The Picaresque Tradition in "Midnight Cowboy"

In the film Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo are picaros, but iruhis case it is the eye of the camera which provides the narration, with its various points of view, its sound track of words, music, noise and silence. Beginning with the premise that the values of society are empty, that life is filled with illusion and deceit, he offers his own experience and point of view as evidence of his thesis. 3 In Midnight Cowboy we see two picaros, existing outside of the mainstream of society, whose desire to improve their lives has been inspired by deceitful mass media. Disillusionment shows their dreams to be mere fantasies based on shallow, illusory social values.4 As the film begins we are introduced to Joe Buck, a likeable hick, who believes (as most picaros do) that a change in geographical location will improve his social situation.