No Country for Old Men

I went to the movies to see No Country for Old Men the other day. Very violent, tough movie, but I have not seen a screen villain as vividly rendered and lingeringly unpleasant as Javier Bardem is in this picture since Henry Silva played the angel-dust-snorting hit man in Sharky's Machine with Burt Reynolds. Bardem is not to be believed, he is so intense and eerie.

Thanksgiving was...peaceful. In all of my adult life, I have rarely seen Americans so in need of a vacation, a break, a place to go that is safe and comfortable. I have rarely seen Americans rush toward the Thanksgiving weekend with such need and commitment. This country is coming apart. And people are in a lot of pain about that. Eight years of these lunatics raping everything they see has been exhausting. Americans are exhausted. Our system is breaking down, slowly, and people are, when they get honest about it, frightened about what that means, short and long term. Iraq is a mess and they botched that so badly. Now, some say Iran is next. How can that be?

The American military is staffed by brave, highly trained, competent people. But it's run by idiots. Idiots who are going to kill a lot of innocent people and get some of us killed along the way.

Go see No Country for Old Men. It's a metaphor for Iraq and the post 9/11 world.

Comments

[QueenCeleste]

"This country is coming apart." Truer words were never spoken Alec. I know this sounds corny, but sometimes I daydream what America could have been like. The billions spent on the war might have been spent at home, revamping healthcare, cleaning up the environment, developing new energy sources, shoring up social security, and on and on. There would be no American kids killed in Iraq, or innocent Iraquis killed or tortured.

Last night I watched "Christmas in Connecticut" in hopes of forcing myself to feel festive. I was only reminded of how wonderful America once was (yes, there were problems) and felt deeply depressed.

[bartonfink]

I don't know about "no country...­" it was sold out at the matinee I attempted today. is it a metaphor for the current wretched state of almost all things "american?" did the coen bros. (bless them) intend it to be seen as such? dunno. they're movie makers first, I guess. but alec hit the cliche' on the head: this country needs to be liberated from a corrupt and despicable regime, and none too soon. I'll take the post-bush decrepitude to the current state as soon as it's available thank you...

[truthyguy]

I agree with what Baldwin said, except for "Our system is breaking down, slowly....­" Unfortunately the systems is now breaking down at an ever accelerating rate and I believe that even with a change in direction 13 months from now, the damage is so severe that it will takes many years to correct, if it can be corrected. There are just too many things wrong to be addressed in a meaningful manner in one or two presidential terms. A great start would be for the next president to announce to the world that the United States disavows and apologizes for the Bush foreign policies (if they ever in fact existed and were not pure corporate greed).

[Siren]

Took the whole family to see this movie. My son's are big Cohen fans and so I took a deep breath and went with them. Well today my thoughts kept drifting back to Anton and Lewellen. Can't shake the intensity of what I saw on screen. My husband just reminded me of how trails of blood were a theme in the movie. Bad guys are at the end of the blood trail. People can't believe what their seeing. Iraq? Our own country under W? Greed?

[Rondo]

No Country for Old Men?

Looking around, all I see is alot of old men fucking up the country.

Your metaphor would have worked better if the movie was called No Country for Young Men (barring the sons of fortune)

perhaps your reference is a double entendre

as in no country for old white power hungry multimillionaire puritan greed freaks

[tyla]

I still have no idea why we are in Iraq....Ma­ybe it's the blonde.

[PuffAndStuff]

I'm a fan of Cormac McCarthy, though haven't had the chance to this book yet ... so thanks for the tip: I'll plan to go see this movie soon.

Re: The idiots running this country/military. If they're not stopped from attacking Iran, I fear the mess they'll create -- further havoc on the world's stability -- is absolutely inconceviable. I know I share these thoughts with many others, and I think the exhaustion coupled with a complete lack of ability/power to stop them and their madness has created not only fear among people, but mass inertia.

[Ides]

To describe the message beneath "No Country For Old Men" without giving anything away.

New evils shock us when we discover them and make us think the world is drastically changing, but evil's as old as we are ... and sometimes being a good person simply isn't enough.

[Romey]

Just saw the film yesterday - yes, on Thanksgiving Day, but I am a huge Coen brothers fan. In early afterthought, I found myself comparing it to "Fargo", but certainly much darker. Then this morning I awoke thinking about Anton (Bardem) and realized - this movie is about us - our society and the socio/psychopaths that run our government. Some of us (i.e. Brolin) are caught up in it, trying naively to get away with the ungetawayable - trying mistakenly to outsmart the real criminals. The rest of us are like the sheriff (i.e. Jones) seeing the destruction of everything, not understanding what's happening around us and eventually left in a state of disjointed paralysis.
And in the end, there is still no justice.
It is prescient that you wrote this column. I have been thinking about this film all day. The Coen Brothers have done it again!

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

Hi Alec,

We had a nice Thanksgiving at home. I tried to book Camp David for the holiday, but they'd already booked it to some guy who needed an extended weekend. Apparently, he's still trying to finish a biography of George Washington.

[chery]

I am looking forward to seeing this movie, but in hopes it isn't a metaphor for anything political! One of the measures of sanity I hold onto dearly from the 60's is my ability to take note when I'm projecting my obsessions onto things that are not representative of them. If I can't see it, or others have to point it out to me... then that means its time for me do an island moment and get my head straight. But that's just me! I loved Fargo. I kept thinking of Miss Marple and village life as I watched that movie. I am hoping this one is as haunting and fun!

[Meadow]

I've never been able to stomach violent films, so I won't put No Country on my must-see list but it is getting rave reviews and I'm happy for those who worked hard on it.

Ronald Reagan is the first president I'm old enough to remember and every time a Republican has been in office, the world has become very scary to me. I think the fear began when I was about 9 years old and the TV movie about nuclear warfare (was it called The Day After?) aired. I remember being in 6th grade and hearing about the wars going on in Iran and Iraq and being completely terrified, like the whole world would blow up at any minute.

But when Clinton took office, I was just shy of my 18th birthday, there was a sense of reaching out to the underdog, jobs were plentiful and the pay was good, housing was affordable, and there was still such a thing as the middle class.

Now I'm in my thirties and despite my college education and 17 years of work experience, the job market totally sucks, I can't afford to live by myself in San Diego (my hometown), and the upper middle class neighborhood I grew up in is now the 'hood.

I still haven't decided who I'm voting for. First it was Hillary but then I had to get honest with myself: if I vote for her, it's only because I want Bill back. Then I thought about Obama, but that's mostly because he's the most unalike and right about now, unalike is a welcome change. Currently, I'm leaning toward Edwards because I really believe that he'll look out for us little guys and gals. I think he "gets it."

I just want somebody to care about those of us who are not represented by lobbyists and special interests. Those of us who just go to work everyday and do the best we can while trying not to drift completely into obscurity.

Peace & Blessings

[Jackarooty]

Hello Alec,
Happy Thanksgiving. Now the MSM is trying to be "fair and balanced" by reporting that Iraq, specifically Baghdad is safer and violence is decreasing. Less Iraqis are being killed. As of Tuesday, the Pentagon reported 28 U.S. military deaths in October. That's an average of about 1.2 deaths a day. The toll on U.S troops hasn't been this low since March 2006, when 31 soldiers died — an average of one death a day.
We're supposed to rejoice that an average of only one American soldier is dying?
Last night ABC World News did a story about mothers in the military serving in Iraq and how they are missing important milestones in their babies lives. They are communicating by webcam.
Chimpy McIdiot spent yesterday at Camp David relaxing and "getting to know his future son-in-law".
Our soldiers are brave Americans but not one drop of their blood was worth going to Iraq.
Not one drop of blood.

[Not Blind]

I'm not a real movie or television buff. I do enjoy books. I believe we all needed a quiet and restful Thanksgiving, but could not help feel saddened by the fact there are 130,000 American families who don't have their loved ones with them this holiday season, and that over 4,000 other families have permanently lost their loved ones during the past 4 years, or the countless others whose loved ones are permanently disfigured, maimed and disabled.
While being immensely thankful for my own family and friends, I could not get the sadness for those others out of my mind. Sure, it makes me appreciate what I have, but also makes me angry that so many others do not, in this great vast country, the richest in the world, the beacon of hope, freedom and opportunity.
What we've become is a second-rate dictatorship where the very elite few manipulate everything and everyone (generals to street kids) for their greed, lust for power and political expediency. It's not been a great year for us.

[childofclay]

First things first.
I saw the movie opening night. It was masterful.
I consider myself liberal and artistically minded.
I am college educated.
I love the work of Alec Baldwin and I think he's a neat dude I'd have a beer with him. BUT...Havi­ng said that. I see no connection or metaphor between our current sad state of politic affairs and human wreckage and the characters or story of "No Country For Old Men." Perhaps because I didnt want to. I wanted a great movie and a great story and I got it. I did not want to be reminded of all that was outside the theater. Also I feel that all Alec did in this blog was just state in the subject line "Its a metaphor for Iraq." But he did nothing to back it up or support the thesis. Alec made no agruments nor cited any examples. No homework was done. Sometimes people insist there is a link between things...w­hen there is none:-) Judging from past blogs and politics I never expected Alec Baldwin to be on the other side of that mistake. I think a follow up for clarity is due the readers.