Immediately, when I hear the word
intertextuality, no one story comes to mind. This is probably because the word
isn’t in my everyday vocabulary. However, when I sat down and thought about
what stories I had read or viewed that contained a dialogue between old and new
texts, The Boondock Saints came to
mind.
The basic idea of the story is that
two brothers accidently killed a number of criminals and got away with it after
turning themselves in to the authorities. They viewed this as a sign from God
that they should rid evil from the earth. Subsequently, these brothers risk
their lives for truth and justice.
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The
Boondock Saints exhibits intertexuality directly in its plot, drawing close
references to Robin Hood. Both
stories explore the question of whether or not two wrongs make a right. The
director uses the dialogue between stories to challenge the viewer’s ethical
stance on ‘killing for good’. In addition, in The Boondock Saints there is a hypothetically public reaction to
the execution of criminals by the Boondocks, which furthers the conversation on
the subject of ‘killing for good’.
Aside
from the intertextuality of the plot, there is a direct reference to Greek
Mythology, when the brothers put pennies in the eyes of those who they have
killed. Putting coins in the eyes of the dead was a common Greek custom that
was practiced to allow the dead pay the ferryman of the underworld to take them
to the underworld so their soul wouldn’t be wondering for eternity. There is
also a subtle reference to the Holy Trinity between the two brothers and their
father.
The
intertexutality in this movie functions in various manners. The intertexuality
of the plot challenges the viewer’s ethical stance, as stated earlier. The
reference to Greek mythology creates a familiarity with the viewer due to the
common place Greek mythology has in our society. And finally, the reference to
the Holy Trinity between the two brothers and their fathers is a clever tool to
help further instill the idea to the viewers that these three people view
themselves as God like figures because they are carrying out the will of God—to
rid evil from the world.
This is good. I like how you tied Boondock Saints into Robin Hood. I see where you were going I noticed, not to be critical, that you explained the Boondock saints side of the story really well but kind of slacked on the Robin Hood side. This also brings to mind for me the intertextuality in the doing evil for the greater good aspect of the SHOWTIME series Dexter. Dexter plays a serial killer that kills bad guys. Which again brings up the outside perspective of, is killing wrong? Even if it's for the greater good of society? In the same as Is stealing wrong? In terms of robin hood. I think you did a very good job at Breaking down the Greek mythology aspect of the Boondock Saints, and at explaining the points that tie them together
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