‘Blood Simple,’ the Coen Brothers’ Texas Noir Debut, Offered a Dark Motto for the Friendship State

Filmmakers have long been drawn to “the Texan” as a character type. Our series Playing Texan revisits some of the most notable of these portrayals, from the legendary to the ludicrous, to determine what they say about how the world sees Texas—and how we see ourselves. The state motto of Texas is “Friendship,” so never let it be said that Texans don’t appreciate irony. It was derived from “tejas,” which is how Spanish settlers pronounced the Caddo Indian word for “friend”—right before the early Texans wiped most of them out. Our credo is thus a mordant joke that’s rivaled by those “Drive Friendly – the Texas Way” signs along the highway. Maybe you’ve noticed one after being forced onto the shoulder by a speeding F-150 that…

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