MovieChat Forums > Midnight Cowboy (1969) Discussion > Why does Joe Buck run away from Mr. O'Da...

Why does Joe Buck run away from Mr. O'Daniel?

posted 11 years ago by Tidewatcher
14 replies | jump to latest

I didn't understand this part, after Joe Buck figures out that Mr. O'Daniel is not a Pimp and is just an old man that is a Religious nut and street preacher he gets up off of his knees and runs away from him in a big hurry, this is triggered by flashbacks of young Joe being baptized as a small child.

Now why didn't Joe Buck just explain his situation to Mr. O'Daniel about how he thought that he was something else and that he was not interested in the kind of work that he was talking about? Why freak out and run away? Joe could have talked to him and explained his Hustler thing to him and asked him for some money or something to eat, then walked out, and he never returns later to ask O'Daniel where Ratso lives or if he knows how to reach him.

He could have easily come back to him after he had problems and was kicked out of his hotel room, then worked with the guy and gotten some food and money out of him when he needed help, but he never returns to his apartment again at all, and he never goes looking for Cass again either with Ratso, when he could figure out an angle to get something from her, Joe could have done both things but did not.

[–] RuthlessGoat 11 years ago

It was simply the "fight or flee" human instinct. Joe Buck was reeling and totally out of his element. Although O'Daniel posed no physical threat to Joe Buck, he was afraid and fled.

[–] ThereWillBeBeer 11 years ago

Joe was freaked out by religion anyway, & O'Daniel's act was too much for him to handle. Not to mention he no doubt wanted to find Ratso and inflict greivous bodily harm on him ASAP.

[–] Moon_and_New_York_City 11 years ago

Watch the scene again. Mr. O'Daniel was not the kind of man you could reason with, or explain things to. He was crazy, unbalanced, etc.

"the best that you can do is fall in love"

[–] Tidewatcher 10 years ago

Yeah true but Joe could have returned to O'Daniel later on and asked him for something to eat or pretended to be willing to work with him and then rip him off, odd how Joe Buck and Ratso never came back to con the guy again later.

[–] dennisvest30 10 years ago

I think Joe was just too freaked by the guy to go back to him, even for money. The dude was really a fruit case and couldn't be reasoned with. Can't blame Joe for being pissed at Ratso. Poor Joe really thought he had struck it big the way the guy was carrying on. When the dude opened the toilet door and the Catholic lit up Jesus statue started flashing he knew it was time to run like crazy!

[–] Matthew7819 10 years ago

In the book Joe Buck realizes that Mr. O'Daniel was a little bit crazy even when he thinks that he was still a Pimp, then after he sees and hears what he is talking about he realizes that he has been played for a fool and left alone with this crazy old religious freak.

He was not afraid of O'Daniel but did not want to be alone with him anymore because he was crazy and a ranting maniac, and because he wouldnt have a chance of getting his money back if he stayed there, the signs and lit up bathroom display just didnt help matters either, they pissed off Joe and upset him more, it was like being Baptized as a young child which upset him because he didnt understand what was happening, O'Daniel was just a crazy freak and he wanted to get the hell away from him.

Although he could have returned later and explained the entire situation to O'Daniel, or come back with Ratso during the winter time and slept there for a night, maybe begged for some food or an old jacket, but oh well.

[–] Redart27 9 years ago

Joe was having flashbacks to his own religious upbringing which involved a Baptist style full-immersion baptism in a river. The preacher pushed Joe underwater and Joe, as a little boy, felt like he was drowning. The flashbacks were played in the midst of the O'Daniel scene, so I took that to mean Joe feared preachers, all preachers. Joe is like an overgrown boy and his reaction was very childish. He ran away like a little kid would do.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

Joe had a panic attack due to associative memory. Throughout the movie, Joe gets flashbacks of his traumatic youth and childhood, events that he barely remembers at a conscious level, but which get triggered by events in New York. O'Daniel triggered a memory of a traumatic experience in childhood (he probably panicked when immersed in water during his Baptism), so he took off in terror.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 9 years ago

In addition to the fanatical religion part, Mr. O'Daniel is also obviously a sexual creep and perhaps Joe's preacher as a kid was one, too.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

In addition to the fanatical religion part, Mr. O'Daniel is also obviously a sexual creep and perhaps Joe's preacher as a kid was one, too.

It's more or less left up to the viewer to figure out what the real story with O'Daniel is, i.e. whether he's just a religious fanatic street preacher looking for disciples, or whether he uses it as a means of preying on lost and confused young men. I always took him for a mostly harmless religious nut who was just looking for someone to listen to his nonsense.

Either way, John McGiver's manic performance was one of the big highlights of this film.

[–] prismabird 9 years ago

The feeling I got from Joe's flashback was that being held under water frightened him, and because of that, he had a dislike/fear of religion. It seems clear to me that Joe was abused by Sally, but I don't see any indication of anything like that with the preacher.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

I'm not sure where he got the notion of the preacher molesting Joe, all we see in the film is the preacher performing a Baptism.

[–] Matthew7819 9 years ago

I think that little Joe just had no idea what the preacher was doing or why he was pushing him under water, he was just scared to death and submerged several times, Sally Buck probably didnt take the time to explain why he was being baptized and dunked underwater, so Joe Buck was freaked out by this and Mr. O'Daniel triggered his bad memories of the preacher in Texas, i dont see O'Daniel as being a homosexual at all either.

I do see him as being crazy and isolated from society living inside of that cheap hotel room, going out onto the streets and literally trying to convert any and everyone that he meets into doing his street preaching stuff with him, O'Daniel thinks nothing of greeting his guests in an old bathrobe, ranting and rambling hysterically, dragging them in front of his statue in the bathroom to pray, he was clearly insane and living a delusional life all alone by himself, he probably met Ratso Rizzo out on the streets and tried to convert him only Ratso stole some money from him and kept his phone number and address handy, used it to con Joe Buck by leaving him with this weirdo and tricking him into thinking that he was a pimp and asking him for a fee, the con worked.

Joe Buck should have been wary when Ratso was getting nervous and wanted to leave fast right before they arrived, he does ask more questions but he was still dumb enough to rush inside and that starts the meeting and interview, once he knows what this guy is all about he just wants to run like hell and he does, great scene.

[–] smarques5 8 years ago

That scene is a typical example of Jewish (the producer of the film, the director, the screenplayer and one of the two leading actor were all jews) blatant anti-christian (and more specifically, anti-catholic) propaganda in film. Something they do all the time nowadays but they did not do so often or so openly in those days.