Ruminations on the Straight Road
While previous road films from this semester’s selection have taken their protagonists out of their familiar settings, presenting them with a new palate of environs and individuals with which to compare and contrast themselves with, The Straight Story opts to leave Alvin Straight within a familiar surroundings (rural) and peoples (white Midwesterners) in order to come to a place of realization and understanding.
The rural setting is of particular importance to Alvin’s story. Firstly, this road film makes use of a protracted sense of time and motion. There are no shots of the wind whipping as in Searching for Angela Shelton and Thelma and Louise, through the hair of the protagonist as they proverbially flee their past. There is no sense of bliss achieved through hasty flight. Rather, Alvin’s journey through a rural setting is slow and deliberative and demanding of close inspection. The vehicle of choice for Alvin, a tractor, embodies this rural mindset of “slow-and-steady wins the race”. Each scene presented to Alvin, whether it be a corn field, abandoned silo, or wayward hitchhiker must be considered and mulled over. Alvin is not granted the luxury of flying past his surroundings so quickly that he does not need to contemplate them.
Similarly, a rural setting provides little distraction from the mind. Therefore, Alvin’s realization comes very much from within. Nowhere does he encounter situations that are jarringly new and different, or force him to understand life in a new way. Instead, Alvin’s familiarity and slow roaming through the rural road forces him to analyze his past. For example, his encounter with the pregnant young woman is in no way shocking or strange to him. In fact, the familiarity of something such as pregnancy leads to recollections of his past, his wife, and the importance of family (the main reason for this journey). Similarly, his exchange with quarreling brothers is an equally familiar one. Had Alvin encountered these situations in a fast-paced urban setting, he may not have been able to so easily relate or devote time to recollection.
In this way, the slow-pace and familiarity of the rural setting allow Alvin Straight to ruminate on his past.