O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Difference between revisions
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Agent Scully]]: Despite being pursued by Satan, meeting a prophet, being seduced by sirens, and
** And by the end, he doesn't really seem sure of himself any more.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: "These boys is ''not'' white! Hell, they ain't even old-timey."
* [[At the Crossroads]]: The three meet Tommy here after he [[Deal with the Devil|sold his soul to the devil]] to become a famous musician, in reference to the Robert Johnson [[Urban Legend]]. At this point, they also meet Big Dan Teague. Think about it.
** It's actually based on Tommy Johnson, who originated the story. Robert Johnson stole this story (and is more famous), but
* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: Not really, but it's what Delmar believes the sirens do to Pete.
* [[Berserk Button]]: [[My Name Is Not Durwood|George "Babyface" Nelson]]. [[Truth in Television]] with the real George Nelson.
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* [[Blatant Lies]]: "That ain't your daddy. Your daddy was hit by a train."
* [[Blind Seer]]: Lampshaded by Everett, who insists the man has a [[Disability Superpower]].
* [[Book Ends]]: The film opens with a chain gang together working near a railroad track and singing. The film closes with
* [[Breakaway Pop Hit]]: The soundtrack had its own sequels.
** In-movie also, since the Soggy Bottom Boys' singing is [[Lampshade Hanging|so good]] it helps resolve the plot.
* [[Brick Joke]]: The blind prophet at the beginning of the film mentions the trio will see a cow on the roof of a cotton house. Guess what they see after
** There's also a very subtle example that probably went over the head of most viewers. John Goodman's character is clearly modeled on the cyclops of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', with his eye patch and his violent confrontation with the heroes. Goodman's character is later revealed to be a member of the Klan. Though unmentioned in the film, one of the Klan's rankings is "Grand Cyclops
* [[Burn, Baby, Burn]]
* [[The Cast Showoff]]: Real-life blues singer Chris Thomas King plays Tommy, and at one point gets to sing (in his own voice) a rendition of Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
* [[Censorship by Spelling]]: "Mrs. Hogwallop up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T." Becomes somewhat of a [[Running Gag]].
* [[Chained Heat]]
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* [[Empty Piles of Clothing]]: This (and a toad) cause the other two to assume Pete's been turned into a toad.
* [[Enthralling Siren]]: The three washerwomen are the siren stand-ins.
* [[Everything's Better with Cows]]: One is gunned down during
* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: Big Dan Teague.
* [[Fairy Tale Motifs]]: Well, more like Mythology Motifs, but whatever.
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* [[Friend to All Living Things]]: Delmar, or butterflies at the least.
* [[Funny Background Event]]: Everett, Delmar, and Pete are all chained together, and try to escape by boarding a moving train. In the foreground we see Everett (on the train) introducing himself to some hobos. In the background, Pete trips before he can climb in...
** Also, Pete's gloriously goofy dancing during Delmar's rendition of "In the Jailhouse Now
** Background singing - in ''Man of Constant Sorrow'', Everett finishes singing a depressing stanza that ends in the line "perhaps I'll die upon this train..." and Delmar and Pete chime in with a cheery "Perhaps he'll die upon this train!"
* [[Genre Busting]]: It's a musical/comedy/social commentary/retelling of ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''... that's set in [[The Great Depression]].
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* [[Hobos]]
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: {{spoiler|Just before he's executed, Everett prays to God to let him see his daughters at least one more time. When the dam breaks and saves him, he starts going on about reason. The other two immediately call him out on it.}}
* [[Implacable Man]]:
* [[Inspector Javert]]: The Sheriff tries to characterize himself this way at the very end, claiming that the boys have only been pardoned by the law of man.
** Not exactly tries, considering he's... [[Louis Cypher|well]]...
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** Perhaps it was thanks to the [[Power of Rock|Power of Bluegrass]] that was able to sway their minds?
*** More likely that the townsfolk were more upset by Stokes interrupting the Soggy Bottom Boys' performance by trying to have them arrested and didn't care what else he said.
* [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]
** Note that in 1932 Mississippi,
* [[Pop Culture Osmosis]]: The Coens have claimed that they've never actually read ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'', but know the story through its various adaptations.
* [[Produce Pelting]]: What the audience does when Homer Stokes ends up interrupting the Soggy Bottom Boys performance to get them arrested, that as well as ride him out of town on a rail.
* [[Real Is Brown]]: Pursued with a vengeance, given that a substantial portion of the film's post-production budget went into extensive color-correction. The Coens wanted every frame of the film to reflect the dingy, withered dustbowl look, and in some cases took entire fields of green flora and turned them yellow.
* [[Rock Me, Asmodeus]]: "And I have it from the highest 'thority, that that negra...''sold his soul to the'' '''Devil!!!'''" (the townsfolk don't buy into it, though).
* [[Running Gag]]: Briefly.
{{quote|"Damn, we're in a tight spot!"
** Everett's obsession with his Dapper Dan <s> hair gel</s> pomade also counts.
* [[Satan]]: Sheriff Cooley is <s> heavily implied</s> explicitly theorized to be this.
* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]: The Sheriff/Warden/
* [[Seinfeldian Conversation]]: This charming example:
{{quote|"He's gonna paddle our little behind."
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"I don't believe that's a proper description."
"Well, that's how I'd characterize it."
"I believe it's more of a kickin' sitchiation."
** The discussion of a "grease spot on the L&N" and a "bona-fide" suitor ranks right up there too.
* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Everett. Also Big Dan Teague. For example, from the [[Funny Background Event]] described above:
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** And [[wikipedia:Tommy Johnson (blues musician)|Tommy Johnson]], also a real blues musician, who spread the same rumor about himself, to enhance his fame.
** The title of the movie is itself a [[Shout-Out]], to [[Preston Sturges]]' ''Sullivan's Travels''.
** The KKK scene is based off of the scene in the Wizard of Oz where the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin man try to sneak into the witches castle. The guards are chanting the way the KKK does and even doing a similar dance, and the three heroes steal disguises from the guards/
** The Soggy Bottom Boys are a reference to the Light Crust Doughboys, who were featured on the real-life [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/characters/pappy.html Pappy O'Daniel's] radio show.
** There's a coffin floating on a flooded river at the end, which is most certainly a shout out to William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.
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* [[Stern Chase]]: The Warden's search for the three convicts.
* [[Stout Strength]]: Big Dan Teague.
* [[Surrounded by Idiots]]
* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: "Who is that man?" "Not my husband." Also doubles as a [[Shout-Out]] to the source material.
* [[T-Word Euphemism]]: Sort of. One character wants to prevent his son from knowing that his mother left the family, so he just says she "Up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T."
** Subverted later on, in that the kid knew ''exactly'' what he was talking about, anyway.
* [[Those Two Guys]]: Pappy's two
* [[The Vamp]]: The three sirens.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: "Babyface" Nelson and Homer Stokes.
** {{spoiler|Nelson gets better}}...sort of.
** "MY NAME IS GEORGE NELSON, AND I'M FEELIN' TEN FEET TALL!"
* [[Villainous Glutton]]: Big Dan Teague, as befits his correspondence with the cyclops Polyphemus.
* [[Villain with Good Publicity]]:
* [[Working on the Chain Gang]]: The story begins with Ulysses, Pete, and Delmar escaping from this while chained to each other. Pete, at one point, is recaptured and put back to work on the chain gang and has to be broken out of prison ''again''.
* [[X Meets Y]]: [[The Three Stooges]] meets ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''.
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