Since one of the purposes of this blog is to show the all-around-ness of
satire I have decided to start writing some blog posts about the use of satire
in movies, starting with one of my personal favorites: The Blues Brothers. As most of you hopefully already know, The Blues Brothers is about the struggle
of two brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues, to put their old band back together and
earn enough money from gigs and shows to save their old children’s home (which
is about to shut down due to lack of funding). Both Blues brothers are very
interesting characters with questionable morals. They are extremely hardcore,
in a downplayed way, surviving explosions and car chases and gun fights with
mere shrugs of the shoulders. This in itself could be seen as satire of action
heroes in movies (who, as we all know, are supposed to be tough and
feeling-less), since the Blues brothers' reactions to certain events are so exaggeratingly
downplayed that they seem crazy. However, there are two other, much more
prominent, satirical themes in the movie, which I will now discuss in more
detail:
1. The way the women in the movie act, and how they are treated by the men
in the movie, is clearly satire. Jake’s ex-fiancée, who constantly tries to
kill Jake throughout the whole movie, is in many ways a parody of the “crazy
ex-girlfriend.” She is completely obsessed by Jake, and has therefore decided
that he must die in an extraordinary way (she tries to blow him up, amongst other things). When Jake kisses her in the end
though, she wants him back immediately, forgetting all the broken promises and
hate she has carried around. Other women in the movie are also extremely
dependent on their men, and their men, in return, all treat them extremely
poorly. Aretha Franklin, who plays the wife of one of the band members, sings a
song to her husband in the beginning of the film, telling him how unfair it is
for him to leave her alone with their business to go on tour. Despite the clear power of the song, however,
Aretha’s husband just ignores her completely and walks out the door (and the
unfairness of the situation thus becomes perceptible). Lastly, one can also look closer at the woman that Elwood casually hits on at a gas station; this woman agrees to meet Elwood
at a motel at midnight, even though she has just met him (Elwood, of course, does not
show up). By showing the stupidity in these women's dependency on men, as well as the poor manner in which the men treat the women,
one could argue that the director of the movie uses satire to highlight gender inequality issues.
2. The stupidity of the police, and the use of “unnecessary force” (the
police says that "unnecessary force" is allowed in the chase after
the Blues brothers in the movie) in the police’s chase after the Blues
brothers, is perhaps the most evident satirical theme in the movie. The police
seem completely useless; they drive into each others’ cars, endanger civilians
and constantly get fooled by the Blues brothers. What’s more important though,
is that they seem to be using almost all their resources and equipment chasing
after the Blues brothers, even though there are other greater “villains” in the
movie, like the Neo-Nazis. Instead of putting resources and time into hindering
the growth of the Neo-Nazi movement however, the police spend all their energy
on protecting those Neo-Nazis during demonstrations and chasing after the Blues
brothers, who aren’t even dangerous; they don’t even own guns. By showing and
exaggerating the way the police mismanages its time and
resources the scriptwriters and director of The
Blues Brothers make some pretty valid points about the ineffectiveness of
the police force. You can see an example of this in the video below.
