Dear John Ford,
After watching your masterpiece The Searchers, I was confused about its theme. Someone said that it was a racism movie, which was also my first impression. However, when I replayed most of the scenes in my mind, I was deeply impressed by the ways you constructed the theme—races, within that particular context. It was definitely not a racism movie, but a movie which showed the complexity of races and the confrontation with racism.
Many people argue that Ethan, the main character, was a racist. In my opinion, he’s racism was complicated because of a lot of contradictions. From his behavior of shooting the eyes out of the dead Indian and killing buffalos to decrease Indian’s food supply, I can see his racism towards Indians clearly. From his desire to kill Debbie when he found her, I can tell his fear and hatred of miscegenation. However, when he decided to bequeath his possessions to Martin, when he hugged Debbie firmly and decided to take her home, when he spoke Native language fluently, I feel that he actually owned a part of Indian identity. When professor Hobbs shared her point that Ethan and Scar are mirroring figures, I suddenly understood the contradictions within Ethan. He was stone-faced, fierce, cruel and even bloodthirsty, like his counterpart—Scar. The only difference between them, which you tried to depict (I guess), was their races. Being a white man forced Ethan to hold his temper and behave himself for most of the time. But when he went on the journey of rescuing Debbie, those social restrictions diminished, therefore he could act of his free will. Unlike any other Westerns, the ending of this main character was not good. Ethan did not win any glory or be ready to go on the other adventure. Instead, he stayed alone and left the house because he could not fit in the normal society any more. I really like the ending part because I can see your antiracist sentiment from the fate of both Debbie and Ethan.
I am not sure whether I get a right understanding of your movie, but it has raised so many interesting ideas and questions about races that I want to watch it again. How the white society view Indians? What is the relationship between them? I am pretty sure that your movie will inspire a lot of people and have great impacts on the racial problems in nowadays society. Thanks you for making such a great movie.
Yours, Fiona
After watching your masterpiece The Searchers, I was confused about its theme. Someone said that it was a racism movie, which was also my first impression. However, when I replayed most of the scenes in my mind, I was deeply impressed by the ways you constructed the theme—races, within that particular context. It was definitely not a racism movie, but a movie which showed the complexity of races and the confrontation with racism.
Many people argue that Ethan, the main character, was a racist. In my opinion, he’s racism was complicated because of a lot of contradictions. From his behavior of shooting the eyes out of the dead Indian and killing buffalos to decrease Indian’s food supply, I can see his racism towards Indians clearly. From his desire to kill Debbie when he found her, I can tell his fear and hatred of miscegenation. However, when he decided to bequeath his possessions to Martin, when he hugged Debbie firmly and decided to take her home, when he spoke Native language fluently, I feel that he actually owned a part of Indian identity. When professor Hobbs shared her point that Ethan and Scar are mirroring figures, I suddenly understood the contradictions within Ethan. He was stone-faced, fierce, cruel and even bloodthirsty, like his counterpart—Scar. The only difference between them, which you tried to depict (I guess), was their races. Being a white man forced Ethan to hold his temper and behave himself for most of the time. But when he went on the journey of rescuing Debbie, those social restrictions diminished, therefore he could act of his free will. Unlike any other Westerns, the ending of this main character was not good. Ethan did not win any glory or be ready to go on the other adventure. Instead, he stayed alone and left the house because he could not fit in the normal society any more. I really like the ending part because I can see your antiracist sentiment from the fate of both Debbie and Ethan.
I am not sure whether I get a right understanding of your movie, but it has raised so many interesting ideas and questions about races that I want to watch it again. How the white society view Indians? What is the relationship between them? I am pretty sure that your movie will inspire a lot of people and have great impacts on the racial problems in nowadays society. Thanks you for making such a great movie.
Yours, Fiona
Comments
Post a Comment