The Coen Brothers and the Comedy of Democracy

Sara MacDonald and Barry Craig

Both critically and commercially successful filmmakers, the Coen brothers have written, produced, and directed numerous acclaimed films over the past three decades. Sara MacDonald and Barry Craig demonstrate that their comedies, in particular, which are often dismissed as mere entertainments, actually present substantial philosophic and political arguments. They examine five of the Coen brothers’ comedies: Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou, and Hail Caesar!. In those works, they discover insightful engagements with such ideas as questions of human freedom, the relationship of reason to religion, and the nature of liberal democracy in the American regime. They demonstrate how sometimes explicitly, but generally implicitly, the Coens draw on thinkers such as Homer, Plato, Dante, and Hegel, while simultaneously presenting popular entertainment.

Lexington Books

Pages: 132 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-5516-6 • Hardback • December 2018 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-5518-0 • Paperback • January 2021 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-5517-3 • eBook • December 2018 • $42.50 • (£35.00)

Series: Politics, Literature, & Film

Subjects: Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / General, Performing Arts / Film / Genres / Comedy

The Coen Brothers and the Comedy of Democracy

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Both critically and commercially successful filmmakers, the Coen brothers have written, produced, and directed numerous acclaimed films over the past three decades. Sara MacDonald and Barry Craig demonstrate that their comedies, in particular, which are often dismissed as mere entertainments, actually present substantial philosophic and political arguments. They examine five of the Coen brothers’ comedies: Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou, and Hail Caesar!. In those works, they discover insightful engagements with such ideas as questions of human freedom, the relationship of reason to religion, and the nature of liberal democracy in the American regime. They demonstrate how sometimes explicitly, but generally implicitly, the Coens draw on thinkers such as Homer, Plato, Dante, and Hegel, while simultaneously presenting popular entertainment.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 132 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-5516-6 • Hardback • December 2018 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-5518-0 • Paperback • January 2021 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-5517-3 • eBook • December 2018 • $42.50 • (£35.00)

Series: Politics, Literature, & Film

Subjects: Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / General, Performing Arts / Film / Genres / Comedy

Author

Sara MacDonald is professor of political science and philosophy at Huron University.

Barry Craig is professor at Huron University.

Table of Contents

Ch. 1 Raising Arizona: It Takes a Baby to Raise a Nation

Ch. 2 Fargo: Why You Shouldn’t Put Your Friend in a Wood Chipper

Ch. 3 The Big Lebowski: Bowling for Love

Ch. 4 O Brother, Where Art Thou?: That Time Odysseus Woke Up in a Democracy

Ch. 5 Hail, Caesar!: The Divine Presence that Was Not Represented in the Film

Reviews

This is both a thoughtful book and a light-hearted one. . . In addition to sharing in the enjoyment of a number of movies, the book offers reflections that are relevant to political philosophy, and can stimulate further thought.
— VoegelinView

After watching the Cohen Brother’s film “No Country for Old Men” it is tempting to dismiss their work as just another example of sophisticated and artful paeans to nihilism. Craig and Macdonald, however, reveal that at least in their comedies the Cohen Brothers inspire and are inspired by the importance of family, community and even transcendence for a full human life. Their book, like the Cohen Brothers movies, demonstrates that a thoughtful engagement with the most serious questions of life can also be great fun.
— David Nichols, Baylor University

Sara MacDonald and Barry Craig see the Coen brothers not as despairing existentialists, but as artists with a profoundly moral vision. The deep moral vision is not always obvious in their films, but is given in consistent signs that the authors of this work are very sensitive to and clear in pointing out. The authors combine a movie lover’s enthusiasm with philosophical acumen.
— Richard Gilmore, Concordia College