I don’t just love The Coen’s A Serious Man, I am fascinated by it. This is a movie that has a lot to say and there’s a lot I want to say about it. But I don’t want to give away a lot of the details to people who have never seen it. So I’ve decided to lay down a few thoughts and ideas about this wonderful film. Bear in mind that after the jump, it will be infested with spoilers.

This isn’t entirely an explaination of the events and characters of this rich movie as I am not completely sure about all of it myself, but think of it as a contemplation. With that said, let’s jump into A Serious Man…

Let it be known that I am not Jewish, have never read the Torah, nor do I know but a sliver of the customs and traditions of Jews. But I do know that A Serious Man is a biblical parable on the level of Job. But as Job is seen from God’s perspective (we are told before the events that occur how Job comes to be inflicted), A Serious Man never hints at Divine Intervention, but subtly infers these things. It is quite logical that these events could (though highly unlikely) occur without God’s hand on it. And as this is written by Joel and Ethan Coen, we can see how they view God and Man in how they treat their creation, which from what I understand represents their own father in a way.

The catalyst for judgment is the bribery money that Larry Gopnik finds on his desk. He knows who put it there and knows if he takes the money that he would be betraying everything he believes in. While he wants to give the money over to either the student or the authorities, he also is paralyzed by a fear of rocking the boat.

In fact, everything that happens to him is out of fear of rocking the boat. His upcoming tenure is threatened by his inability to fight slanderous gossip against him. His wife is leaving him for being so plain and unexciting, seeking the more interesting if yet more flaky Sy Ableman. Even his brother’s trouble with the law comes from him not telling his brother off when he finds out about the gambling. His temptation nightmares tell of what he wants to do in the same way I might believe the serpent might have tempted Eve in the Garden.

Instead of action, he decides to whether the storm, to lie low and let the storm pass. But it doesn’t pass. In fact, it keeps getting worse. Yes, Sy Ableman dies but his memory is stronger in his wife’s heart than Larry’s presence (a little piece of advise; never compete with the dead. You NEVER win). And then we find out that Larry’s brother actually is jealous of him, not understanding everything that’s going on. If Larry would confide in his brother, again, he might have found an ally.

Can I blame Larry for inaction? Not in the least because action comes with consequence. When we find out that Sy was the one sending those slanderous letters, what do you think would have happened if Larry confronted him or stood up for his marriage? If he would have turned in that money, what would that father have done to cripple this little professor? Again, maybe nothing might have happened. Again, maybe God played no part in what happened. Maybe he was dying from the first moment we met him, but we’ll get back to that in a little bit.

One thing that has really had my brain racked was the opening, set in Poland many years before Larry was even born. This opening was brilliant as it sets up a possible demon encounter when the husband brings a good Samaritan home with him after being stranded in the snow. When told that this man had died months ago and that it might be a demon at their door, see how they respond. The husband isn’t sure, but the wife is. He takes the man at his word, she sticks a blade through his heart. I love that we’re not certain either way if he’s a demon or not. The man is obviously bleeding, possibly dying as he leaves the house , but it could also be a show. What role does God play in this event, if any?

We also follow the exploits of Larry’s son, a young man on his way to being Jeffrey Lebowski if he’s not careful (of if he’s lucky, depending on how you see The Dude). Danny Gopnik is in debt to the schoolyard ruffian, smokes too much weed and is so addicted to TV that he has no problem calling his dad at work to fix the antennae. If I had to go to Hebrew classes after school, I might also take up psychotropic drugs myself, but doping up before your Bar Mitzvah? Of course, the final shot explains why we are following this young man around, another cosmic joke that might not be, and the perhaps a nod to the story of Abraham. I found myself laughing at the nature of this final shot, wondering whom God may be punishing with this last stroke; the father, the son, or both. Or perhaps it’s just one of those days.

Is Larry, or Danny, such bad men that they deserve punishment? I don’t think so. Even weak isn’t justified in this case. Larry doesn’t rock the boat, but he’s not entirely a schlep to push around. If he were, he would have taken the money and ran away from town.  But he doesn’t. Danny isn’t a complete prick, just a lazy, over-privileged boy who tries to make things right. Larry himself wants to do the right thing, asks for guidance from those people whom he has always respected for some hint of what to do, of encouragement, and the system fails him. The movie makes a big deal out of the three rabbis he tries to talk to (The First Rabbi, The Second Rabbi, and Rabbi Marshak, whom is old and revered with such wisdom, and whom we find out is merely an old man who enjoys the reverence he has been given). Larry wants their recognition as a serious man, a stand-up guy whom can be respected the way Sy Ableman was respected. And yet he never asks himself what he has done to deserve their respect, or the respect of his wife and kids, his brother or even his neighbor who is stealing his lawn piece by piece from him? Why should they consider him serious when all he does is endure?

In that case, the title A Serious Man is either not about Larry, or it’s about what Larry wants to see in himself, but can’t seem to get across to others. He might earn our sympathy, but not our respect.