Bruce Chadwick’s Argument that the Civil War Movies “Went West”
In his book "The Reel Civil War," Bruce Chadwick makes the claim that Civil War films from the 1950s and 1960s "went West." He claims that these movies frequently featured well-known "cowboy heroes" and told tales that were essentially Westerns with men wearing cowboy hats riding horses and firing six-shooters. Chadwick included films like "Friendly Persuasion" and "The Horse Soldiers" in his analysis. Chadwick's theory has some merit, but it is oversimplified to say that the Civil War moved to the West in each of these films. The fact that many of these movies presented the Civil War in a variety of ways is ignored by Chadwick's argument. Additionally, several Civil War movies
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For instance, the 1915 film "The Birth of a Nation," which had a significant influence on Civil War films in later decades, portrayed the Ku Klux Klan as a noble and heroic organization, effectively rewriting history to show white southerners as the victims of Reconstruction rather than the perpetrators of oppression and violence. The Ku Klux Klan was praised in the movie as a vital force for maintaining law and order and defending white supremacy, while African Americans were portrayed as lazy, dangerous, and shiftless. The movie successfully reshaped history by making white southerners Reconstruction's victims rather than the oppressors and violent offenders.
One could argue that, in terms of different interpretations, Civil War films from the 1950s and 1960s "went South" as opposed to "went West." This viewpoint highlights how important southern identity and experience are in many of these movies. There is another interpretation that may be made, even though Bruce Chadwick's claim that Civil War movies from the 1950s and 1960s "went West" has some merit. According to certain academics and critics, these movies actually "went south" as opposed to "going west." This alternative reading highlights how important southern identity and experience are too many of these
They also made a point of showing the Texans as heroes and Mexicans as villians when they were only trying to take back what had been taken from them first. The film also largely ignored the concept of slavery only highlighting on it with two of the minor characters in the film when in reality it was a large issue for the
The main individuals in the book, ranging from extreme to temperate and from integrationists to separatists, often bickered with one another about intentions and strategies and, at times, plotted against one other. This is indisputably a challenging tale to tell. It seems what ties this narrative together is that Sugrue has discovered that the civil rights movement in the North may not be as prevalent as it once was, but it still exists, nonetheless. Sugrue is cautious to refer to movements in the plural, instead one comprehensive Northern Civil Rights Movement is acknowledged. This is a captivating and tremendously important facet of the book.
From the title, “West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War” we are met with the deals of conceptive reconstruction during the time after the Civil War. A time in which the country formed ideals of citizenship and the role of the government. The title is devoted to the theme of Heather Cox Richardson’s illustration of Western influence on this period of reconstruction post-Civil War. This view of post-war reconstruction is formatted in a timeline to include many of the political debates of the late nineteenth century. She shows an effective examination of how the post-war reconstruction, has produced a modern day construction that sits behind concepts of individualism, the middle class, and governmental influence.
The Civil War produced by Ken Burns’ qualifies as an immensely powerful, educative and interesting film production. Due to the fact that writing was popular amongst Americans, Burns’ contextualised the civil war by representing not just the writings of the great leaders and generals but also the ones from the wives, the doctors, the farmers, the newspaper editors etc... More importantly the words of the soldiers involved in this vicious war. Burns showed the importance of fighting this war by going through the lives of average people caught up in events they may not have completely comprehended, but which they believed in. Burns used maps, historical context, photographs, music and speech to teach us the story of the second most influential
Ken Burns is a historical documentary filmmaker. He made a documentary about the civil war that was criticized and seen my many. Many Americans viewed the war in a different way based on the information or lack of information provided by Burns. Rose and Corley share the dangers that come with filmmakers shaping the way people view historical events. In this essay, we will view the weaknesses of Burns films.
When first reviewing ‘Im not your negro’ I assumed that it would focus on the history of the civil rights movements during the 1900’s. Although the documentary does cover the history of the 1900’s its main focus is relating
"The Negro Soldier" (1944), directed by Stuart Heisler, is a significant documentary film that explores the experiences and contributions of African American soldiers during World War II. This essay examines the key themes that emerge in the film, evaluates its effectiveness in clarifying the issues of war for prospective soldiers and civilians, and analyzes the important cinematic techniques employed to convey these themes to the audience. One of the central themes in the film is the pursuit of equality and patriotism. By showcasing the achievements and sacrifices of African American soldiers, the film challenges prevalent racial prejudices and highlights the shared purpose of all soldiers in defending their country.
Segregation also followed the blacked soldiers into their lives in the military, they faced unfair wages, not allowed to fight in battles, and much more. One of the greatest movies released that
It is also easier to deny the reality when one is fixated on a popular myth that unequal treatments and racism ended. The so-called freedom society talks of in America does not apply to everyone. With the stereotypes formed, portrayed, and passed down, oppression continues in obvious and subtle ways. This film showed the affects the stereotypes have on people. Even with an understanding of history, the audience might find themselves rethinking American history and modern
This film portrayed African Americans as criminals who were in danger to our society. This false conception lead people to treat African Americans even worse from what they been receiving even sparking the Ku Klux Klan and the group used a method of terrorism with the burning of the cross they occurred in the film itself. This film didn’t portray the Civil War, but the
Not only was the author trying to convey the civil rights movement and the impact it had on his life, but he also was trying to explain how it affected the South. Despite government efforts to establish equality in the American people the white supremacy and resistance caused a sluggish change in the South. It took racially charged events and violence to make a small impact on the cultural divide. The author also enlightens the reader on how in present day the South attempts in every way to pretend that such a resistance did not exist. The privileged, pretentious white community then audaciously moves on as it nothing has happened in an attempt to soothe it plagued conscience.
Go Set a Watchman ' explores racism and changing attitudes in the South during the 1950s in a bold and unflinching way. At its heart, it is the
We treat each other with great coarseness and continually make no effort to change. It is often evident that those who are treated with such disrespect become extremely grotesque people. There is a plague of corruptness in society everywhere. This plague is not only alive in the South, but in all of society. These poor morals portrayed in the film are spread throughout society and continue to be an issue today.
What I mean is a African American may view this film as a means to diminish their culture, a white person may believe this film makes them look evil and a police officer may believe this film makes officers look like they are above the law or feel like they should be above the law. These differences can cause conflict when
The final character is the Ku Klux Klan in Birth of a Nation is shown, as a hero if it’s not Ku Klux Klan America would be in ruins. Ku Klux Klan is there to protect the pure white race from the blacks. Griffith depicts his Klansmen committing horrendous acts against blacks; he clearly regards these crimes as justified and means the audience to feel likewise. This can be seen by a scene where a trial and lynching of a black man whose frighten a white woman that led to her death, and the reversing of election fraud attributed earlier in the film to black militia seen blocking leading white citizens from approaching the polls, with subjugated blacks now barred by Klan guardsmen; fear and the need to do something drove a lot of people to become