Response Essay # 3 Rough Draft - No Country for Old Men

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

           Entertainment's general appeal to society is the brief opportunity to escape from the mundane reality of life. Television programs, films, and even video games offer depictions of compelling lives under fictional circumstances drastically different or incredibly similar to those of viewers. Rooted in all mediums of entertainment are values, sometimes apparent and sometimes subtle. These values are intended to parallel those presented within society. The majority are merely based on common sense. However, there are occasional instances within entertainment, primarily in film, in which values society purposefully avoids acknowledging are directly addressed. In cases such as these, a contradiction is established between society's publicized values and the realistic values existent within said society. Murder, for instance, is deemed immoral by society, yet murder is committed every day within society. Society, therefore, inherently fosters the growth of its pollutants. The recognition and display of this process in the art form of film makes for a captivating stimulus from an emotional, mental, and political context. The 2007 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men exemplifies the contradictions that arise from unfiltered and honest depictions of modern day society.

           The film No Country for Old Men, directed and written for the screen by Joel and Ethan Coen, follows a Texan hunter's perilous flight from a sadistic assassin after discovering an immense amount of money left in the aftermath of a fatal drug transaction in the middle of the desert. The film features actors such as Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson, and Kelly Macdonald. Reliant on high suspense and realistic violence, most would generally assume the film's primary audience would consist of adult males. This is not to say, however, it is not favored by differing audiences. Aside from the fast-paced action and gruesome violence, the film presents a compelling story along with distinct characters.

           Society teaches that avarice is negative. Greed, therefore, a characteristic seemingly innate to human beings, is a quality one should actively combat. This popular culture value is renounced by society yet embodied by its leaders. In the film No Country for Old Men, the protagonist, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), stumbles upon a horrific scene in the middle of the desert. After discovering several corpses, Llewelyn tracks the single man who had escaped only to find him deceased under a tree with a briefcase containing two million dollars. While he clearly comprehends that the money within the briefcase was used to purchase illegal drugs and caused the deaths of several men, he still takes it with him, without any apparent remorse or guilt. Greed is evident within this action. Llewelyn does not report the deaths to local authorities nor does he offer aid to a dehydrated man begging him for water. He places the value of the money above human lives as well as the law. Society would condemn Llewelyn's decision to steal the money, but in reality, the majority of people placed in his position would have done the same. In this way, the film offers insight into the reality of human nature as opposed to societal nature.