[cardguy]

For those who have seen the film starring Paul Newman. I want to share my analysis. I have an interpretation which I have never seen before.

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Cool Hand Luke is basically a Jesus figure - but with a twist. Since the film was made in the 1960's when existentialism was fashionable it is my contention that Cool Hand Luke is an existential martyr.

Jesus gave up his life to bring people closer to God.

Well - Cool Hand Luke doesn't believe in God. Instead he gives up his life to provide meaning to the prisoners he is in prison with.

Existentialism is a philosophical system based around the idea that there is no God and that the most important task facing man is the search for meaning. The work of Albert Camus is the biggest influence on this film. The film was made 7 years after Albert Camus' sudden death (in a car crash).

Look at the opening scene. Cool Hand Luke is drunk and cutting the heads off parking meters. A completely nihlistic crime which has absolutely no point.

Absurd - in the existential sense of the word.

When he is put in prison they mention his war record. He entered the war as a private - won a bunch of awards for bravery - and still came out a private.

Not only is Cool Hand Luke an existential rebel. He also rejects societies value system. And he rejects the meaningful good life which society promotes - ie being a war hero.

So even though Cool Hand Luke WAS a war hero - he was never promoted since he clearly was being a complete pain the ass when in the army. Again - this shows his rejection of the praise and merit offered by his contemporary society.

Now - there are a number of scenes in the film which reference Jesus Christ. You can read about them here:

http://voices.yahoo.com/is-there-religio...95608.html

http://sheepnoir.wordpress.com/2011/05/1...re-you-go/

The idea of Cool Hand Luke as a quasi-existential version of Jesus Christ is a clever one. Because - all existentialists by definition do not believe in God. Which means to an existentialist - there is no way that Jesus could have being the son of God.

Which means that Cool Hand Luke and Jesus Christ were identical types of people. Both were ordinary people who decided to devote their lives (and sacrifice it) all in the name of providing hope and meaning to others.

Now - with all this said. There is one scene in the movie which is more important than any other.

You see - during the film, Cool Hand Luke does occasionally look to the sky and 'talk' to God. Which is strange - since he is supposed to be an atheist, right?

Well - this song is the key here:

He has just found out his mum has died. This is the hardest part of his life.

So he sings this song:

The lyrics are important:

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Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes, Long as I have my plastic Jesus Riding on the dashboard of my car Through all trials and tribulations, We will travel every nation, With my plastic Jesus I'll go far.

{Refrain}

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus Riding on the dashboard of my car Through all trials and tribulations, We will travel every nation, With my plastic Jesus I'll go far.

I don't care if it rains or freezes As long as I've got my Plastic Jesus Glued to the dashboard of my car, You can buy Him phosphorescent Glows in the dark, He's Pink and Pleasant, Take Him with you when you're travelling far

{Refrain}

I don't care if it's dark or scary Long as I have magnetic Mary Ridin' on the dashboard of my car I feel I'm protected amply I've got the whole damn Holy Family Riding on the dashboard of my car

{Refrain}

You can buy a Sweet Madonna Dressed in rhinestones sitting on a Pedestal of abalone shell Goin' ninety, I'm not wary 'Cause I've got my Virgin Mary Guaranteeing I won't go to Hell

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Now the lyrics are the key. This is a song about the comfort that the act of belief provides for the believer. But if you look at the words used - it is all about the material the figurines of Mary and Jesus is made from.

The words used are all to describe the physical properties of his toy figurines - 'plastic', 'limestone', 'phosphorescent', 'glued', 'glowing', 'white', 'pink', 'iridescent', 'magnetic', 'rhinestones', 'abalone shell'.

So the words used are about the physical properties of the figurine. And the content of the song is about how looking at these figurines provides him with the religious comfort and strength he needs when he is feeling alone in the world. When he is alone driving at speed - staring at the dashboard of his car.

Look at the title of the song - 'Plastic Jesus'. This is a metaphor for a Jesus Christ - who is literally just a 'plastic' Jesus. By which I mean a fake Jesus (ie Messiah) - who is just an ordinary person and not the Messiah his followers believe he is.

Lastly - remember the scene where Cool Hand Luke has to repeatedly dig a hole and then refill the same hole?

This is a clear reference to Albert Camus' most imprtant book which was called 'The Myth Of Sisyphus'.

This is a very interesting book. It is a book devoted to the idea that if life has no meaning - is the rational response to literally put the book down and immediately kill yourself?

Well - the conclusion Camus comes to is that as with the myth of Sisyphus (the Greek God condemned to rolling a large rock up a hill and down again and up again for all eternity) man can find a form of 'meaning' by repeatedly doing 'pointless and meaningless' acts. And by somehow not being broken by the pointless task ahead of us - we can overcome the lack of meaning in the world. And we can define our character by this overcoming. And in a way - our response to the lack of meaning in the world and the pointlessness of existence can be an act which provides a defiant sense of meaning in the face of absurd existence.

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That mostly covers what I have to say about this film.

Cool Hand Luke is an existential Jesus Christ.

But - remember - there isn't actually a God in any case.

Which means Jesus and Cool Hand Luke are the exact same figures.

Ordinary mortals who sacrifice their lives in the name of providing hope and meaning for their followers.

To finish - here is an image of Paul Newman from the film.

[cardguy]

My brother's favourite film is 'Cool Hand Luke'. And I kept promising to explain my theory to him. But it is just a little too involved to go into during a conversation.

Well - today I thought I would put it down in an email and thought I would share it with you guys as well.

Thought it might get a better audience here since my brother doesn't read any philosophy.

[Haig]

Cheers for that! it is an absolutely brilliant film. I always thought there was more to it.

Will have to watch it again.

[cardguy]

Yeah - the writing in my analysis is a bit sloppy. But I think it is clear enough to express what I had in mind.

Still - really great film. Every scene is a classic one. Not many films you can say that about.

Also - be sure to check out the links above since they provide alot of interesting details that I haven't mentioned above.

'Cool Hand Luke' - a film so good that Guns N' Roses sampled it twice!

[cardguy]

See the songs 'Civil War' and 'Madagascar'.

[cardguy]

This is the most famous speech in the film.

To me the 'failure to communicate' can be taken as a failure (on Luke's part) to follow rules, share societies' goals and values, and a failure to find meaning in the world that the officers live in. It is a total rejection of everything they stand for.

So - to me - this speech is also a reference to the ongoing existential rebellion from Cool Hand Luke. Indeed - at the end of the film - as a joke he shouts these words - just before he is shot.

[cardguy]

My reference to the 'Myth of Sisyphus' (the god who is sentenced to roll a giant rock up and down up a hill for all eternity - but who in Camus' retelling becomes defiant and inspired by his ongoing pointless task - since his defiance are the only source of meaning he has left) is even clearer in an earlier scene.

Early on in the film - the prisoners are given the task of doing roadwork for the day. Laying tarmac and digging ditches and so on.

None of the prisoners want to do it. But Paul Newman inspires them to work as hard as possible in order to get it done as quickly as possible.

Again - as with the Myth of Sisyphus - this is Paul Newman's attempt to find meaning the only way he can. By laying roads as quickly as possible. By working so hard it actually upsets the guards supervising them. Even though it is not an open revolt - the gestures, organisation, cameradarie and motivation of the prisoners has the same feel as an uprising.

So - even with the mediocre tools to hand (a day laying roads) - Cool Hand Luke manages to inspire his friends, provide meaning to them (in the form of trying to antagonise the guards by defiantly working as hard as possible) and at the same time rebels against 'the man'. In this case with the ironic weapon of obeying rules and working as hard as possible.

When they finish laying the road - they still have two hours left to kill.

They ask what Luke what they should do now.

"Nothing", he responds.

[Roadrunner]

You've outdone yourself. Absolutely brilliant insight into the movie. The movie makes more sense when interpreted that way. Also props on the Sisyphus reference.

[Veloce]

Damn. I've always loved this movie, but now I need to rewatch it. Thanks for this.

[cardguy]

If you watch the end of the film - Cool Hand Luke walks into an empty church, looks up and asks "Is anybody there?"

Needless to say - that line works on two levels.

[cardguy]

This image is of Cool Hand Luke after he is left lying on the table after eating 50 eggs in one hour.



I mentioned this image earlier. It is a clear reference to Jesus Christ.

Now - think about the context of the image.

When Jesus Christ was on the cross - he had given his life to try and save all humanity from sin and bring them closer to God.

When Cool Hand Luke is in the same resting position - it is because he thought it would be fun to pointlessly kill an hour by doing a dumb challenge.

This is an important thing to note. Since to the absurdist existentialist - every act is equally meaningless. Whether it is wriiting a great novel, saving a child's life, inspiring millions - or killing an hour eating eggs.

The only shadow of meaning that can be grasped from any act is whether it provides a form of meaning to yourself or others. So - in a sense - the Parable of The Eating Of The Eggs (according to the Existentialst Gospel of Cool Hand Luke) is just as important an act as any other, since it helped filled some time in the days of our meaningless existence.

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I think this covers all my points. But I just want to say that the interpretation of a film is not like plugging numbers into a mathematical formula and seeing what the answer is.

Instead - in my analysis above - I am trying to show how most of the scenes and lines can be read from the point of view of a guy who is searching for meaning in the world. And is looking for any silly way of providing it - since meaning is meaning. Whether it is the meaning you feel when you listen to Bach - or the meaning and sense of purpose you feel when killing time with friends doing a silly stunt.

Speaking of the above - one of my favourite posts on this forum was the guy who spent a day at work doing a challenge to see if a co-worker could eat one of everything from a vending machine. I love shit like that. And as with Cool Hand Luke - I find dumb shit like that quite moving on a spiritual level. Since it speaks to my absurdist sense of existence.

http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-23014.html

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Lastly - in the end scene - in the church - Cool Hand Luke talks about how 'bad' he was during the war. Yet - he won many medals for his bravery.

This suggests that the war was the event which made him question everything. This is an important point since it was the same war (WWII) which inspired Sarte and Camus (the early existentialists) to question society, and to ask what kind of purpose and meaning could be found in an amoral universe with no God.

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Existentialism is out of fashion these days. Which is a shame since I don't think philosophical ideas should be subject to the whims of fashion. But sadly they are - since there is no objective way of judging one system as being more truthful than another. As such - the winds of academic fashion take on far more important than would be the case in other fields.

Still - I enjoy existentialism - and think it is an interesting area of study. It is also very accessible compared to alot of philosphical systems.

As such I think it is neat that Cool Hand Luke pushs an existential message in the film. It is just a shame that this message has been overlooked by alot of people.

One other important point. When Cool Hand Luke escapes from the prison (early on in the film) he sends back a postcard to the prisoners which has a photo of himself in fine clothes, drinking champagne (or wine? or whiskey? I forget) surrounded by two beautiful women.

When the prisoners read it they are delighted that Cool Hand Luke is free and 'living the high life'.

Later on he is caught - and admits, when asked, that it was a fake photo that he paid a couple of bucks to get taken in a shopping mall somewhere.

Again - the postcard fits in with the rest of the movie. Of Cool Hand Luke devoting all of his energy to trying to inspire his fellow prisoners and provide them meaning for their lives.

At the end of the film - when he is dead - he lives on in the form of the stories and hope that is spread amongst 'hios disciples' as they talk about him in the prison camp.

If you think about - this is a form of ressurection. And a form of Eternal Life. Not by living again - but by having the example you set live on for all eternity. Perhaps this was the true sense of the 'second coming' that Jesus was trying to share in a 'Cool Hand Luke' kind of way?

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Lastly - the whole film is set in a prison. Which is about as striaghtforward a location anybody would pick for setting a film which is about 'challenging the rules' and 'breaking free'.


Sorry - for all the loose ends. I should have put some of these ideas in some of my earlier posts. But when you look at the film in this way - so many examples come to mind that it hard to keep track of them.

There are probably some more examples (I haven't seen the film in a few years) - but I will stop here for the sake of everybody's sanity.

[Architekt]

(12-14-2013 06:51 AM)cardguy Wrote:  

This is an important thing to note. Since to the absurdist existentialist - every act is equally meaningless. Whether it is wriiting a great novel, saving a child's life, inspiring millions - or killing an hour eating eggs.

The only shadow of meaning that can be grasped from any act is whether it provides a form of meaning to yourself or others.

"Every act is equally meaningless, unless it means something to you"

This was the same train of thought I was on when I was reading. Very powerful sentiment