The film “O Brother, Where Art
Thou” is a very interesting adaptation of “The Odyssey” because of the changes
that needed to be made to adapt the setting. We talked about the numerous
parallels seen between “The Odyssey” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou”, some
obvious others not. One parallel that I think we can always talk more about is Pete and Delmar who represent Odysseus’ crew.
“The
Odyssey” begins with a brief introduction by Homer who states that Odysseus is
a great hero, but that he was held back by his stupid crew. From Homer’s
description of the crew, I instantly think of Pete and Delmar whose role in the
film is to provide a comedic value through their lack of intelligence. The
parallels continue, as both the poem and the film flesh out the characters. Certain
members of Odysseus’ crew are unwilling to follow orders like Pete asking “Who
put you in charge?” Pete and Delmar are also the subjects of constant
misfortune like the crew, everything from being turned into animals to being
enchanted by sirens.
The
obvious parallels are there, but the differences are more interesting. In “The Odyssey”, the crew played the role of the scapegoat for anything that
went wrong, but Pete and Delmar are friends of the hero. This makes the story
much more engaging, as it adds a new goal to the Ulysses’ quest, one that
Odysseus did not have: save his friends. Despite all the stupid things that
Pete and Delmar do throughout the film, Ulysses works hard to make sure they
are not recaptured and imprisoned.
Overall, although Pete and Delmar were created to represent Odysseus’ crew, their
characters became much more important than the crew was. Rather than Ulysses’
crew, these two were friends who added an important aspect of friendship to the
story.
I completely agree. Another example of the crew getting Everett in trouble would be in the beginning when they stay with Pete's cousin. Their predicament in the burning barn is the closest the lot of them come to being apprehended all the way up until the flood scene at the end, giving the impression that despite Everett's best efforts his friends are bent on messing it up.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the crew was much more essential for Everett than Odysseus. The Soggy Bottom Boys would not have been famous without Pete and Delmar, and the Soggy Bottom Boys are absolutely essential to the plot, as their fame is what gets them pardoned and helps Everett get his wife back. Furthermore, Everett says himself he couldn't have escaped the chain gang alone, so he convinced Delmar and Pete to come with him. But there are some places where Pete and Delmar's lack of intelligence does put Everett in danger, in a way, like when they decide to go get baptized, or when Pete gives away the location of the treasure.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Pete and Delmar seem a lot more important to the story than the crew ever did in the Odyssey. I think part of it is due to the fact that we actually get to know Pete and Delmar in the film, as opposed to in the Odyssey where all we get from the crew is the occasional objection to Odysseus' orders. We don't really get to see much of the crew's personalities, so we aren't as attached to them or engaged in their stories. It also seems fair to say that Ulysses seems to have a stronger relationship with Pete and Delmar than Odysseus has with his crew, although I do think that part of that is again because we don't see much of Odysseus' interaction with his crew aside from when they disagree with him.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Pete and Delmar become more important than Odysseus' crew in The Odyssey. The crew in The odyssey remain nameless and are portrayed as one collective unit for the most part. Pete and Delmar each have their own noticeable personalities which makes the audience connect to both of the characters on a more personal level. In addition, Pete and Delmar are closer to Everett which is something you pointed out when you talked about their friendship. Although Everett is the leader, their relationship is still a partnership. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is very clearly the leader of the ship and the crew are beneath him.
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ReplyDeleteI agree. Pete and Delmar were more fleshed out characters than the Odyssey. I think that the movie takes a different approach to them than Homer did because Everett isn't constantly blaming them for all his problems. Although Pete and Delmar are really stupid, they aren't really the ones that are getting Everett in trouble. In The Odyssey, the crew seems to cause a lot of trouble for Odysseus
ReplyDeletePete and Delmar's closeness with Ulysses in O Brother definitely add to the entertainment value of the film, and also make Ulysses seem like less of a jerk. An difference between the epic and the movie is that a lot of the misfortune that Pete and Delmar have to deal with is directly and shamelessly brought upon them by Ulysses himself. If Pete and Delmar were only pawns to Ulysses he would be kind of an unforgivable character but, because they are capable of forgiving him, the audience is compelled to do so too. And yeah, their chronic absence of "abstract thought" as Ulysses puts it, is kind of hilarious too.
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