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“It’s Problem of Perception.” The Coen Brothers’ Constructivist Use of Genre

Year 2010, Issue: 32, 8 - 18, 01.10.2010

Abstract

In what seems like something of a non sequitur at the time, the Coens leave the central narrative of O Brother Where Art Thou? 2000 , to focus on a political conversation between Pappy O’Daniels Charles Durning and his staff. The sitting governor wonders what he has to do to gain a “constituency.” His son, Junior Del Pentecost , suggests they try to copy the campaign of their opponent, Homer Stokes Wayne Duvall , and get “a little fella even smaller than Stokes’.” Pappy explodes. He cannot let his campaign seem like “a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies.” Pappy explains that his primary problem is that people already think, “this Stokes got fresh ideas.” Imitation of Stokes would only confirm this assumption. His two advisors agree: “It’s a problem of,” one of the two begins and then searches for the word that the other is ready to offer, “perception.” The conversation carries with it an unexpected significance not only for this one film where misperceptions come with perilous consequences, but for those who try to work to make sense of such a film in the late twentieth century. The common perception of contemporary American filmmakers, the Coens included, is that they are “a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies.” They can be little more set as they are within postmodernism.

References

  • Altman, Rick, Film/Genre, London: British Film Institute, 1999. Print.
  • ---. “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre.” Cinema Journal 23.2 (1984): 6-18. Print.
  • Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 1994. Print.
  • Blood Simple. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. John Getz, Dan Hedaya. River Road Productions/ Foxton Entertainment, 1984. Film.
  • Booker, M. Keith. Postmodern Hollywood: What’s New in Film and Why it Makes us Feel so Strange. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. Print.
  • Boozer, Jack. Authorship in Film Adaptation. Austin: U. of Texas Press, 2008. Print.
  • Coughlin, James. “Joel and Ethan Coen,” Senses of Cinema 26 (2003). Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Ebert, Roger. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” RogerEbert.com, 29 Dec. 2000. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Fargo. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi. Polygram Filmed Entertainment/ Working Title Films, 1996. Film.
  • Fer, Briony. “The Language of Construction.” Realism, Rationalism, and Surrealism: Art between the Wars. Eds. Fer, David Batchelor, and Paul Wood. 87-169. New Haven: Yale UP, 1993. Print.
  • Genette, Gérard. Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. Trans. Chana Newman and Caude Doubinsky. Lincoln: U. of Nebraska Press, 1997. Print.
  • Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. W. H. D. Rouse. New York: Penguin Books, 1937. Print.
  • Intolerable Cruelty. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, Catherine Zeta Jones, Billy Bob Thornton. Universal/ Imagine Entertainment, 2003. Film.
  • Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism: or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1991. Print.
  • The Ladykillers. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans, Irma P. Hall. Touchstone Pictures, 2004. Film.
  • The Man Who Wasn’t There. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Badalucco. Good Machine, 2001. Film.
  • Metz, Walter. Engaging Film Criticism: Film History and Contemporary American Cinema. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. Print.
  • Miller’s Crossing. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro. Circle Films, 1990. Film.
  • Natoli, Joesph. “Ethan and Joel Coen.” Postmodernism: the Key Figures. Eds. Hans Bertens and Joseph Natoli. 88-92. Malden, MA. and Oxford: Blackwell, 2002. Print.
  • Naremore, James. “American Film Noir: the History of an Idea.” Film Quarterly 49 (1995-96): 12-28. Print.
  • O Brother Where Are Thou? Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturro. Touchstone/ Universal, 2000. Film.
  • Piaget, Jean. The Principles of Genetic Epistemology. Trans. Wolfe Mays. New York: Basic Books, 1972. Print.
  • Roffman, Peter and Jim Purdy. The Hollywood Social Problem Film: Madness, Despair, and Politics from the Depression to the Fifties. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1981. Print.
  • Rowell, Erica. The Brothers Grim: the Films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. 2007. Print.
  • Romney, Jonathan, “Double Vision.” Coen Brother Interviews. Ed. William Rodney Allen. 127-32. Oxford, MS: UP. of Mississippi, 2006. Print.
  • Russell, Carolyn. The Films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Jackson, NC. and London: McFarland & Co. (Publishers), 2001. Print.
  • Schatz, Thomas. Hollywood Genres, Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 1981. Print.
  • Scott, A.O. “Hail Ulysses, Escaped Convict.” NewYorkTimes.com, 22 Dec. 2000. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Sullivan’s Travels. Dir. Preston Sturges. Perf. Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake. Paramount Pictures, 1941. Film.
  • Travers, Peter. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” RollingStone.com, 20 Dec. 2000. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Von Glasersfeld, Ernest. “An Interpretation of Piaget’s Constructivism.” Révue Internationale de Philosophie 36, 4 (1982): 612-35. Print.
  • The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming. Perf. Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger. Metro GoldwynMayer, 1939. Film.
Year 2010, Issue: 32, 8 - 18, 01.10.2010

Abstract

References

  • Altman, Rick, Film/Genre, London: British Film Institute, 1999. Print.
  • ---. “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre.” Cinema Journal 23.2 (1984): 6-18. Print.
  • Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 1994. Print.
  • Blood Simple. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. John Getz, Dan Hedaya. River Road Productions/ Foxton Entertainment, 1984. Film.
  • Booker, M. Keith. Postmodern Hollywood: What’s New in Film and Why it Makes us Feel so Strange. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. Print.
  • Boozer, Jack. Authorship in Film Adaptation. Austin: U. of Texas Press, 2008. Print.
  • Coughlin, James. “Joel and Ethan Coen,” Senses of Cinema 26 (2003). Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Ebert, Roger. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” RogerEbert.com, 29 Dec. 2000. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Fargo. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi. Polygram Filmed Entertainment/ Working Title Films, 1996. Film.
  • Fer, Briony. “The Language of Construction.” Realism, Rationalism, and Surrealism: Art between the Wars. Eds. Fer, David Batchelor, and Paul Wood. 87-169. New Haven: Yale UP, 1993. Print.
  • Genette, Gérard. Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. Trans. Chana Newman and Caude Doubinsky. Lincoln: U. of Nebraska Press, 1997. Print.
  • Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. W. H. D. Rouse. New York: Penguin Books, 1937. Print.
  • Intolerable Cruelty. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, Catherine Zeta Jones, Billy Bob Thornton. Universal/ Imagine Entertainment, 2003. Film.
  • Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism: or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1991. Print.
  • The Ladykillers. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans, Irma P. Hall. Touchstone Pictures, 2004. Film.
  • The Man Who Wasn’t There. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Badalucco. Good Machine, 2001. Film.
  • Metz, Walter. Engaging Film Criticism: Film History and Contemporary American Cinema. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. Print.
  • Miller’s Crossing. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro. Circle Films, 1990. Film.
  • Natoli, Joesph. “Ethan and Joel Coen.” Postmodernism: the Key Figures. Eds. Hans Bertens and Joseph Natoli. 88-92. Malden, MA. and Oxford: Blackwell, 2002. Print.
  • Naremore, James. “American Film Noir: the History of an Idea.” Film Quarterly 49 (1995-96): 12-28. Print.
  • O Brother Where Are Thou? Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturro. Touchstone/ Universal, 2000. Film.
  • Piaget, Jean. The Principles of Genetic Epistemology. Trans. Wolfe Mays. New York: Basic Books, 1972. Print.
  • Roffman, Peter and Jim Purdy. The Hollywood Social Problem Film: Madness, Despair, and Politics from the Depression to the Fifties. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1981. Print.
  • Rowell, Erica. The Brothers Grim: the Films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. 2007. Print.
  • Romney, Jonathan, “Double Vision.” Coen Brother Interviews. Ed. William Rodney Allen. 127-32. Oxford, MS: UP. of Mississippi, 2006. Print.
  • Russell, Carolyn. The Films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Jackson, NC. and London: McFarland & Co. (Publishers), 2001. Print.
  • Schatz, Thomas. Hollywood Genres, Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 1981. Print.
  • Scott, A.O. “Hail Ulysses, Escaped Convict.” NewYorkTimes.com, 22 Dec. 2000. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Sullivan’s Travels. Dir. Preston Sturges. Perf. Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake. Paramount Pictures, 1941. Film.
  • Travers, Peter. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” RollingStone.com, 20 Dec. 2000. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
  • Von Glasersfeld, Ernest. “An Interpretation of Piaget’s Constructivism.” Révue Internationale de Philosophie 36, 4 (1982): 612-35. Print.
  • The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming. Perf. Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger. Metro GoldwynMayer, 1939. Film.
There are 32 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Allen H. Redmon This is me

Publication Date October 1, 2010
Published in Issue Year 2010 Issue: 32

Cite

MLA Redmon, Allen H. “‘It’s Problem of Perception.’ The Coen Brothers’ Constructivist Use of Genre”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 32, 2010, pp. 8-18.

JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey