The usually enjoyable About Last Night blog links to this piece, which is surprising mostly for its cynicism about music and the moviegoing audience:
It's revealing, I'm sure, that The Ladykillers, like O Brother, Where Art Thou? before it, makes extensive use of gospel music for parodistic purposes. Once again, the music itself is terrific, but the uses to which it is put are both ironic and quintessentially postmodern: We are clearly supposed to be amused by all those benighted believers rocking joyously in their pews, even though Dey Got Rhythm and we sorry white folk don't. That's how postmodernism works--it plays both sides of the street, winking in either direction.
I have fond memories of listening to the 'O Brother' soundtrack in Mike's car as we drove to a hiking trip in Seattle two years ago, and I'm pretty sure we weren't enjoying to the music because of its "parodistic" value. (Ironically, I just read the opposite view from The Big Takeover: "When you look at the success of the O Brother soundtrack, it just goes to show that people will respond to good music.")
Similarly, I didn't feel that the gospel music used in 'The Ladykillers' was prescribed to make me laugh at the churchgoers. My lapsed-Catholic reaction was more like "Wow, if they sang like this at my church, I'd start going again!"
E. points out that this attitude may be the extension of the argument that the Bros. Coen rely too much on stereotype and cultural appropriation. But it's so sloppy. I have to wonder: Is this really "how postmodernism works--playing both sides of the street" or is this really how the author works--prescribing audience reactions that aren't really there to bolster a straw man?
I am particularly sorry to see such a cynical and reductive view because, feeling a little artcrit-deprived, I just bought the author's book and was hoping for some more progressive thinking.
Hm, interesting, Anne.
In the context of the film, the music used in o Brother is, nearly in every case ("Down to the River" is the only clear exception I can think of) used in a mocking fashion; I read it as a strategy to engage an extremely class-aware audience with the music by adopting the mocking reaction I've experienced when listening to bluegrass at work, for example, as a narrative and presentational device, and then sneakily also adapting the music to the sonic expectations of that same audience.
The Soggy Bottom Boys' (no mockery there, no sir) version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" is the exemplar, as it's performed three times on screen, once on-stage in a demented visualization of 1930's southern statge shows as the descendants of Hee-Haw.
The original versions of this song are spare and mournful, while the SBB versions are this close to straight-up rock.
Make no mistake, I LOVE that record. But I think in the context of the film, the Coens are in fact using the music in a mocking way. However, since I adore the Coens' misanthropy, it did not bother me.
However, my suspicion that the mockery in the music was a sly sort of ingratiation intended to promote the marketing of the music still bugs me from time to time, whatever the direct benefits to the featured musicians might be.
Posted by: mike whybark on June 10, 2004 07:21 PMI agree with the following:
1) Hm, interesting, Anne.
2) The Soggy Bottom Boys' version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" is performed on screen,
3) The original versions of this song are spare and mournful, while the SBB versions are this close to straight-up rock.
4) Make no mistake, I LOVE that record.
5) I adore the Coens
Other than these bits of sentences, I'm not sure that I could disagree with you more.
I didn't find the musical selections to be mocking in the least. I felt that they were very appropriate for the film's setting and storyline, as well as being excellent examples of the genre. I found the new recordings of old songs to be both powerful and new in delivery while still remaining true to the spirit of the more traditional versions. In fact, I found the music to be a powerful tool for setting tone and moving the story. Where the music wasn't straight up reverend, it was at least respectful.
Perhaps we didn't see the same film. Perhaps I'm just not class-aware enough to realize I'm supposed to be mocking someone when I see it. Most likely, I'm one of the people getting mocked... I mean I grew up listening to a lot of this music, and I still really love well-done bluegrass.
Posted by: Dr. Surly on June 11, 2004 08:55 AM