Raising Arizona: A Post-Apocalyptic Comedy? Hear me out...

Okay, so I just rewatched Raising Arizona for the 100th time (probably) and I think I've stumbled onto something kinda wild. We all know the Coen Brothers are geniuses, but what if this isn't just a quirky crime comedy? What if it's secretly a post-apocalyptic film disguised as one? Okay, bear with me. Think about it: Nicolas Cage is playing a reformed criminal trying to go straight, right? But look at his world. It's desolate, economically depressed (he keeps getting fired), and populated by these… borderline feral characters. Gale and Evelle coming out of the literal mud, Leonard Smalls looking like a refugee from a Mad Max movie... They're all operating on a survivalist level. Even Hi's dreams are these bizarre, nightmarish visions of an uncivilized future. The whole kidnapping plot is driven by scarcity – they can't have kids naturally in a dying world, so they take what they need. And what about the Arizona landscape itself? It's beautiful, sure, but also unforgiving and empty. Reminds me a lot of the settings in some classic post-apocalyptic stories. Then you add in the fact that the Arizona family is basically a factory producing babies. Almost like they are breeding back people after a nuclear event. I know it's a stretch, but it's not that crazy, right? Maybe I'm just overthinking it (likely), but the Coens are masters of layering meaning into their films. It's possible they were hinting at a larger societal breakdown under the surface of this seemingly straightforward comedy. Just a thought! What do you guys think? Am I totally off my rocker?