Are the Coen's misogynist s?

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2008)

First let me say that the movie was not the best comedy the Coens have created, but it is one of the best comedies of the year. The main issue I would like to address is a comment I have seen in many reviews: specifically that the Coens never create likable characters and that they are misogynists. It is true that the Coens do not create many knights in shining armor. Each and every one of their characters does seem to be flawed in one way or another. However, I for one find something to either like or admire in most of their characters. Does a character need to be perfect to earn our love and sympathy?
Francis McDormand's character is not smart and she has low self esteem, but she has motivation and drive to spare. Sure she has her flaws but A) I find it possible to love people with an IQ below 100 and B) why should we hate her just because she has bought the media's message that you must look like a runway model? If I looked down on every woman I knew that was overly influenced by societal beauty norms, I would have to look down on some wonderful human beings.
The Pitt character just likes to keep fit and listen to fun music. He isn't smart but his goals in life are simple (fitness & fun music) and having goals like that doesn't really harm anyone. I think he would be very surprised to learn that other people look down on him for his low aspirations in life. Is it not possible to be sympathetic towards a guy who just wants to have fun? I would rather have an unreflective fun-seeking friend than an always serious stick-in-the-mud friend any day. I see plenty of people who know how to work, eat, sleep, & talk about their stock portfolios but forgot how to have fun back when they graduated from college. I like these people, but they are no better or worse than Pitt's Chad. Both types have their good and bad points.
What about the Clooney character? He is a bit less lovable than some of the other characters. However, I think he truly loves his wife (unfortunately he is such a nympho that he also feels the need to get some on the side as well). He has charisma, and he has a child-like quality about him (note the strange way he unveiled his "project" in the basement. A 6-year-old would have revealed their newly built birdhouse to a parent in the same way). He can make people laugh and though his actions of necessity will cause the women around him pain, he seems like the kind of guy who really doesn't want to cause anyone pain (not that this is enough to keep him from his destructive path). Clooney's character may not be easy to love, but I don't think he is a villain and I don't feel that the viewer must hate him.
I will not waste anymore time evaluating the rest of the imperfect Coen characters. I certainly don't feel the need to hate or look down on most Coen characters and I don't feel that the Coens themselves feel that their characters are horrible individuals. Perhaps the misogyny is not in the Coens but in the critics who feel compelled to hate the characters that the Coens create.