Fr. Barron comments on "A Serious Man" (SPOILERS)

[Jan96106]

As I final comment, I can understand why Father Barron likes Fargo. Despite the morally bankrupt characters and the violence (disposing of bodies in the chipper), ultimately the film has a very moral message, voiced by the female police chief towards the end of the film, when she tells the arrested man how shocked she is by his actions, all for the sake of a little money. And Margie herself embodies steadfast dedication to her job, her principles, and her less than stellar husband.

[Jan96106]

Absolutely everything in the film is ambiguous: the causal connections, the outcomes, the explanations. Everything. The problem of evil is not a problem if it has a nice, pat, easy solution. Leave the easy solutions to Job's friends. 

[rsolis46]

Fr. Barron is redeeming the priesthood with his fantastic taste in film. For the first time in a long time, I agree with one of my priests.

[tlaniganschmidt]

hey...when i found somebody toLove my Confessor told me it was wrong(because I'mGay)...but whenever i got drunk & engaged in "Homosexual-act" i got forgiven.But the moment i found "SomeBody toLove" i was told "no-dice"..& now all you hetero's are feeling morally superior to me....

[billthecat666]

I'd like someone to write a book about this movie, its symbolism and message.

[Szpondt]

Fr. Barron - you bring up good points, but I think some of them are stretches. Ultimately, I don't view this movie as an expression of the Coen's faith but of their agnosticism. If Larry is truly evocative of Job, where is his renewed prosperity at the film's end? After all the trite advice and angst, he's left with an implied death & still has a hateful wife and children. If anything, the whirlwind represents not the voice of God but the Coen's view of the world as chaos, i.e. anti-Providence.

[Szpondt]

What is more, the depiction of the 3 rabbi's isn't quite anti-clerical so much as a respectful posit that clergy are incapable of helping one discover God. You mentioned the old rabbi's wisdom, but where is it? Surely it's not in him quoting a song whose message really doesn't relate to story's events nor provide a plausible solution (precisely because already *is* loving people [wife, children, brother] who aren't loving him back)? It's definitely not in his vapid expression "Be a good boy."

[jonvil2009]

Fr. Barron - fantastic review... The interesting thing is that when I left the theater I kept thinking about the book of Job.... but it didn't actually click consciously that the movie was actually based on Job until I heard your review...!!!

[TheDudeMick117]

Hey man do you know the song thats played when its the scene with the dentist and the goy? Like with the drums, i can't find it anywhere :/ If someone knows please reply!

[majorhoop]

@TheDudeMick117 ----it might be "Machine Gun" by hendrix.....

[TheDudeMick117]

@majorhoop thanks man :D

[MusicJew158]

I think it's awesome that you can appreciate this movie but I definitely feel like the end is quite possibly anti religion or at least against the idea that god does anything for a reason, but rather things just happen because they happen and thier is no explanation

[misterzonker2584]

I mostly agree with your review Father, but there are three things you neglect to mention that somewhat undercut what you are saying: 1. The son was high at the Bar Mitzvah, which probably signifies a gulf in communication between God and man; 2. Larry is dishonest at the end by betraying himself in giving into the Korean student, which isn't very Job-like; and 3. there's a definite sense of self-deprecation about the great mystery of Jewishness and religion in general.

[WASrul]

This is very very good. The first really involved non-Jewish view on the film I've seen. And that bit with the whirlwind--the other stuff, I figured out in some form on my own, but the idea that Jefferson Airplane coming from inside the desert whirlwind is THE VOICE OF GOD just completely I missed that. that's brilliant. thank you, padre.

[Regenmacher175]

I thought that both rationalism and religion cannot provide him with an answer but ultimately his question would be: should i let everyone push me around to get me to behave in the way that suits them best? To which the answer would obviously be "No" but he thinks too much and religion turns around the problem without being able to provide him with an answer.

[lacansfoolosopher]

This is a bit of a naive reading of 'A Serious Man'. The interpretation of 'Somebody to Love' is completely off; it lacks the depth of the striving and loneliness that the song indicates. Since this is based on Job, perhaps we should look at this story as man's miscommunication and misinterpretation with God, rather than a cutesy story about God conquering all and being ever present. The consolers are much like those in Joyce's own take on Job in his story 'Grace'--stupefyingly inadequate.

[majorhoop]

@lacansfoolosopher --i agree. interestingly, i thought of joyce too (God with his seemingly random, sometimes harsh, justice as "epileptic Lord and Giver of life"). i viewed the film as a satirical parody of the book of job and it certainly made consistent sense. i think the film is a companion piece to "No Country for Old Men", both films about a man losing his faith. it reminded me some of preston sturges; a lot of comedy, but a troubling darkness at the center.

[thoughtadventure]

Grace Slick as the voice of God? Interesting.

[alexington459]

That's Larry's problem. He's a serious man, too serious!

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." The movie begins with that quote, right? Hilarious, but still a very serious movie! Coen brothers = genius!

[majorhoop]

@hashkat --i dunno.  i think he uses movies to push a few points of his own agenda, whether they have anything to do with the movie or not. as a review, its pretty weak. apparently some people find comfort in it when confronted by difficult, ambiguous material.

[jordanhackney]

i think the coens smoked a bunch of weed. then made a terrific movie.

[FreqBand]

I don't think this is a "spoiler"....I sent this Father Barron video to friends that might never watch "A Serious Man" ....and take it seriously.

....FWIW, I am Jewish.

[yellowcakeur]

so the entire theme of the film is in the last few lyrics at the end....please

he made it sound like some uplifting, family film

[Treyman1537]

Barron is wrong. Right before Danny enters Marshak's office after his Bar Mitzvah a painting of Abraham sacrificing Isaac flashes on the screen. Larry failed God's test when he changed Clive's grade; at which point he gets the call that his doctor has likely found cancer of some kind. Also, his son stares ominously at the tornado.

God is about to take Larry's son the same way he would have taken Abraham's if Abraham hadn't passed HIS test.

[treepizzle]

Larry doesn't talk to the final rabbi. The final rabbi only speaks to Danny saying "be a good boy." Danny is Not a good boy (listens to radio Again in class), and Larry is also not a good boy (changes Clive's grade). As such, they are somehow "punished," or, see the power of God firsthand. I don't think this film has to do with love as it's described here. I think the message is closer to "life is miserable and a mystery; you still have to be a good boy." Very similar message as Job.

[treepizzle]

All that said, I think making a direct comparison to Job is a little faulty. After all, Job's friends were jerks, not wise rabbis, as Barron's comparison would follow. I personally keep thinking about Romans 6:23: "for the wages of sin is death." As Larry says while reprimanding Clive. "In this office, actions have consequences." The consequence of Larry's actions (changing the grade) is death. It seems harsh, but I can't get it out of my head. But, are the Coens big on Pauline theology?

[tritiumH3]

Wow--Fr Barron's interpretation is radically different from mine. It's interesting to hear a completely different take on the same material.

[tkimesmvp]

Fr. Barron what is your take on Larry at the end of the film when he accepts the bribe and passes the student. following that he receives a phone call from his doctor regarding his health?

[majorhoop]

I'm afraid Fr. Barron and I must have seen two completely different versions of this film, literally and figuratively. The ideas & questions that I think the Coens are expressing & asking would have gotten them burnt at the stake as Gnostic heretics a few hundred years ago. This film's exploration of evil and God's seeming indifference (or worse) continues the disturbing questions posed earlier in "No Country for Old Men". Fr. Barron's take is, for me, a stretch at best.

[tkimesmvp]

I don't think Fr. Barron is saying this movie would have been approved during what ever time you are talking about. He's just saying this movie is a modern day story of job.

I don't know am I giving the right reply?

[etsneroj]

Is this really a Job allegory? I thought Job was about God testing the faith of a very fortunate man who had extraordinary faith, but whom the devil claimed would loose his faith if God took away what made him so fortunate. Was Larry really like Job? And, like you say, his faith itself was not tested; he simply could find no answers. And Rabbi Nochner, far from giving Larry an answer, says "HaShem owes us no anwers."

[tkimesmvp]

in a way i think his faith was tested. at the end of the movie Larry changes the grade of the student and accepts the bribe. in doing this he went against his values. I don't exactly know but this i guess would be my answer

[chrisgaitan]

This is my favorite movie. I found your interpretation of the film extremely poignant. Initially, upon first viewing, I found the film to be an attack on the very existence of God and the belief in any type of order in the universe. Seeing it more than once led me to find that this was a very one-sided analysis. Your insight on the film from a spiritual, religious perspective is just as valid. As a current agnostic I found this to be very interesting. Thank you for this video.

[Nergoil]

God surrounds Larry with answers and signs - he just can't see them. The Korean student is a sign. The Columbia record club is a sign. The car accident is a sign. The Jefferson Airplane song is a sign.

And all three Rabbis give him correct answers, just nit the answers he wants. The last Rabbi repeats the line from the Airplane song, which is really what Larry's question is. And then gives him the answer. What then? "Be a good boy". Be true to God, to your principles, to yourself.

[wordonfirevideo]

@Nergoil I think that's right.

[alexington459]

@wordonfirevideo

My jewish friends hate this movie, and this has shed another light on it all.

Is it possible that this movie is just laughing at jewishness and their traditions and rituals? The movie seems to want to make the point that they're paralysed as it were, unable to change their 'silly old' jewish ways. A movie about doubt ? - doubt about jewishness, life and God. Find somebody to love? Then comes the Hurricane = 1 more tragedy to befall them. Coen Brothers - nihilistic? Possible?

[wordonfirevideo]

@alexington459 I would tell your Jewish friends to re-read the 38th chapter of the book of Job. It is none other than the voice of God that comes "from the whirlwind." Larry hasn't been abandoned by God; he's being addressed by God.

[alexington459]

@wordonfirevideo

In any case, it's a great movie. But what do you make of that first scene, with the dybbuk? Haha, I mean, how on earth does that fit in with the rest of the movie? It seems non sensical. Hey, actually, that's it! Eureka! Maybe this movie is much like life - one cannot overthink it or over analyze it, otherwise you're just missing out on the party!

[schneidervideography]

@wordonfirevideo

I'm sorry your Jewish friends hate this movie. I'm Jewish and this is one of my favorite movies of all time. The Coen brothers "laugh at" everyone (why should Jews be an exception?). It is a modern day retelling of the book of Job. It's an absolutely beautiful film. A masterpiece - truly.

[RasMajnouni]

@schneidervideography I agree,as a religious Jew with an uncut beard,hat thing,non religious Jews are afraid to stand out.No one will mistake me for anything but Jewish.Here in Israel all humour is directed in laughing at ourselves.Satires,films,litura­ture,journals in Israel are all pointing out our lacks,weaknesses,follies,drive­s.Self criticism or by others only improves a person .Torah itself says "Love criticism".

[misterzonker2584]

@alexington459 I think there's some truth to what you're saying and some truth to what Fr. Barron is saying. I definitely see the influence of the Book of Job here, but I also see a lot of self-deprecation and mysterious longing behind the Jewish faith portrayed as well. The ending, where Larry betrays any principle of honesty by giving into the Korean student after improbably receiving tenure did not sit well with me and was decidedly un-Joblike. And I'm not Jewish either.

[pboisei]

@alexington459

my rabbi liked it.

[jonvil2009]

@alexington459 Nope. You didn't get the movie. It was not making fun of old Jewish traditions. It was actually (in its own way) glorifying old Jewish traditions.

I am Jewish and I enjoyed the movie. Sometimes as they did in Fargo; the Coen brothers indulge , exaggerate & ridiculously parody certain steroetypes; primarily for comedic effect... and some people may take offense to that type of comedy... but I personally enjoyed (though I took that part of the film with a big grain of salt).

[wspsux]

@alexington459

say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos. 

[majorhoop]

@Nergoil --the obvious (to me) and very troubling question then is what kind of God would surround Larry with answers and signs that that God knew he couldnt see? what could possibly be the point of such an excercise? i believe the 3 rabbis are to varying degrees presented as ineffectual buffoons. anyone raised in the suburbs knows theres no cosmic beauty in a parking lot.

[Nergoil]

@majorhoop What's God supposed to do - beat Larry over the head with a 2x4 that has the meaning of life carved into the side in six languages? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Larry asked for signs. God gave him some. Is it God's fault that Larry is incapable of seeing them for what they are? God did what Larry asked Him to, which was more than reasonable.

Also, there's cosmic beauty everywhere. Really.

[majorhoop]

@Nergoil i have absolutely no idea what God is 'supposed' to do. i believe the 2nd rabbi told larry hashem doesnt owe us any explanations, which is a little more reasonable than the 1st rabbi's response (for me anyway, but then im just some guy about the coens age who grew up in the suburbs; i got the joke about the parking lot). the 3rd rabbi didnt respond to larry at all, but i think his talk with the son was telling. larry i think is finding the truth hes been taught to be lies. "Vot den?"

[majorhoop]

@Nergoil further, indulge me for a moment and try seeing this film through "fresh eyes". view the coens as latter-day gnostics and fr. barron as a latter-day irenaeus (sp?) attempting to neutralize or de-claw this films very discomforting message: that the creator of this world may be imperfect.

[hadithi]

@Nergoil That's a brilliant assessment! I think yo nailed the theme of the picture.

[1secretmeadow]

Your comments on Bob Dylan and Jefferson Airplane are refreshing. You see man illuminating the humanity God has created. I look forward to viewing more as it shows me more how to see another in the way that refreshes our outlook so we can better see through the eyes of Christ. I appreciate your positive attitude of intellectual and spiritual curiosity that sees in man the good that God created. Thank you for that. Helen G.

[TulseLuper]

Actually what the old Rabbi says instead of Somebody to Love is, "What then?" That little variation on the lyrics changes the meaning of the song entirely, and that's what makes the use of the song so interesting.

I love your film interpretations. I don't think the Coens set out to make a spiritual film the way you saw it but it's still a legit view. Trust the tale and not the teller.

[samuelu2lavern]

Although I like many of your commentaries, I thought you dodged the primary issue in the Job story. What the writer(s) of Job were wrestling with was the question "Whence comes evil?" Why do the righteous and innocent suffer? The metaphoric explanation in Job is that God has made a wager with Satan and allows him, with one restriction, to have his way with the man. God allows evil activity. Job endures because he clings to the idea of making his case before God and receiving an answer

[samuelu2lavern]

advice is good if one is seeking a palliative, but it sounds to me like something that one of Job's "friends" would have come up with. It is not what Job was searching for.

[samuelu2lavern]

regarding the meaning of his ordeal. When God does appear to Job through the whirlwind He says nothing about love. He simply points out that He is God, and Job is not: "Where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation. Tell me if you have understanding" Case closed. This is not a satisfactory answer because in is not based on justice or love but rather differences in power. The primary question has never received a satisfactory answer. Do you have one? The Cohen Bros.

[JasonOmara]

Yes, we do. Can you guess His name?

[samuelu2lavern]

Obama? j/k : ). Curiously, the presence of Christ in the world doesn't seem to have significantly altered the behavior of man or its consequences. The XXth Century was one of the most savage in human history: 50-70 million killed in WWII alone. How many righteous/innocent people suffered and died at Auschwitz? Business as usual. It hardly seems as if we are living in an era of Messianic triumph. Fr. Barron alluded to this issue when he reviewed No County for Old Men. In his review, Fr. Barron

[samuelu2lavern]

highlighted the dream of an old sheriff who had been psychologically defeated by the scale and depravity of the evil that he had been battling in modern Texas. In his dream, the Sheriff''s deceased father has prepared a campfire clearing in the desert for the two of them. Yes, a metaphor of a loving God providing deliverance on the other side. But somehow it strikes me as being only what it is--a dream.

[JasonOmara]

I disagree. I think that the presence of Christ in the world has changed everything. Imagine that you are moving to earth from another planet, and you are trying to decide on a place to live. You'd like to be where you and your family's rights will be most respected, and where truth, justice and charity are most likely to prevail. You are given two choices: You can live in a civilization that was built by Christ's Church (a.k.a. the West), or you can live anywhere else. Easy decision?

[samuelu2lavern]

I see your point. I do think that Christianity has been a benevolent force in the development of the West. But consider this: one nation that contributed greatly to the West prior to WW II, particularly in the field of theology, is Germany. What is the spiritual etiology of the triumph of Nazism? At least the writer(s) of Job were were perceptive enough to acknowledge that if God is omniscient and omnipotent then you can't pin all the responsibility for the existence of evil on man even if

[samuelu2lavern]

(cont.) we do have "free will"), or the devil. The writer(s) of Job made God complicit in what happened to his servant. I don't think questions about this issue can be adequately answered. But I do get tired of the constant drumbeat from the clergy about the love of God, considering how ineffectual it appears to be in the world in which we are actually living. From that perspective I think Christianity is a serious disappointment, but it might be the best that we can do.

[powereddrive]

I don't understand why Christianity itself takes credit for the accomplishments of the west.  The majority of great philosophers, scientists and artists since the enlightenment vary from unorthodox to militantly atheist.

When Christ appeared, Europe proceeded to slip into centuries of darkness.

Your statement concerning where one would choose to live is meaningless without context; the history of world Civilization is not as simple as east vs. west.

[mammyoriordan]

Great stuff Fr. Barron. Thanks. The story of Job is my story. In fact everyman's. And yes we gotta find somebody to love - and in loving God we find we love all that God loves - all of humanity. - Blessings - Rene

[powereddrive]

Thanks, I must say that I have no problem with this. I still don't know heaven itself though, such a place doesn't make much sense to me, an entire realm of existence made up of love? Sounds like a disaster.

Back to irony, how does irony work in a system that proclaims it knows how it is ultimately going to work out?

[powereddrive]

Christians have no concept of irony. Whoever can watch this film and find affirmation for a loving god, know nothing of the place of God in contemporary American-Jewish society

Freud, Kafka , and Proust. These are the prophets of modern Judaism.

[wordonfirevideo]

Well love, for both Christians and Jews, hasn't a thing to do with sentimentality or "everything working out just fine." The God who speaks in this movie is the God disclosed in the book of Job, who is indeed a God of love. But authentic love is, as Dostoevsky put it, "a harsh and dreadful thing."

[powereddrive]

Interesting, love as an agent of destruction is a romantic or Shakespearean concept I thought, but not a Catholic concept. Perhaps you could clarify this for me.

"And so it was I entered the broken world/

To trace the visionary company of love, its voice/An instant in the wind (I know not wither hurled)/but for long to hold each desperate choice."

[wordonfirevideo]

Well where do you think Shakespeare or the Romantics got it from ?!!

[powereddrive]

As to the origins of Shakespeare's powers or Shelley's powers I cannot say, but love is not victorious in either of these writers, so even if both had Christian sensibilities, their final understanding of the world was not.

Besides, the author of the quote I used above, was both gay and a suicide (Hart Crane), do you all believe, as Christians, believe that such a man can enter the kingdom of Heaven?

[powereddrive]

If Heaven is a place that accepts individuals like Jerry Falwell, and not Hart Crane I want no part of it anyhow.

[thunderbolt94]

Ok, you just simply made an arrogant statement there. If you had simply left with your question "do you all believe, as Christians, believe that such a man can enter the kingdom of Heaven?", that would've given someone a reason to answer your question with intelligence and grace. Instead, you have allowed yourself to look like an arrogant, close minded person that makes someone not want to answer your question.

[powereddrive]

I am sorry if I offended anyone, and I would like to think of myself as an open-minded person, if you could answer that part of the question you consider appropriate that would be fine

[thunderbolt94]

Thanks so much, and now I would be happy to answer your question.

You have to remember that it's not up to us as to who will go to Heaven or not. While I myself consider myself a Christian who believes in Christ, that alone will not guarantee me into the Kingdom of Heaven. When someone says, "Oh that person's going to Heaven; oh he's going to Hell," and so on and so on, let me ask: How do you know that? It's not up to us to decide who goes to the kingdom of heaven.

[thunderbolt94]

You have to remember that God knows everything about us, and He wants to seek a relationship with us, but he has given us Free Will to decide if we will reject him or not. That doesn't mean God won't love us. We are fortunate that our God is a loving, just God, and will be fair when it comes to meeting him when we pass on to the next life.

As for Hart Crane, no one is in a position to judge as to whether or not someone like him will go to Heaven. Is it possible? In my opinion, absolutely.

[thunderbolt94]

Does that mean we know for sure that he is in Heaven? No. Does that mean that people like him will go to Heaven? We don't know. We don't have the authority to make that judgement, just like I don't have the authority as to whether or not I will be guaranteed to go to Heaven.

[wordonfirevideo]

The church never pronounces on who is in heaven or hell. That's up to God.

[BosMutusCatholic]

Saints?

[wordonfirevideo]

Actually, you're right! I should have said that it never determines who's in Hell.

[powereddrive]

I was being intentionally flippant when I said Christians have no concept of irony. Kierkegaard was a genius, but I do not know if he would be considered a Christian in 21st century America. G.K. Chesterton was, of course Catholic, but it is hard for me to digest him sometimes because many of his political beliefs are anathema to mine own.

And there always seems to be a cruelty in Orthodox Christian ironists (Eliot, Swift, Flannery) that is discomforting.

[Jugglable]

from imdb trivia page: Another Biblical allusion is that Larry sees his neighbor's beautiful naked wife sunbathing over the fence, like King David saw Bathsheba. (btw is it a coincidence that she has the word "Bath" in her name?)

Also, on the phone w/ record company he keeps saying he doesn't want Abraxas by Santana. He doesn't want Abraxas, didn't order Abraxas, doesn't like "Abraxas," which is a gnostic term for god and the etymological root of "Abra Cadabra;" he's rejecting god and magic.

[TELEMACUS800]

Jugglable: Interesting insights. The Bathsheba reference seems plausible. But in terms of the "Abraxas" reference, perhaps Larry is rejecting a false god and false religion. It is part of the testing of Job, which in the Biblical account established him as a "serious" or righteous man. In Larry's rejection of the album, he rejects the false god and false religion that it represents.

[Jugglable]

Ah! Very cool.

I looked into the "Abraxas" etymology and it may be questionable...but still, perhaps this is still how the directors intended it.

[Jugglable]

What did you make of that cryptic first scene?

[wordonfirevideo]

You know, I'm still thinking about it. What are your thoughts?

[Jugglable]

Well, I think to some extent they want us to scratch our heads about it. I think the scene is important precisely because we're supposed to be confused and unsure. (I also think those folks might have been Larry's ancestors.) The scene kind of establishes what you'll think for the rest of the movie: Is the man a dybbuk, or a mortal? Is the tornado at the end just weather? I think the opening scene is about mystery and unknowability, this theme continued w/ ref to Schrodinger.

[Jugglable]

....continued: Maybe we're supposed to just receive the scene with simplicity like the proverb at the beginning says! "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you."

[Tbaum77]

@Jugglable the cryptic scene is that Larry's cursed because his grandmother (?) stabbed the rabi

[LeoRJH]

Look the book "A 100" up

[otoolehouse]

"Rabbi School"? Really?

[wordonfirevideo]

Well, I could have said "yeshiva," but I was pretty sure that my non-Jewish listeners wouldn't know what I was talking about.

[thunderbolt94]

Very insightful thoughts, Father Barron, as always. I thought the movie was brilliant (one of the Coen's best). As for the ending, when I first saw it, I had perceived (spoiler) the tornado at the end as God's punishment to Larry for giving in to changing the student's grade. With your thoughts in mind, it sort of alters my interpretation.

[BosMutusCatholic]

I thought the tornado and the ominous call from his doctor at the end, presumably with bad news, was a punishment. Throughout the movie Larry is trying to be faithful, but his constant refrain is 'I didn't do anything' -- which is just his problem.  When he does do something -- takes the bribe and changes the grade -- really terrible things happen. But that is still an affirmation of God's presence and purpose. It is ironic, and a harsh love. Larry is an anti-Job, but God is still glorified.

[DarkSuccesses]

Could you make a video on the movie "2012"?

[wordonfirevideo]

Coming up soon.

[DarkSuccesses]

@wordonfirevideo Very good.

[LeoRJH]

why? i can tell you right now that is not the end.

[DarkSuccesses]

@LeoRJH Me and almost everyone knows that its not, Its just so they can make money on some movies and books. I Just want to see Father Barron's opinion on how messed up these people are.

[LeoRJH]

k glad u know.