Emerson taught it, and Thoreau tried to live it for a few years by a pond.
"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."He lasted two years before packing up and moving back to the city to protest taxes and other governmental abuses. It was admirable, for sure. He was a man living out his conviction, and was willing to pay the consequences to prove a point. But as America entered into the tumultuous 60's, the desire to live freely as an individual became a mantra for the disenfranchised generation that had seen what conformity had done to their parents generation.
Enter Cool Hand Luke.
What I love about this movie is the complexity of Luke. He's a hero without the heroic trappings. He's a role model uncomfortable with his status. As Roger Ebert pointed out in his initial review of the movie, Luke was a classic anti-hero, a man who demonstrated a heroic character combined with an edgy willingness to live as he wanted, regardless of the fallout. A war hero who couldn't maintain his rank; a leader who didn't really want to lead. A man who inspired others, but left them to find their own way.
Yet as he returned to the movie in 2007, Ebert had a change of heart, reflecting what I see as a new understanding of individuality. "I'm no longer sure he's an anti-hero in "Cool Hand Luke." I think he is more of a willing martyr, a man so obsessed with the wrongness of the world that he invites death to prove himself correct." It was easy to identify with Luke's quest to "stick it to The Man" in 1967. That type of bravery was desperately needed as the country wrestled with issues of civil rights and death was a constant companion to those who defied the practices of Jim Crow. Death was the ultimate insubordination. But when the film is viewed through a 21st century lens, it can come across as an unnecessary sacrifice. Living is the new dying. Those who want to change things, who want to stand up to injustice, need to stay in the fight, persevere through the trials, and instigate change through constant action. The world needs leaders, not examples.
It is that very question that keeps "Cool Hand Luke" as a relevant film. What are you willing to do in the face of tyranny? Are you Dragline, who appears to turn himself in to the Captain, yet stays alive to continue the message that Luke started? Or are you Luke, who shows the way, pays the price, and lives on as a legend? Luke challenges us to stop hiding behind our excuses ("Callin' it your job don't make it right, Boss") and live a truly free life. That's my boy, Luke.
