[aclivity]

This is not a rant, nor an issue-du-jour, but I need to get it off my chest as it has bothered me (off and on) for several years.

Last night I happened to catch a few minutes of that classic american comedy "Smokey and the Bandit". How I roared with laughter at those crazy antics. But then I recalled what had bugged me about this film from the very start.

What is the point of the Bandit?

I understand the point of Snowman, in the big truck to carry the elephant / whatever other load we are supposed to guffaw with laughter about.

I understand Sherriff Buford T. Justice. In a way. At least the reason for having him in the escapade.

But WHY the bandit? As a student of classical American culture (4 hour module, coursework only, no exam) I know that in other films about truck drivers ("Convoy", of course, and the risible "Maximum Overdrive") the trucks appear to be able to get across the country without a pillock in a "sports" (ha!) car doing silly things around them. I've also seen some thousands of trucks over here in blighty, perfectly able to navigate from East to West and even North to South without requiring another vehicle to be part of the journey. Just as well, I suppose, or it would cost Eddie Stobart a fortune to have all of those extra cars and drivers on the roads.

Anyway, what is the point?

Am I reading too much into this, or being too demanding of my film entertainment expecting it to have a plot that makes sense?