O Brother, Where Art Thou? Review

Messages: This film reminds viewers that nostalgia cannot be used to conceal the truth. What appears to be a comic, light-hearted look at the U.S. South almost a century ago in fact uses satire and irony to reveal the deep-seated racism, corruption, and amorality rampant at that time and in that place.

Role models: No one is safe from the Coen brothers’ jaded perspective in this movie. People in politics, commerce, the arts, law enforcement, and religion are all painted with broad strokes as unscrupulous, conscienceless, and illiterate. Even the heroes of the story have a very thin moral code.

Violence: All action is exaggerated and cartoonish. Characters fall out of a train; get trapped in a burning barn, crash through a wall of fire, engage in fist fights, and are involved in numerous vehicle accidents. The heroes are fired at with an automatic rifle, whacked in the head with a tree branch, whipped, threatened with hanging, and forced to rob a bank. The Ku Klux Klan captures an African-American musician and drags him toward a noose. A villain squashes a toad in his bare hand.

Sex: In one scene, mythical sirens dressed in very little clothing beckon the heroes and begin a seduction which concludes off-camera.

Language: Frequent swearing and harsh language throughout. Multiple uses of: "damn," "Goddamnit," "son-of-a-bitch" (also pronounced "sumbitch"), "hell," "whore," "ass," "fornicate," "Jesus." Ethnic slurs are heard often: "colored," "nigra," "darkies," "Jews," "crackers," etc.

Consumerism: Not an issue

Drinking, drugs and smoking: One character chews a cigar. A flask that may contain alcohol is passed.