Analysis of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and its literary connections

O Brother, Where Art Thou? -- The Film

Famed filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen wrote and directed O Brother, Where Art Thou? The film was released shortly before Christmas of the year 2000. The film is a sort of remix and remake. The premise of the film was a take on the epic poem "The Odyssey" by Homer and set the narrative in the deep American south during the 1930s. The primary characters are played by George Clooney, John Tuturro, and Tim Blake Nelson. The film is dramatic, comedic, musical, political, and adventurous. The film was additionally nominated for two Academy Awards. The film further stars several other well-known and respected actors of theater, television and film such as John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Michael Baladucco.

Everett, Pete, and Delmar are friends. Everett is a married man with several daughter and a spitfire wife. Upon his arrest and imprisonment, his soul goal is to rejoin his family and return as the patriarch of the family. Everett's wife, Penny, is fed up with Everett's schemes and criminal activities and is ready to move on and remarry a man who is "bonafide." The three jailbirds bust out of jail because Everett claims to know where treasure is -- treasure in the form of hard currency. He convinces his friends to endure an epic journey to find this money and along the way they have many dangerous and fun escapades.

For example, one similarity to the Homeric poem involves the sirens. While on the run from the very mean police department, the men come across three beautiful women singing in a river washing their clothes. The women never speak to them; they only continue to sing their hypnotic song in three part harmony. Each man is seduced by a woman who is very different, but beautiful in a unique way. The women seduce them with their deep south, Mississippi, siren song, coaxing them to drink large quantities of alcohol, likely moonshine. When the men awake, they have been robbed and Pete is gone. In his place is a toad. Delmar believes the women were witches that turned him into a horny toad (he was not). Everett is a bit a siren himself. Clooney's character is the lead singer among the trio. They happen into a remote recording studio run by a blind African-American and record a song. Later on in the film, it is the men's singing ability that allows them to disrupt the plot of a corrupt politician who is also a leading member of the Ku Klux Klan. The men use a large performance as a distraction and a method to expose the politician for who he is, and so that he will not win the upcoming election.

Topics such as economics, class, race, and politics are ever-present, if sometimes only in the background in the film. The film takes place in the United States during the Depression era. The film takes place in the deep south, the most racist and dangerous part of the country for people who are not white. There are additionally many references to Christianity in O Brother Where Art Thou? One of the platforms that Homer Stokes, the aforementioned politician, stands upon is the Christian faith and the Christian lifestyle. He, like many politicians in American history, is heavily connected to Christianity, law enforcement, and prejudicial or violent organizations such as the KKK. In fact, many high ranking law enforcement officers of the 20th century had connections to politics, the police, and religion, particularly in the decades following Reconstruction and leading into the Civil Rights movement.