Lonnie's shocking anti-religious statement at the end.
Were you shocked by what Lonnie said to the undertaker at his Grandad's funeral?
Since his Grandad seemed to be a religious man I expected Lonnie to be the same way.
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Well, in the scene where Hud argues in his bedroom with his father, he hollers that Homer used to "quote scripture and verse like you wrote it yourself". Seemed to me then that Homer used to reference the bible frequently to back up his morality. Then the funeral scene showed Homer's casket being carried out of a church.
I think it's safe to say that Homer was religious even though we never see him pray or reference God in any way in the movie but we see that he is indeed a moral man.
Since Lonnie leaned towards his grandfather's morality, I would have assumed that Homer installed his values in Lonnie also backed up by his Christian beliefs. That's why it was a shock to me that Lonnie would say such a thing. I'd expect that dialogue to come out of Hud. I wonder if maybe the book (which I didn't read) offers an explanation for Lonnie's attitude?
I agree in part with mike-848. Homer was a moral man and it may have been imparted by Christian faith, but this was not a driver in the story. The "anti-religious" notion by the OP is more a part of his own orientation than that of the film-makers. Lonnie was initially impressed by Hud as "cool", partly due to the absence of his own father. But Lonnie came to see that Hud was selfish, amoral and had no future.......this was a major theme in the story. Lonnie always loved his grandfather, but came to see that his initial infatuation with Hud was mis-placed. So I see Lonnie's comment at the funeral to be his realization and anger that his grandfather died too soon and not in small part due to Hud. So I don't see Lonnie's statement as "anti-religious", but rather an expression of his pain....his grandfather (his true hero) was gone.
shareOne doesn't have to be Christian to be moral. One doesn't have to believe in God or an afterlife to be moral. In those days, in the rural western U.S., everyone had their funeral in the local church, regardless of their religious beliefs - it was the only indoor place to meet that was big enough for a funeral in many cases. So, I don't agree with your assumption that he must have been "religious" (in a conventional sense in believing in a god or gods) because is is moral or had his funeral in a church.
My real name is Jeff
I agree with you.
But as I stated before in an earlier post, in the scene where Hud argues in his bedroom with his father, he hollers that Homer used to "quote scripture and verse like you wrote it yourself". It's in the movie.
We are told thru HUD that Homer indeed used to reference the bible frequently to back up his morality. Homer WAS a Christian and WAS religious.
In the context of the movie, that's why I was kinda stunned by Lonnie's remark.
The remark was intended to stun, I'm sure. It merely reflects Lonnie's disillusionment and pain. However, his hurt at HUD's behavior and the passing of his Grandfather clearly show that he DID inherit his Grandfather's morals and values. He just didn't inherit his Grandfather's religious beliefs - at least at that moment he wasn't feeling those beliefs.
My real name is Jeff