Journal 3

When I think of film adaptations from literature, the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? comes to mind. This movie is based on Homer's book The Odyssey, written during the times of Ancient Greece. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? parallels The Odyssey's plot, but specific aspects of the events have been changed to fit the film's 1937 Great Depression setting and twenty-first century audience (the movie was produced in 2000). The main character in Homer's book is a hero named Odysseus, while the film's "hero" is Ulysses.

The parallels of these two movies demonstrate how the plot of the movie has been changed to please a modern audience. An important parallel is the "sirens" that both Odysseus and Ulysses face. Odysseus faces real sirens (bird-like creatures that live in the water and seduce sailors) while Ulysses faces "sirens" that are actually beautiful women singing and seducing him. This is important because in Ancient Greece, people actually believed in creatures like the sirens, so it was not odd to have them in the story. However, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? came out in 2000, when people no longer believe sirens exist.

Another example of how the movie's content has been modified is the cyclops that Odysseys and Ulysses run into. The cyclops is a hardship that both Odysseus and his companions and Ulysses and his companions must overcome. On the contrary, Ulysses and his friends encounter a "cyclops" that is really a one-eyed man. Odysseus ends up torching the cyclops's eye and a burning cross falls on the one eyed man in Ulysses's story. However, the situation of the cyclops is once again important in showing how the details of the story-line have changed for the audience.

The most important modification of content, however, might be the persona of the main character. Odysseus is viewed as a "hero" and his heroism is known throughout the book. However, Ulysses' heroism is not obvious and he is never referred to as a hero. In fact, he makes many mistakes and creates many enemies on his journey, often seeming like the opposite of a hero. In Ancient Greece, it was normal to have the hero figure, while in more modern times, the hero character is very unrealistic.

All of these changes tell me that is is extremely important to remember a text's context. Often, something that does not make sense becomes clear when the beliefs of the people the time period are understood. For example, the sirens, the cyclops, and the hero identity.