“A
SERIOUS MAN” IS A SERIOUS JOKE
THE FILM “A SERIOUS MAN” (2010) DIRECTED BY THE COEN
BROTHERS TAKES THE FORM OF A JEWISH JOKE.
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF THIS FORMAT, UNRELATED TO THE MOVIE: A JEWISH MAN WANTS TO HONOR HIS SON BY BUYING
HIM A PORSCHE FOR YOM KIPPUR, BUT HE’S UNCERTAIN AS TO WHETHER IT’S ACCEPTABLE
UNDER JEWISH LAW, SO HE CONSULTS THREE RABBIS.
HE ASKS AN ORTHODOX RABBI, WHO REPLIES WITH THE QUESTION: “WHAT IS A PORSCHE?” NOT SATISFIED WITH THE ANSWER, HE THEN ASKS A
CONSERVATIVE RABBI, WHO ALSO REPLIES WITH THE QUESTION: “WHAT IS A PORSCHE?” FINALLY, HE ASKS A REFORM RABBI, WHO ANSWERS
WITH THE QUESTION: “WHAT IS YOM KIPPUR?” THIS IS THE PUNCHLINE OF THE JOKE. OF COURSE, THE WHOLE PREMISE OF THE JOKE IS
RIDICULOUS, SINCE YOM KIPPUR, THE DAY OF ATONEMENT, IS A TIME OF FASTING AND
REPENTANCE, THE VERY OPPOSITE OF GIFT-GIVING AND THE FLAUNTING OF
OPULENCE. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE JOKE IS
A SERIOUS CRITICISM OF THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF HOLIDAYS. I BELIEVE THAT THE COEN BROTHERS’ MOVIE “A
SERIOUS MAN” IS A JEWISH JOKE FOLLOWING THE “THREE RABBIS” FORMAT.
JOKES HAVE A LONGSTANDING PLACE IN JEWISH CULTURE. SIGMUND FREUD
EVEN WROTE A STUDY ON HOW TO ANALYZE THEM, “JOKES AND THEIR RELATION TO
THE UNCONSCIOUS.”
http://www.amazon.ca/Jokes-Their-Relation-Unconscious-Sigmund-ebook/dp/B00CCK5XK8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388943900&sr=1-1&keywords=JOKES+AND+THEIR+RELATION+TO+THE+UNCONSCIOUS
PHILIP ROTH’S NOVEL
“PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT” TOOK THE FORMAT OF A JEWISH JOKE. THE WHOLE NARRATIVE HAS PORTNOY COMPLAINING,
AND THE NOVEL CONCLUDES WITH THE PUNCHLINE OF THE PSYCHIATRIST ASKING IN A
EUROPEAN JEWISH ACCENT, IF WE CAN NOW BEGIN THE CONSULTATION.
I WAS SURPRISED THAT NONE OF THE REVIEWS ON AMAZON.COM
NOTICED THAT “A SERIOUS MAN” FOLLOWED THE FORMAT OF A JEWISH JOKE. THE APPRECIATIVE REVIEWS DID, HOWEVER, RELATE
SOME VALUABLE INSIGHTS, PARTICULARLY THE CAPTURING OF THE AMBIANCE OF 1967
SUBURBIA IN THE UNITED STATES (THE HEBREW SCHOOL CLASSROOM, THE OBSESSION WITH
TV ANTENNA RECEPTION, AND THE MUSIC OF JEFFERSON AIRPLANE AND SANTANA).
HOWEVER, I WOULD
DISAGREE THAT THE STEDTL SCENE WITH VELVEL AND DORA THAT OPENS THE MOVIE HAS NO
RELEVANCE TO THE MEANING OF THE MOVIE JUST BECAUSE THE COEN BROTHERS ALLEDGEDLY
SAID THAT. TO DO SO WOULD BE MAKING THE
“GENETIC FALLACY” OR “INTENTIONAL FALLACY.”
A WORK OF ART TAKES ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN ONCE THE “UMBILICAL CORD” IS
CUT BY PUBLISHING THE WORK. VELVEL, LIKE
LARRY GOPNIK, HAS HIS BELIEF CHALLENGED, AND THE WORLD SUDDENLY APPEARS STRANGE,
UNFAMILIAR, AND INHOSPITABLE WHEN DORA STABS REB GROSHKOVER (OR WAS IT A DYBBUK?). THE
STEDTL SCENE BRINGS TO MIND ISAAC BASCHEVIS SINGER’S “GIMPEL THE FOOL,” ANOTHER
GOOD JEWISH MAN TRYING TO LIVE BY THE HEBREW POET RASHI’S ADVICE: “RECEIVE WITH SIMPLICITY EVERYTHING IN LIFE.”
LARRY GOPNIK, AND
VELVEL AS WELL, JOIN THE LIST OF “DIVINE FOOLS,” BELIEVERS GOING BACK AS FAR
EVEN AS JOB IN THE BIBLE.
THE SECOND RABBI ASKS IN HIS EULOGY OF SY ABLEMAN, “HOW
DOES GOD (HA-SHEM) SPEAK TO US?" HE
SUGGESTS THAT IT IS THROUGH THE JEWISH TRADITION, THE STORIES, FOLKLORE,
HOLIDAYS, AND RITUALS. A SIMILAR IDEA IS
MENTIONED IN THE BEACH SCENE IN WHICH A WOMAN IN LEG BRACES CONSOLES LARRY ABOUT
HIS IMPENDING DIVORCE BY SAYING THAT HE MUST FIND SOLACE IN THE JEWISH
TRADITION OF FOLKLORE, THE STORIES, ETC.
THIS IDEA OF COMFORT IN TRADITION SEEMS TO BE THE MOST POSITIVE REWARD
SUGGESTED IN THE MOVIE FOR A JEWISH PERSON TRYING TO LIVE THEIR LIFE ACCORDING
TO RASHI’S ADVICE. AS A JOKE, THE MOVIE
BOTH CONFIRMS AND RIDICULES GOD SPEAKING TO US THROUGH THE FIRST RABBI’S
PARKING LOT, THE DISAPPEARING HEBREW CHARACTERS ON THE GOY’S TEETH IN THE
SECOND RABBI’S STORY, AND THE VALUE OF THE JEFFERSON AIRPLANE’S LYRICS AND
MEMBERSHIP OF THE ROCK GROUP AS COMMUNICATED BY THE THIRD RABBI MARSHAK TO
LARRY’S SON, THE BAR MITZVAH BOY. LARRY
SHOWS HIS CONTINUING BELIEF AND GOODNESS IN RAISING THE KOREAN STUDENT’S MARK
TO A PASSING GRADE, AN ACT OF MERCY AND EMPATHY, AND GOD HAS SPOKEN TO LARRY,
IN A SENSE, THROUGH THE PRIDE HE EXPERIENCES IN HIS SON’S BAR MITZVAH, THE
SUDDEN ELIMINATION OF HIS RIVAL AND CUCKOLDER SY ABLEMAN, AND LARRY’S BEING
GRANTED TENURE FOR HIS UNIVERSITY TEACHING JOB.
EVEN LARRY’S IDIOT-SAVANT BROTHER
ARTHUR SEEMS TO BE SAFE AND SOUND FOR THE TIME BEING. HOWEVER, THE THREAT OF DANGER IS EVER PRESENT, AS A TORNADO COMES TOWARD THE SON’S HEBREW SCHOOL AND THE PHONE CALL FROM
LARRY’S DOCTOR PORTENDS DEPRESSING CHEST X-RAY RESULTS. LIKE THE THREAT OF NATELY’S WHORE IN JOSEPH
HELLER’S “CATCH-22,” SECURITY DOES NOT EXIST FOR ANYONE IN THE WORLD OF NATURE.
WHILE
SOME COMMENTATORS HAVE CONDEMNED “A SERIOUS MAN” AS ANTISEMITIC, I WOULD SUGGEST
THAT THEY ERR IN THEIR INTERPRETATION DUE TO IGNORANCE OF LITERARY TRADITIONS,
BOTH JEWISH AND ENGLISH. THOMAS HARDY’S
CLASSIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL “JUDE THE OBSCURE” (1900) IS ANOTHER DESCENDANT OF
“THE BOOK OF JOB” IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
THE STORY OF A GOOD MAN IN A NOT-SO-GOOD WORLD IS NOT NEW, AND
DISMISSING LARRY GOPNIK AS A “WIMP” AND A MOCKERY OF JUDAISM MISSES THE MARK. ON THE CONTRARY, THIS MOVIE FINDS GOD SPEAKING TO MAN
THROUGH STORIES, TRADITION, POETRY, MUSIC, AND HUMOR.
RICHARD BROWN
JANUARY 6, 2014
