Companion Piece to Wendy and Lucy

In the film Wendy and Lucy and Indiana woman Wendy decides to pick up and move to Alaska but ends up getting stranded in Oregon with very little money and things continually get worse for her. First her car breaks down to which she has to wait for it to be fixed and her bad luck snowballs from there. She then decides to go to the supermarket but since she has little money she has to steal the dog food for her dog Lucy. She is caught trying to do this by the employee and finds herself in jail. Then when she finally gets out of jail she discovers that Lucy has been taken to the dog pound. Throughout this film the character of Wendy is unable to catch a break in her impoverished life and her luck goes from bad to worse.

While watching this film I could not help but relate it to the character of Stan in Killer of Sheep, who is also stuck in poverty and can never catch a break. He is always concerned about money and works in a dead end job at a slaughterhouse. He similarly to Wendy tries to help himself out by buying a new engine for his truck, only after he purchases it falls out the bed of his truck and is ruined. Wendy and Stan relate to each other because they each live in a life of poverty and even when they try to help themselves and better their situation they have instances of bad luck that keep them stuck in their current situation.  

Spirituality in O Brother, Where Art Thou

O Brother, Where Art Thou is a film about three escaped prisoners: Everett, Delmar, and Pete looking for a treasure (or so they think) and keeping away from the law. This film deals quite a lot with Christian spirituality and redemption of sins and passed actions. There are different beliefs between the three main characters Delmar and Pete are firm believers in God and in one scene actually become baptized to be forgiven of their previous sins, Delmar brings up the crime he committed and how God has forgiven him. Everett on the other hand does not believe in Christianity and is constantly arguing with the other two that there are very simple explanations for things the other two characters believe are divine intervention. In the same baptism scene Everett tells Delmar and Pete that they are "dumber than a box of hammers" for getting baptized and it will not help them with their law troubles.

There is constant images of spirituality through this film of both good and evil. Tommy the African American guitar player claims that he sold his soul to the devil to learn how to play the guitar. To which later he believes the devil is collecting his soul when the KKK lynch mob gets a hold of him. Another is the bible salesman (John Goodman) who turns out to be nothing more than a crook and robs Everett and Delmar of their money. There is this constant battle between good and evil and the three main characters are always caught in the middle.

The climactic scene when the law finally catches the three main characters, even after they were given full pardons from the governor and they are about to be hanged the audience believes Everett is having a spiritual moment where he drops down on his knees and prays asking God to give him a miracle and let him see his daughters again. Then suddenly water comes crashing in and they are flushed away from there situation. When the three characters come to the top of the water and Delmar and Pete are proud to ask Everett about his spiritual moment and claim their salvation (from the law that is) was a miracle to which Everett responds with "There is a perfectly good scientific explanation to what just happened." I think this shows how there will be a constant battle between people over the existence of God and some people will always believe one side or the other just like Delmar, Pete, and Everett.

The Dreams of Mike in My Own Private Idaho

The film My Own Private Idaho two best friends Mike and Scott live on the streets of Portland and work as hustlers, selling themselves to both men and women. Mike played by River Phoenix is narcoleptic and throughout the film is passing out and usually rescued by Scott who carries him to safety until he wakes up. Either right before or as soon as Mike falls to the floor in one of his episodes, the scene changes and shows different images sometimes it is a peaceful unrelated scene like mountains or fish and then other times it is Mike with his mother at an old style ranch house. These different images that broke up the film to me show Mike looking for peace in a chaotic world. Usually a narcoleptic episode happens to Mike when he gets really worked up or upset and these images almost calm him down and bring him peace. These images provide a fresh start for Mike and when he wakes up is normally calm and not bothered by the previous event. A reoccurring dream that Mike has is him with his mother at a ranch style house, that the audience assumes and later Mike confirms is the house he grew up in. These images of his mother show her as a calm and peaceful woman who loved her son. This contradicts what other characters say about his mother like his brother/father who tells him a violent story of how his mother shot a man at a drive in theater. This story is never confirmed in the film and the audience never gets to meet Mikes mother but it doesn't matter because these dreams that Mike has show how he views and remembers his mother. They show Mike's own little world or "own private Idaho" and how he views his past with his mother as positive and is why he goes on an unsuccessful journey to find her.

The dreams that Mike has I think are filmed in a very interesting as well, the style is different from the rest of the film which helps the audience realize these images are dreams within Mike's head. While watching the film I thought these dream scenes looked a lot like old home movies, the film is a little fuzzy and choppy, as well as being done on what seems to be a lower quality camera then present day technology. I think this is done intentionally because anyone who watches old home movies does so to remember their past and past experiences with loved ones, especially if that loved one is no longer alive or around. I think these dream scenes are Mike's "home movies" he is remembering experiences with his mother inside his head, and although it is unclear if they are true or not it doesn't matter because they are real to Mike. These dream images show Mike's longing to find and be with his mother and find peace in a very chaotic world.