Why do the Blues Brothers have their names tattooed on their fingers?
Jake and Elwood Blues both have their names tattooed on their fingers, as established in the opening scenes of The Blues Brothers.
Tattoos like these are called knuckle tattoos, even though the actual tattoo is done between the knuckles. Another famous example is "LOVE/HATE" on Reverend Harry Powell's hands in The Night of the Hunter.
Both in-universe and out-of-universe, why do Jake and Elwood have their names tattooed on their hands?
Has anyone involved in the production of the film ever commented on it?
Best Answer
It's been a while since I watched The Blues Brothers, and I don't remember these tattoos, so I can't tell you what the in-universe reason might be. The out-of-universe reason, however, is almost certainly that they're parodying the "knuckle tattoos" concept entirely:
- Instead of tattooing something meaningful onto their knuckles, like "LOVE/HATE", they chose the most inane thing possible - their own names.
- Instead of the fancy lettering you usually get on tattoos, the Blues Brothers' tats look like they were scribbled on with a ballpoint pen. In-universe, as @jdv noted in a comment, they were probably done by someone at the jail using a pin, hence the amateurish quality; out-of-universe, they probably were actually written on in pen.
- Elwood's tattoo is the punchline, because it's too long to fit on one hand (unlike "JAKE") and ends up awkwardly split across both hands. "LOVE" makes sense by itself, but "ELWO" doesn't.
Pictures about "Why do the Blues Brothers have their names tattooed on their fingers?"
What do the Blues Brothers have tattooed on their knuckles?
Both Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) have their names tattooed across their knuckles. We see in the opening scenes that Jake has something else tattooed on his hand, as well. What is it? a cross.What do tattoos on knuckles mean?
' Having no particular affiliation with any gang, they simply represent the general disposition of some prison inmates. Typically found on the knuckles, these types of tattoos were popularized in 1955 by Robert Mitchum in 'The Night of the Hunter.What do love hate knuckle tattoos mean?
The original love/hate tats appeared on the knuckles of a psycho preacher, who trotted out his good v evil baloney as a cover for murdering widows for their cash.Why is Joliet called Jake?
Jake got his nickname "Joliet" from the Joliet Correctional Center.10 Tattoo DON'Ts!! How To Avoid STUPID Tattoos
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