Anyone else sympathize with Jud?

I think it's sad that Jud had no family, friends and how the people in the community treated him like dirt just because he is helping hand. Its sad how she uses him to make Curly jealous. She knew what she was doing when using Jud. It's disturbing how Curly tells him he should kill himself. So yes he is sympathetic but to a degree. I still fell that he was dangerous person. He is creepy. Like when he looks through her window. When he set it on fire with them on there. His behavior is disturbing.

I came to this board just to check it out because I am watching the movie On Demand right now,but I have seen it many times and also own the video. It is amazing to me, and actually a bit amusing, to read people defending Jud as a sad, misunderstood character. It's a perfect example of where we have come as a society. This is why murderers and rapists are walking the streets. They had no family. They weren't loved as a child. They had "no social support." People didn't respect him because he was a hired hand. Too funny. So that makes his attempt to burn Laurey & Curly on top of a hay stack forgivable? In 1955 there was NO doubt that Jud was a bad, BAD man. Yes, a VILLAIN. Remember,this is a Rodgers and Hammerstein feel good MUSICAL. They made it as clear as possible, in between the singing and the dancing,that he did indeed murder the previous family he worked for and got away with it. He says it himself "That weren't no accident." He also tried to kill Curly with the hidden knife in "The Little Wonder", we saw him peeping in Laurey's window as she was undressing and as previously mentioned, he attempted to burn Laurey & Curly to death!! Yes, very tragic and misunderstood. Really?! Yes, it was very bad for Laurey to use him to get Curly jealous...so that makes everything else I mentioned above and his attempted sexual assault of her okay?? This is set in a time when giving someone your glove was a sign of affection and Ado Annie kissing men was scandalous! If this was a movie made today, and not a musical, I assure you there would be no doubt as to the character and intention of Jud Fry.

I don't sympathize with Jud, he was a violent and agressive man and acted very possesive with Laurey even though it must have been clear to hom that she didn't want him. He was absolutley a villan and a bad guy.

That being said, I did feel uneasy with the way the other characters treated him in the begining of the movie. He gets treated like dirt but for the wrong reasons. He hasn't done anything bad yet and noone knows about his previous crime. He pretty much get treated like sub-human just for having low social skills. There's no excuse for Curly to suggest that Jud should hang himself for example, that's almost as dispicable as Jud's later actions. Oklahoma is a story with a villain but no heroes.

I love Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae and this whole musical, but I can't stand Curley & Laurie.

I think Curley is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and Laurey is a spoiled brat who needs a good spanking.

Given the time frame, I think Curley & Laurie will wind up old and broke and farmless come the early 1930's and will be two of the many Oakies who run to California during the Dust Bowl in The Grapes of Wrath.

Jud definitely got the fuzzy end of the lollipop.


"The goldfish stays in the picture!"

I just watched this movie last night (on Easter) with my sisters, and I was actually thinking "Really? This guy is suppose to be the villain?"

I mean, I know that Jud tried to burn Curly and Laurie to death, but up until that point he seemed like a nice guy. Curly on the other hand gave him thoughts of suicide, and verbally harassed him at the same time. That's probably why I didn't like this film very much (and I'm a huge Rogers/Hammerstein fan).



http://lunaneko14.tumblr.com/post/82969256706/
[Formerly CosmosX9]

Not only did I sympathize with Jud, but also rooted for him after the arrogant hero goes to his cabin and criticizes his way of life. If Jud likes to spend his time alone in his cabin, that's his problem and he is not worse than anyone else because of it.

----------------------
http://mulhollandcinelog.wordpress.com/

Just saw this now(in Todd AO digital print BTW - wow it pops) and have thoughts on the Jud issue. I stand by my earlier comment, I didn't see a single moment where the filmmakers made an effort to soften Jud. He is never shown looking sad or disappointed, I think he is a caricature, not a character, much like the rest of the cast. I feel there is 0 intentional depth in this film.

That said if we want to look at it on a deeper level we must look at the entire film the same way. Using that lens Jud is the feared, victimized and misunderstood "other" to the towns "normal" so of course garners lots of sympathy from a modern audience. Keep in mind we are supposed to sympathize with Curly, who is a grinning sadist, and Laurie, who is an idiot. Note enormous hostility in their courtship early on. He sweet talks her with lies.

I feel the external conflict here is the introduction of the modern age to the innocent world via the song "Kansas City" -- sky scrapers, horseless buggies, wonton women and of course, death by porn (the knife in the kalidiscope, I mean can that be more explicit?). As Laurie tells her aunt "I want things to always stay the same", while the rest of the town (and world) prepares for big big changes (statehood, industrial age).

Since this is Laurie's story, the internal conflict, which is externalized in the "change vs stasis" theme, is her becoming an adult, leaving the simple innocence of youth and entering the adult world of conflict and ambiguity. Jud represents this part of her character, adult feelings a bit more complex and primal than the dainty jiggle of the surrey's virgin white tassels.

So the more developed analysis, Jud represents change, both frightening and alluring. Today he'd be referred to as the "bad boy", the unbridled passion a young girl wants to tame for her own. At the height of this threat he dies, maintain the status quo. Laurie does not go off to live with Curly. Curly is neutered like a horse, losing his freedom (horse), power(gun) and identity (he becomes a farmer), bound to the land, the women and occupying Curly's house.

In order to fully judge Jud, we would have to know more about him than is given in the screenplay, which, after all, is limited to one day. The suggestion is clear that Jud is not particularly desirable to women - the fact that he is slovenly and doesn't clean himself ("Poor Jud is Dead") isn't going to help there. Yet he seems to expect to have the girl he fancies regardless of her wishes. So Laurie agrees to go to the dance with him, even if her motives were questionable, she did go with him, and he used the opportunity to try to take advantage of her. Later in the story, he acts as if she is now his and he isn't going to let her go. It is clear in the film that Laurie fears him, perhaps just instinctively, but as events transpire, we see that she had a good reason to fear him. Losing out to Curly seems to send him over the edge and he resorts to an attempt to kill them. I think just about all of us know feeling of liking someone and being rejected. It's hurts, but it is part of life, we deal with it and move on. Jud obviously cannot cope with that rejection. Do I sympathize with him? Not really.