Closing the Knowledge Gap: Pretentiousness and the

In 2009, the Coen Brothers released A Serious Man, a fairly low budget drama-comedy about the painful, downwardly spiraling life of a Jewish mathematics professor in the late 1960s. Being a fan of their movies and of the darker side of the comedic spectrum, I watched the film with my then-girlfriend-now-wife and found it hilarious and poignant – one of my favorite movies. Naturally, as one does, I wanted to share the movie with my friends. That went…interestingly.

One friend didn’t laugh during the entire movie, remarking “I just don’t get it” when the credits rolled. Another friend who had maybe chuckled once or twice said, “I think I get it.” A third said, most interestingly, “Some parts were funny for me, but I think I see why you think it’s so funny.”

And therein lies the rub of the whole thing. While not a practicing Jew myself, I grew up in a South Florida household with a (culturally, not practicing) Jewish mother and attended elementary, middle,  and high schools where th