Classical Mythology: O Brother, Where Art Thou - Movie Review Example

ical Mythology O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a film that was released in 2000 and is an adaptation of Homer’s famous Odyssey. Though a modern telling of the aged adventure story, O Brother still contains many characteristics of The Odyssey, especially in regard to the mythological aspects of the original story. However, to help make the storyline easier for the current generation to understand, the movie was filmed to take place in Mississippi in the late 1930s and with a plot to match; the plot of the film has only a few similarities to the original story, but there are scenes that emulate those from The Odyssey. The mythology and the purpose of the mythology remains the same, divulging into moral values to convey deeper meaning. O Brother tells about three men that escape from a chain gang in search for a treasure that one of the men claims to have hidden prior to his imprisonment. On their epic journey, they find themselves involved in one debacle after another, having to resort to disguises during the majority of their trip as they remain hunted by police officers. They run into an array of people and creatures based off of the same mythology that is found in The Odyssey. Similarly in The Odyssey, Odysseus sets out on his own adventure after being released from Calypso’s island, too resorting to disguises when he cannot allow his own face to be seen as most of the people of his kingdom believe him to be dead. On his own excursion, Odysseus finds himself in the presence of many mythical beings. Each adaptation of the story focuses on the moral values of the age. The plot of O Brother does play into the plot of The Odyssey in the sense of the major mythological references, but there are also more noticeable likenesses. For instance, the only direct reference in the movie that can be found in the book is the text shown at the start of the movie that reads, “O Muse! Sing in me, and through me tell the story,” which is the same first line from The Odyssey. Other parallels can be seen in the names of characters such as Ulysses, the main character of the movie, whose name is the Latin spelling of Odysseus. The blind man that predicts Ulysses’ and his friends’ future can be seen as a parallel of the blind prophet from the novel. Menelaus O’Daniel, the man who pardons the men at the end of the movie, shares the same name with the King of Sparta, who fought with Odysseus at Troy. Other similarities are a bit more obvious, especially in regard to the mythical creatures that Odysseus runs into, such as Big Dan’s allusion to the Cyclops, Polyphemus. In the book, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops when a spear goes through his eye; Big Dan, who only has one good eye to begin with, nearly avoids being impaled by a falling pole, only to be killed after being struck by a burning cross. The washing women that attempt to seduce the men in the film are compared to sirens, creatures that also attempt to seduce Odysseus and his men. The goddess Circe, who has the ability to turn people into animals, can be mirrored in the woman who turns one of Ulysses’ men into a toad. Though loosely related, the men in O Brother run into a lot of the same mythological beings that Odysseus did in The Odyssey, all of which stayed true to their mythological counterparts in The Odyssey. However, while the aforementioned parallels may or may not be too obvious, playing up on the characters of both stories, there are still other scenes in the movie that directly mirror scenes from the novel, playing up to more advanced aspects that can be found in the novel. The scenes are not copied or mocked from what they were originally in the novel, but are adapted in a contemporary way to show the moral values of the time era during which the film took place while still staying true to the messages being conveyed in the Homer’s tale. The greatest imitation between novel and movie is the fact that the two men, accompanied by those that can help them, have set out on a journey after everyone had thought that they were either dead, as is the case of Odysseus, or else locked up for a great length of time, which is for Ulysses and his men. The two protagonists leave their current locations to set off on a greater adventure, one that nobody expects due to the current situations of the men. Throughout these live-changing journeys, during which that the men have no idea what is truly in store for them, the men run into a variety of mythological creatures. In Odysseus’ world, these creatures are mundane to him. His world comprises of mythological creatures. In Ulysses’ world, likewise, these people are simply people to him, though taking on the characteristics of mythological creatures as we know them. As the separate journeys commence, both groups must resort to disguises to avoid recognition. Odysseus is thought to be dead, and Ulysses is an escaped prison convict; though the former may not be looked for, whereas Ulysses has entire cities watching for his appearance, Odysseus did not want to cause a stir with his sudden return from supposed death. The various disguises help the men to go unnoticed, though only in certain places at certain times. There is even a few times when their disguises fail them, yet they are able to talk themselves out of any of the situations they find themselves in. Both groups avoid being caught during the duration of their stories. The journeys closely parallel each other. Though each man has his own set goals and purposes for their trips, both suitable for the time era and the amount of mythology implemented into the story, they still follow the same general pattern in comparison to each other. Escape, mythology, disguises, far-fetched notions, and the unfortunate aspect of not wanting to be seen by the public, both groups share the same feat of trying to get what they want without being captured. The concept of the underworld from The Odyssey also makes random appearances throughout O Brother, though playing the same role as it did in the novel. When the men are in the theater, Pete tries to warn his two companions. This scene is in relation to Odysseus’ own experience in the underworld. While Odysseus is in the underworld, he has an encounter with the ghost of his mother, who sets out to warn him. Pete’s friends believe him to be dead, and they begin to believe that a ghost is attempting to protect them from something. These scenes are vital turning points in both the novel and the movie; in the novel, Odysseus receives important information and advice from his mother, while in the film the two men realize that their third fellow is not really dead, as well as getting advice from him. The journeys continue. Yet another important scene involving the underworld involves Odysseus and one of Ulysses’ men being lectured about the dangers and treachery of women. Agamemnon tells Odysseus about his experiences with women, having been betrayed by his wife. Ulysses tells one of his fellows about how women cannot be trusted. Both Odysseus and Ulysses had their own run-ins with women, especially the sirens and washerwomen who had tried to seduce them for their own purposes. A third parallel between the two stories is the similarities of Odysseus and Ulysses. While both men may be regarded as heroes in their stories, their accomplishments are reached due to their wit and cleverness. Though they are the type of men who would prefer to remain hidden from the public eye as they go about their journeys, they rely on their intelligence to get them through any mishaps that they find themselves in. Not once do they display an actual characteristic of a hero, with perhaps the exception of being willing to go through anything to obtain their goal. The one thing that they lacked to be considered heroes is the willingness to show their true faces as they went about their deeds. Another interesting similarity between the two men is that Odysseus had only one son whom he seldom saw, while Ulysses had seven daughters that he too was estranged from due to his stint in prison. Though these do not mirror each other, their differences in the same topic is intriguing, providing O Brother with a unique twist; the contrast of this minor detail says a lot about mythology. Most mythological creatures only ever had one child that they would dote upon, whereas mere mortal man commonly has more than one child. O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a very loose adaptation of The Odyssey, but the similarities allow O Brother to display the moral values of the 1930s while The Odyssey first presented many moral values through the use of mythology. The similarities between the two stories are also not blunt or, at times, entirely obvious. O Brother kept the mythological concepts vague to allow more focus on the common day moral values; one truly sees the similarities between the two stories when they are compared side by side. Read More