Monday, February 7, 2011
The Searchers Post-KO
As Jane Tompkins emphasized in the beginning of the chapter on land, the opening scene of a western is very much like the Old Testament sense of creation. The landscape of the west provides a clean slate for the its inhabiters. Tompkins writes, " The openness provides infinite access....The man can go, in any direction, as far as he can go. The possibilities are infinite" (75). In this first monumental scene shot by John Wayne, the viewers have the focal point from inside of a cabin. The screen is dark until the latch of the door is being unlocked and opens the house as well as the viewers to the vast, bright, powerful land that boasts before them. The contrast between the dark cabin and the ever powerful bright desert is clear, with Martha holding on to the side while blocking the sun from the sight she sees before her, which is Ethan coming on horseback riding to the cabin with the sun upon his back. The shots of the desert are incredible in that they encompass freedom, death, silence, an open path to start fresh and choose every which way to travel. But the landscape of the westerns are crucial for they provide the wanderer or hero the ability to grow up and become a man. Tompkins touches greatly on the relationship between the man and the land. Tompkins explores this notion as she writes, "landscape almost never truly black, but it is constantly changing, continually inviting the senses, stimulating feeling, perception, and thought" (78). The land will test the men, and give them the unforgiving and tough traits of the desert to be passed on to the men. In The Searchers, that initially scene when Ethan comes into the picture, we see the hard and hot landscape behind him that just hints that outside there in the desert would be more comfortable than inside that cabin. We see this again in the last scene when Ethan finally returns home with his niece and that camera shot is yet again from the point of view from inside cabin, but this time it is Ethan who is in the cabin doorway looking in, not yet joining he family for his journey in the desert may not be finished just yet.
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One way the cowboy tests his strength and endurance is through the trait of independence. The cowboy earns and receives his independence from his surrounding environment. The landscape that he strives in is the desert, which is often portrayed as open abyss filled with monstrous butte and is engulfed by the aura of death. The harsh and unforgiving surroundings of the desert force the cowboy to be hard and tough. As Jane Tompkins emphasized in the beginning of the chapter on land, the opening scene of a western is very much like the Old Testament sense of creation. The landscape of the west provides a clean slate for its inhibitors. Tompkins writes, " The openness provides infinite access....The man can go, in any direction, as far as he can go. The possibilities are infinite" (75). In this first monumental scene shot by John Wayne, the viewers have the focal point from inside of a cabin. The screen is dark until the latch of the door is being unlocked and opens the house as well as the viewers to the vast, bright, powerful land that boasts before them. The contrast between the dark cabin and the ever powerful bright desert is clear, with Martha holding on to the side while blocking the sun from the sight she sees before her, which is Ethan coming on horseback riding to the cabin with the sun upon his back. The shots of the desert are incredible in that they encompass freedom, death, silence, and a open path to start fresh and choose every which way to travel. But the landscapes of the Westerns are crucial for they provide the cowboy the ability to grow up and become a man. Tompkins touches greatly on the relationship between the man and the land. Tompkins explores this notion when she writes, "Landscape almost never truly black, but it is constantly changing, continually inviting the senses, stimulating feeling, perception, and thought" (78). The land will test the men, and give them the unforgiving and tough traits of the desert to be passed on to the men. In The Searchers, that initially scene when Ethan comes into the picture, we see the hard and hot landscape behind him that just hints that outside there in the desert would be more comfortable than inside that cabin. We see this again in the last scene when Ethan finally returns home with his niece and that camera shot is yet again from the point of view from inside cabin, but this time it is Ethan who is in the cabin doorway looking in, not yet joining he family for his journey in the desert may not be finished just yet. This scene reveals the cowboys isolation from civilization. Although Ethan has completed the task of rescuing Debbie, his journey never truly ends. The cowboy is a loner, antisocial who never integrates within society. He is the nomad and resident of the desert, his independence and isolation fueling his perseverance to conquer his quests and the challenge of survival.
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