Compare/Contrast “The Blues Brothers” Essay, Research Paper

Although they are alike in many ways, The Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood, also have many differences. Both are great singers and have good taste and knowledge in music. Physically, the two are opposites in how they are composed. When attitudes are in mind, Jake and Elwood generally agree on situations, but there are occasions when the two have different thoughts.

When it comes to music, Jake and Elwood are connoisseurs. Both having sung in “The Blues Brothers,” they know just what to play and when. They know what people want to hear and can adapt to the situation. When the band performs at Bob’s Country Bunker, they are forced to stray from what they know, which are blues, jazz, and soul, and play what the listeners want to hear, that being country-western. They end up performing the theme to the television show “Rawhide,” and the song “Stand By Your Man.” The two can also whip up a song and dance at any place and time. The places being Ray Charles’s music shop, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and Aretha Franklin’s Soul Food Cafe, and even Church; the time being when old band members are needed to get the band back together, buying new instruments, and trying to get Jake to “see the light.”

Without the aid of the black suit, pants, shoes and tie, you would have a hard time connecting the two Blues brothers. Jake Blues is a short, stalky man with a round, fat face. Elwood Blues is a tall, lean man with a long, slender face. In action, Jake is more apt to take small choppy steps, and maintain low energy levels. Elwood, on the other hand, is apt to take long leaps, strides and dance more intensely than his brother Jake.

In the movie, they jokingly showed Jake doing backflips down the aisle of the church. This is ironic because a man of Jake’s size and weight would have a hard time doing such a feat. The two are both alike in dress from head to toe. Black hats, black sunglasses, white shirt, black dress coat, black dress pants, and black dress shoes are the only items in the Blues family’s wardrobe.

It seems from looking at them that Jake and Elwood mostly agree on the same things and have a mostly consistent attitude. But when we look deeper, and analyze the two, we find that they have opposed temperaments. Whenever something is suggested to the duo, Elwood is ready and willing to try to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Jake, however, always puts up an argument and is stubborn to the end. When Curtis (Cab Calloway) suggests that Jake needed to “get wise and go to church,” Jake thought this was a terrible idea and insisted that he would not go. Elwood thought this was a great idea and forced Jake to go. When Jake got out of jail, and Elwood brought him to see “The Penguin,” as he promised to, Jake insisted that he was lying when he agreed to see her and replied with, “No f***ing way!” Elwood then proceeded to the building where Jake soon followed.

Taking a look at the two brothers, Jake and Elwood, and watching them conflict with each other, and also other characters throughout the movie, we can see that the two are a perfect match. Although they may not be proportionately identical or consistently maintain the same attitude, the two are always in sync. Dancing, singing, running from the police, or just talking, the Blues brothers are a perfect duo.