The Blues Brothers is one of my all time favorite movies. That’s why I voted to have it shown as the last film for this semester. However, I hadn’t seen it in a few years. I was curious how it would hold up – I knew the movie had a lot of content revolving around black culture, but I was wondering how scenes like the scene in the Church with James Brown would hold up against a more modern lens. I was beyond surprised with how much I noticed on this viewing about the themes of the movie.

The ostensible goal of the Blues Brothers is to celebrate Jazz and Blues music. The star studded cast, and director John Landis’ sensibility of “Another musical number? Why not!” all work towards this end. With that most prominent goal in mind, it’s worth reflecting on the total framework of the story, particularly the relationship the film has with music other than Blues.

There are multiple instances in the film where other genres of music come up. At Bob’s Country Bar, they have both kinds of music, Country and Western. And, finally, the Nazis are accompanied by Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries. All three of these genres have one thing in common at some level – they are all associated with white culture by the time of 1980, certainly more so than Jazz or Blues. While the Blues Brothers are white themselves, it is evident that the film is placing them opposite of white culture.

The film does this in another way as well with the nature of the Brothers’ antagonists. There are three: The police, the Nazi party, and the Good Ol’ Boys (traditional country folk). Note that all three of these can be interpreted as elements of the opposition faced by African Americans. What’s particularly of note, however, is how all three of these persist in the present day. The question of racially charged police brutality is as prominent as ever, after incidents like the death of Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and Philando Castile. The Nazi party, while likely a farce in the context of the movie, has also made its return as of late, with White Power movements spreading across the nation. And the Good Ol’ Boys, if we interpret them to be a representation of a traditional white culture, particularly from the American South and Midwest, have also made their return with the election of President Trump.

The movie makes a farce of all three of these antagonists, and there’s two ways to interpret it. In making light of these three groups in the way the film does, it could be seen to undermine their power, by taking away any serious interpretation of the message these groups present. An increasingly militarized and violent police is made far less frightening and serious when that power can’t even apprehend two musicians. The Nazi party and the Good Ol’ Boys are also made into farces as their message is constantly undermined by their ridiculous and obsessive behavior. However, one could also argue that this comic presentation fails to take these issues, which were as serious then as they are now, seriously. By presenting them comically, the film allows the audience to dismiss these issues as mere silliness. Between these two interpretations, however, I think the film is going for the former. There is too much carefully chosen, like the dismissal of more white styles of music, the celebration of absolutely incredible Jazz and Blues musicians, and the three antagonists being three forces easily seen as opposition to African Americans, for me to think the film is trying to make these seem less important than they actually are. And I’m going to grant the film this.