The spagetti western differs from the prototypical western in that it does not exprss American ideas per say, but express the wrongs and imperfections of American society. The spagetti westerns were filimed in Europe in the 1960's, and show the outsider's view on America. The films draw great attention with extrmely famous actors such as Eastwood and Reynolds, and they were chosen to showcase these types of films. Being made in the heat of the civil rights movement, the spagetti westerns focused on the internal trouble of the United States, seen from a foriegn point of view.
In the spagetti westerns racism comes to te forefront. Navajo Joe is a film that carries a rich anti-racism theme. Joe, being a Navajo, expresses that all people are equal. He is the one who is superior to the white men around, and he ends up being more of an American that all of the white-folk. His ancestors lived in the Americas for years, and by expressing this, I sends the message to the viewers that people from all walks of life are equals. The fact that the alpha male comes from the category of "other" shows the chane in thought during the time the film was made. The spagetti westerns also portray America as unreasonably volence and brutal. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Navajo Joe display a very intense amount of bloodshed and violence. Tuco is excessively tortured in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and pretty much everyone else inthe film kills without thought and remorse. The scalping and pillaging in Navajo Joe note the foriegn view that the United States promotes killing as first-resort, not a last-resort. There is also no coincidence the filsm were made during the Vietnam War, a war that was said to be pointless and only for the sake of bloodshed. This expressed the American love for violence an lack of diplomacy. All in all the spagetti westerns show the flaws in American society, which links directly to the foriegn view that America is a "brute" country.
The spagetti western differs from the prototypical western in that it does not exprss American ideas per say, but express the wrongs and imperfections of American society. The spagetti westerns were filimed in Europe in the 1960's, and show the outsider's view on America. The films draw great attention with extrmely famous actors such as Eastwood and Reynolds, and they were chosen to showcase these types of films. Being made in the heat of the civil rights movement, the spagetti westerns focused on the internal trouble of the United States, seen from a foriegn point of view.
ReplyDeleteIn the spagetti westerns racism comes to the forefront. Navajo Joe is a film that carries a rich anti-racism theme. Joe, being a Navajo, expresses that all people are equal. He is the one who is superior to the white men around, and he ends up being more of an American that all of the white-folk. His ancestors lived in the Americas for years, and by expressing this, I sends the message to the viewers that people from all walks of life are equals. The fact that the alpha male comes from the category of "other" shows the chane in thought during the time the film was made. The spagetti westerns also portray America as unreasonably volence and brutal. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Navajo Joe display a very intense amount of bloodshed and violence. Tuco is excessively tortured in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and pretty much everyone else inthe film kills without thought and remorse. The scalping and pillaging in Navajo Joe note the foriegn view that the United States promotes killing as first-resort, not a last-resort. There is also no coincidence the filsm were made during the Vietnam War, a war that was said to be pointless and only for the sake of bloodshed. This expressed the American love for violence an lack of diplomacy. All in all the spagetti westerns show the flaws in American society, which links directly to the foriegn view that America is a "brute" country.