Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Unforgiven
The film The Unforgiven takes its place in the Western genre as a revisionist film. One way this film can be categorized as such is seen by Morgan Freeman’s character, Ned Logan. For the first time in the genre, we see a strong, independent black male, Ned, who plays the protagonist, and also happens to be married to a Native American woman. This was a big turning point in the Westerns, for the Westerns were changing just as drastically as the times were. The film was made during a time when more transgender and intermarriages movements were rising and fighting for equality. This is depicted with Ned being married to a Native American woman. And when Ned is killed, he is displayed outside the saloon in a coffin like a Christ was on a cross. This reflects the ignorance and hateful reactions the women’s movement received after taking up the cause of the transgender among the other groups who were treated with inequality in America. Made in 1992, the film was portraying a very different aspect of the West than the classical films. It does not glorify violence and see it as a means to an end, but rather it depicts it as damaging and destructive to the people around it. The film also shows violence as the result of male insecurity, like when the prostitute gets her face slashed when she making fun of a man’s under-endowment in the beginning of the film. In the early 90s, President George Bush Sr. supported a monarchy government in the First Gulf War when lobbing missiles in Kuwait. This showed how powerful the nation was with our weapons of mass destruction. Eastwood shows the negative side of violence in this film and how it can destroy people through his characters Ned Logan and Will Munny. For the first time, Will expresses horror and contrition for his violent actions.
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In the film Gunfight at the OK Corral, the audience sees a unique relationship between the alpha male cowboy and his sidekick. In this film, Doc Holliday plays the role of the sidekick to the alpha male Wyatt Earp. The duo began once Wyatt saved Doc’s life, and thus Doc pledged his allegiance to Wyatt in hopes of returning the favor.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, the sidekick is portrayed as sometimes the younger, less experienced man who is not as brave or courageous as the sidekick. Doc is special because he is older, dependent, loyal, and has a dark past, which on paper with those characteristics alone might define him as an alpha male. Doc may seem too strong of a character to be a sidekick, but he is not an alpha male because he is controlled by his vices of gambling and drinking, and is too old and sick. Doc Holliday is not an alpha male in this film because he is a prisoner of his vices and has failed, and in doing so he gave up his place when he honored his debt to Wyatt. Doc also appears to show more violent streaks towards women, as Wyatt was not for he was just doing what he thought was right. Typically, the sidekick is present in Western films in order to foil the alpha male cowboy and show the alpha’s strengths and masculinity. In the film Gunfight at the OK Corral, Doc is depicted as a killer who is very good with the gun, but due to his vices, health and age is not the alpha male cowboy and thus fills the role of the sidekick.
The film The Unforgiven takes its place in the Western genre as a revisionist film. One way this film can be categorized as such is seen by Morgan Freeman’s character, Ned Logan. For the first time in the genre, we see a strong, independent black male, Ned, who plays the protagonist, and also happens to be married to a Native American woman. This was a big turning point in the Westerns, for the Westerns were changing just as drastically as the times were. The film was made during a time when more transgender and intermarriages movements were rising and fighting for equality. This is depicted with Ned being married to a Native American woman. And when Ned is killed, he is displayed outside the saloon in a coffin like a Christ was on a cross. This reflects the ignorance and hateful reactions the women’s movement received after taking up the cause of the transgender among the other groups who were treated with inequality in America. Made in 1992, the film was portraying a very different aspect of the West than the classical films. It does not glorify violence and see it as a means to an end, but rather it depicts it as damaging and destructive to the people around it. The film also shows violence as the result of male insecurity, like when the prostitute gets her face slashed when she making fun of a man’s under-endowment in the beginning of the film. In the early 90s, President George Bush Sr. supported a monarchy government in the First Gulf War when lobbing missiles in Kuwait. This showed how powerful the nation was with our weapons of mass destruction. Eastwood shows the negative side of violence in this film and how it can destroy people through his characters Ned Logan and Will Munny. For the first time, Will expresses horror and contrition for his violent actions.
ReplyDelete