. As far as technology goes, Scott is referring to radio, recording music, and the final scene where the valley is flooded in order to generate more power for electricity. Although the film is set in the 1930’s, Scott points out how that it deals with cultural issues present in current day such as politics, science and technology, and progress and communication in a world “increasingly dominated by neo-liberal values." It also appears that Scott is suggesting science will be given more weight in the South

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