From: jeffw2@cfsmo.honeywell.com (Jeff Walberg)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: That Barton Fink Feeling
Date: 8 Apr 92 14:50:44 GMT
Article-I.D.: src.1992Apr8.145044.9996
Reply-To: jeffw2@cfsmo.honeywell.com
Organization: Honeywell, Inc


In article 12653@nic.unh.edu, J_DELANO1@unhh.unh.edu (Jeff   Delano) writes:
>	Late last night I saw _Barton Fink_. The movie left me with
>many many questions.
>	As I was going to sleep I came up with some pretty off the
>wall interpretations, such as Charlie being the Devil, the movie
>producer God and Barton himself as Jesus who tries to tell his 
>ideas to the world only to have them dismissed.
>	Well!  I'm sure most of that was the result of an overactive
>imagination (I was half-asleep, after all.)
>	There were some things I understood.
>	1) Charlie tried to "help people out of their troubles" by
>killing them.  He offered to help Barton out - "I'll be in my room
>if you need me.")
>	2). Barton professes to identify with the Common Man, but he's
>a big sham.  He talks down to the detectives, and cuts off Charlie
>whenever he tries to tell him a story.  Indeed, this is the reason
>Charlie gives for his punishing Fink.
>
>	You have to admit that the fire in the hotel ("this is my
>home") lends credence to the Munt as the Devil hypothesis.	
>
>	Can anyone clue me in to what this movie was about?
>	Wishy


I know how you feel.  When I saw Barton Fink at the theatre I thought it was good,
but it really troubled me because I knew I was missing a lot of the underlying 
meaning.  To compound the problem, my girlfriend, my roomate, a movie junkie friend
who has taken several film classes, and every review I read had different explanations, and none seemed satisfactory.  While I end to forget most movies within
30 minutes of viewing them, I found that I was still pondering Barton Fink weeks later.

Recently I attended a showing of the video cassete with my Tai Chi instructor and
about 30 other class members.  Following the movie we had an hour long discussion moderated by my instructor who is very well traveled and familiar with all sorts of different philosophies, religions, etc.  He basically shows movies that are full of
universal themes as a means of "initiation" into Tai Chi.

Anyway, in that hour we touched on almost every scene in the movie.  The key concept
is that the hotel represents Barton's mind, and all the characters within the hotel
(there are very few, if you recall) are aspects of Barton's character.  Barton
represents his own conscious mind; the aspect of his personality which is attempting to maintain control.  Despite being hopelessly out of touch and stuck at a creative
impasse, Barton refuses to pay attention to Charlie who seemingly has the answers to 
Barton's troubles if he would only stop being so obsessed with himself and LISTEN!

Charlie, then, represents Barton's inner self - his connection to everyday experience.
Charlie is obviously very troubled and insecure himself, and it's no wonder with
Barton running the show.  In one telling scene, Charlie's and Barton's shoes become
mixed up.  Barton is sitting at the typewriter with his normal case of writer's
block staring at the page.  Under the desk, we see him slip his feet into Charlie's
roomy shoes and he begins to create!  He's now back in touch with himself, but as
soon as his own shoes (very tight and confining) are returned, he slips back to his
previous state.  Charlie, meanwhile is forced to behead the things that cause him
pain (essentially burying his problems) since Barton won't deal with them.

The increasing heat during the movie represents the increasing pressure and anxiety
that Barton experiences as his deadline approaches.  The fire scene begins to make
more sense when you listen to the words Charlie yells repeatedly as he runs down the hall:

"I'll show you the life of the mind!"

There also seems to be a parallel drawn to the rise of Naziism, which fits the time
period.  As Charlie blows away the detectives (Barton's morality, perhaps?) he yells
"Heil Hitler!".  There are also quite a few other anti-semitic statements 
interspersed throughout the film.

Well, I could keep going for quite awhile, but my employer would probably just as
soon I stick to something a little closer to my job description.  I would love to
discuss this film some more, though, because it is packed with symbology, hidden
meaning, with a healthy dose of bizarre humor and Hollywood satire to boot.

One final thought:  Did you notice how everything Barton experiences is shared by
Charlie (or one of the other people in "The Earl")?  Eg. Barton puts his ear to
the soggy wallpaper and Charlie develops as pus-dripping ear infection; Barton hears
the couple next door making love and Charlie knows about it; as Charlie removes the
dead body (she was another part of Barton - his muse as my instructor put it) he
knocks her head on the dresser and Barton blacks out in the bathroom. 

Jeff

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*The spring wind blew my list of things to do away.  - Greg Brown *
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