The Searchers Sparknotes
“Subjugation Through Cinema: A Film Analysis of The Searchers”
In the 1956 Western film, The Searchers, John Wayne plays the role of Ethan Edwards - a lawless, headstrong, cowboy. Even before the murder of his family and the kidnapping of his nieces, sewn into his Confederate overcoat and welded into his Napoleonic sword are Ethan’s drive to conquer and his hatred for “the racial other”. Conceptualized by Toni Morrison in her book, Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, the “othering” of non-white individuals is anything but marginal. In her analysis, language that acts like a dog whistle achieves the establishment of the racial other. It sends powerful subliminal messages to minorities that can “evoke and enforce hidden
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In The Searchers, Indigenous American characters lack the development of personalities and positive identifiable traits. The Comanche are only viewed favorably for the laugh track they provide to the white characters harming them. Critically, the Comanche occupy a subservient role to white characters in the film’s racial hierarchy. Throughout history, mass media tends to reinforce the power of the racially dominant group (white people) by arousing the general public with antagonistic images of minority groups. For example, Birth of a Nation utilized white actors in blackface to characterize African Americans as “savage, ignorant, thieves, interlopers and potential rapists” (Luther). The use of blackface to vilify African Americans sent a subconscious message to public viewers that the white race was morally superior and the sole group capable enough to take part in mainstream media. Birth of a Nation, an infamous white supremacist film, draws parallels to tactics used in The Searchers. For instance, white actors were used in part to play Indigenous Americans and to act out the violent characterization and dehumanization of minorities. The Searchers made a mockery out of Indigenous Americans and repeatedly belittled them. Although white characters also commit violent actions, only the minority characters are villainized for parallel actions. Essentially, The Searchers abused the power that films hold in how they shape, and are shaped by, contemporary society’s opinions of a particular
Reel Injun Sparknotes
776 Words | 4 PagesIn the documentary, Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian, directed by Neil Diamond, he investigates the progression of how cinema has portrayed the Native American. They begin with the early classic films that first were made up until recent times. The image of the Indian has been portrayed in several ways and films had typically created misleading depictions of the Indians. What was created in these films are often stereotypical and what many people today believe to be true. Throughout the documentary, we see many themes being presented and these are themes of how the image of Native Americans were viewed as the “bad guys” during some early films and how they evolved to show how they were really just human beings.
Comparing Do The Right Thing By Spike Lee And Lone Star
658 Words | 3 PagesThe films that I chose to explore in this paper are Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee and Lone Star by John Sayles. Each film offers examples of counter narratives in my opinion. There are many examples of characters vying for both power and respect from characters of the other race. Spike Lee, however, has an undeniably unique style that offers a counter on many levels.
Comanche Tribe Fact
1050 Words | 5 PagesThe primary propagator of these generalizations appears to be the film industry, with John Ford leading the movement. While Ford’s films bear many inaccuracies, there is documentation that corroborates his portrayal of the Comanche included some unsavory truths. For starters, Ford’s aim in his films
Summary Of Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
1309 Words | 6 PagesWillie Boy is Here (1969), produced by Abraham Polonsky, shows how the white supremacist movie industry has negatively portrayed Native Americans in California. Ever since Caucasians crossed the
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration
995 Words | 4 PagesIt 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
A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Film Trudell
2445 Words | 10 PagesTrudell asks the audience to recount an ugly period in U.S history in order to gain a better understanding of the devastation that took place. For centuries, the Government has built an image of the Native people as one of uncivilized savages and though the years has portrayed them as the cause of the average American’s suffering in order to bring genocide against them with minimal resistance for the public. When a culture or race is villainized based solely on that criteria it create a climate of hate that entrenches itself in the minds of the people and is passed down through the generations. People are no longer driven by facts, but instead feed into the racial rhetoric of which they have become accustomed. The film highlights the need for change to the way the people are treated by their Government.
Summary Of The Film 'Color Adjustment' By Marlon Riggs
477 Words | 2 PagesIn Marlon Riggs’ 1992 documentary film titled Color Adjustment, Riggs, the Emmy winning producer of Ethnic Notions, continues his studies of prejudice in television. The documentary film looks at the years between 1948 and 1988 to analyze how over a 40 year period, race relations are viewed through the lens of prime time entertainment. The film examined many of television’s stereotypes and mythes and how they changed over the years. The one hour and twenty-two minute documentary is narrated by Ruby Dee, the American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist.
Zayas And Genova's Latino Racial Discrimination In The Classroom
713 Words | 3 PagesAlso as people of color we are under bad political control, the government labels us into these racial groups that are considered minorities in the U.S., for example Latinos, the term Latino becomes our identity and since we are in this category all our lives we get unequal treatment to people in majority groups and we don’t get as many opportunities as they do. Then when we try to speak up or make a change in society we get ignored because of the color of our skin and who we are, you might think that our skin color has nothing to do with this but it really has everything to do with this problem. Genova and Ramos-Zayas even explain in their article how the U.S. Bureau of the Census has “overly simplistic naturalized reifications of “racial” difference understood in terms of phenotype and “color”” which basically means that we are racialized based on our looks and the color of our skin (2013, p.3). This is exactly why I chose this article for my piece of media by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The article ties in with the scene in the movie the Revenant when Hugh Glass, the father of the Pawnee boy Hawk, is being discriminated by one of the white men named John Fitzgerald.
Deconstructing Racist Ideologies In John Ford's The Searchers
787 Words | 4 PagesDeconstructing Racist Ideologies in John Ford’s The Searchers The Searchers, a 1957 film directed by John Ford, is a "visually magnificent" Western that has been praised for its cinematography, action-induced storytelling, and critical portrayal of the American West (Eckstein 1). Within the film, an ideologically significant scene occurs where Ethan, the main protagonist played by John Wayne, shoots out the eyes of a Comanche warrior in his grave. While this scene can be acknowledged for its unhinged cinematic impact, it also emphasizes a larger ideological and societal issue of racism and discrimination against Indigenous people that is implicitly suggested through the actions of Ethan in this scene. In this reflection, an exploration of how
Reel Injun Stereotypes
553 Words | 3 PagesThroughout the history of film production, the Indigenous community has been subjected to various stereotypes that have influenced people’s views on the Indigenous way of life and culture. This is true in Reel Injun by Neil Diamond. Individuals apart of the Indigenous community are subjected to highly problematic stereotypes that are false and problematic. The speaker states, “Natives were becoming the villains of these Western movies. They were being portrayed as savages and society accepted it”.
Pocahontas Rhetorical Analysis
644 Words | 3 PagesPocahontas Assignment 1. Why does Pewewardy believe that misrepresentation of American Indians in films can be harmful to this community? Pewewardy stresses the damaging effects that stereotypes Native Americans face in films pose to the children of Native American communities. These children see themselves as less than human not only thanks to films, but also because of the image of the Native American being used as mascots and logos.
Division In The Prison System: Documentary Analysis
1073 Words | 5 PagesDuring the film, the director includes clips and photos of violent events to show the torture African Americans went through. Raw footage of lynchings and abuse were shown to connect to viewers’ emotions. These graphics successfully portray the suffering people went through rather than only hearing about it. The pain and heartache viewers feel supports the argument because it creates a sense of sorrow for how horrifically these people were treated compared to the privileges we have now. Although Americans have more freedom now than years prior, racial discrimination is ongoing.
Mr. T-By Terrance Hayes Analysis
586 Words | 3 PagesIn Terrance Hayes’s poem “Mr. T-,” the speaker presents the actor Laurence Tureaud, also known as Mr. T, as a sellout and an unfavorable role model for the African American youth for constantly playing negative, stereotypical roles for a black man in order to achieve success in Hollywood. The speaker also characterizes Mr. T as enormous and simple-minded with a demeanor similar to an animal’s to further his mockery of Mr. T’s career. The speaker begins his commentary on the actor’s career by suggesting that The A-Team, the show Mr. T stars in, is racist by mentioning how he is “Sometimes drugged / & duffled (by white men) in a cockpit,” which seems to draw illusions to white men capturing and transporting slaves to new territories during the time of the slave trade (4-5).
Salt Of The Earth Film Analysis
1193 Words | 5 PagesI chose this film because it showed how hard the union workers and families worked in fighting racial injustices, and because it inspired myself to move forward with strong ideologies and pride. 2. Stereotyping in mass media was an important concern of Chicana/o media activists because it imprinted a demeaning label by only casting Chicana/o actors with "minor roles: villains, sidekicks, temptresses, where their main function is to provide the protagonists, typically a handsome white
Stereotypes In The Film Imitation Of Life
418 Words | 2 PagesMoreover, demonstrate consequences are taken to oppress racial and ethnic minorities to keep them in a subservient position. Overall, this film has provided me with a visual depiction of how stereotypes are a mental tool that enforces racial segregation and self-hate. The label of “White” became a necessity for Sarah Jane to achieve in society. To attain it she needed to move to a new city, change her name and deny her mother.
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