Hard Eight
The story of P. T. Anderson’s Hard Eight, as made clear in the latter half of the film, is a story of redemption. Sidney, played by Phillip Baker Hall, is an ex-mobster responsible for the death of John’s father. Stricken with grief and regret, Sidney assumes the father figure role in John’s life. In finding John down on his luck, Sidney takes him under his wing and makes John his own apprentice. Teaching John how to play the casinos and live the life of a full time gambler, Sidney grows to love John as if he were his own son. He cares for his relationship to John so much, in fact, that he would kill to protect it. This film was the directorial debut of Paul Thomas Anderson. In it, as in his later films, there is a concentration on father figures. The absence of a conventional father figure is one that has been dealt with in stories as old as time itself. While Sydney’s actions are noble, it is questionable whether he deserves his forgiveness due to his dishonesty.
Sidney’s actions and emotions throughout the entire film reflect that of the typical father. He gets upset when John marries Clementine, and doesn’t tell him. His care for John and his life are shown as he watches John and Clementines wedding video, a very emotional scene for Sidney. He even pays for John’s mother’s funeral, something that would normally be handled by family members. He doesn’t approve of John’s new friend, Jimmy, who is a constant source of Sidney’s suspicion. Also, when John finds himself and his new wife in legal trouble, Sidney selflessly sends them out of town, sacrificing his relationship with John for his own happiness with Clementine. This constant theme of father figures fits in with Raymond Bellour’s “Oedipus”...
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... presence of a father’s care for his offspring gives them a higher sense of morality. The idea of fatherhood is something that every viewer can understand. The past crimes of Sidney in Hard Eight, or the excess and sin of Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights, can be salvaged in the hearts of viewers based on this idea. As far as plot and storyline go, not all stories are Oedipus. However, every storyteller’s own idea of fatherhood and the importance of family are placed in the story somehow. It is what makes every story different, and it is what makes them all the same.
Bibliography
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Both men had tragic outcomes; however, Oedipus' ending was by far the most heartrending. The tragedy of him being a "son, And a husband, to the woman who bore him; father-killer, And father-s...
The term “Oedipus complex” (or, less commonly, Oedipal complex), explains the strong emotions and ideas that the mind keeps deep within the unconscious of where a child, most notably male, is attracted to his own mother in a sexual nature. In society, incest is looked down upon because it crosses the forbidden zone, the desire for sexual relations, which deviates from the traditional parent-to-child relationship. This term was coined after the ancient Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King. The original script was first written around 429 B.C, by Sophocles. He was most famously known to be one of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived to this day. Knowing that he is a playwright who specializes in writing about the human condition
Oedipus at first finds the implications of killing his father and sleeping with his mother difficult to tolerate as a factual manifestation of his past. He disputes the fact that he had caused suc...
Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
Myers, H. A. (1949). Aristotle's study of tragedy. Educational Theatre Journal, 1(2), 115. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1290192594?accountid=12085
The role of a father could be a difficult task when raising a son. The ideal relationship between father and son perhaps may be; the father sets the rules and the son obeys them respectfully. However it is quite difficult to balance a healthy relationship between father and son, because of what a father expects from his son. For instance in the narratives, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences” both Willy and Troy are fathers who have a difficult time in earning respect from their sons, and being a role model for them. Between, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences,” both protagonists, Willy and Troy both depict the role of a father in distinctive ways; however, in their struggle, Willy is the more sympathetic of the two.
Oedipus is a story about a few basic human emotions. Among them are rage, passion, humility, and guilt. The Ancient Greeks understood these emotions well; their society was based upon the logical emotions, but always threatened by the violent ones. Oedipus was at first told that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Fearful of himself, he fled showing a lack of humility away from his home, thinking that his problems would be solved. Later on, he gets into a tumultuous fight with a passerby on the road to Thebes. Enraged, he kills the man and his servants; this turned out to be a big mistake. After saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx, he marries and then passionately sleeps with the queen. Towards the end of the play, he realizes that he has indeed killed his father and married his mother, thus echoing the lack of humility that first drove him away from his adopted parents.
The fallout of the once blissful mother and son, and husband and wife, is inevitable as it was the predestined fate of the glorified king and savior of Thebes. Through Oedipus’s traits and motivations, interactions with others, and language of others it is evident that fate is not something you can run or hide from.
Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
Gainor, J. Ellen., Stanton B. Garner, and Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of Drama, Shorter Edition. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.
1. Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford Books, 1996. 672-709.
... and their love for their sons, no matter what kind of love it may be. The father-son relationship is enhanced in these works by the absence of mothers, who had either passed on or were not very essential to the plot of the work. Through these works, the importance of a father-son relationship can truly be shown.
... self-awareness, ignorance, doubt, and awareness. The pain of loss and discovery that Oedipus must overcome eventually shape him into a more mature, humble, and humane character. This psychological journey from arrogant blindness to self-awareness and understanding models the journey each of us struggle with while trying to come to terms with the realities of our world an ourselves. Humans, of course, have not changed. When explaining the concept of Oedipal complexes, Sigmund Freud himself boldly stated, "The dream of having sexual intercourse with one's mother was as common then as it is today." And pride, just as much as delusions and desires, is a part of human nature we all must learn to manage so it does not blind us. Thus, the play Oedipus Rex still reveals some of the deepest psychological truths about human existence, over 2,000 years and civilizations later.