The Searchers is a “classic” western. It tells the story of Ethan Edwards who is accompanied by his nephew Martin Pawley and their five-year-long search to find his niece after she is captured and her family killed by the Comanche Indians. Little Big Man is a “revisionist” western. It tells the story of Jack Crabbe, a 121-year-old man asked to tell his story about his life, which includes being captured and raised by the Indians and living in a white society with a variety of jobs leading him to Little Big Horn. Each film has distinct similar and different themes that make them a revisionist and classic western, respectively that we will be exploring along with a political message although it may or may not be hard to spot.
The setting of …show more content…
Ethan Edwards, the hero, is a man of few words he doesn’t talk a lot. He’s got money, but it implied that was acquired in a shady kind of way. He fits the classic western archetype. Martin Pawley is the good but beat down young sidekick just trying to get the job done and get the hell out of there. The film also includes the drunk, the preacher, the sheriff, and the love interest, but in this case, it’s the sidekick with the love interest and let’s not forget about arguably the most important characters in a western… the Indians. The settlers in the film are portrayed as more civilized and good to make the audience feel for them and root for Ethan and Pawley to get the girl back from the Indians. That being said there are no exceptions as the settlers are indisputably the good guys. The American Indians are portrayed in a bad and evil light, but also in good light, the traders are the good and Scar and his posse are the bad. The “bad” Indians are shown as rapists, killers, and kidnappers. This is unquestionable, but with the one exception being traders. This was to make the audience want to see Scar be taken down by the “good guys”. In Little Big Man our Hero is not the “classic western” hero like Ethan Edwards is in The Searchers. Our hero isn’t really a hero in the “classic western” sense. He’s just a survivor, which doesn’t mean that he can’t be a hero, but Jack Crabbe isn’t really. Not like Ethan Edwards anyways. He does what …show more content…
Lone hero gets a mission, goes on said mission, gets the sidekick, accomplishes the mission. The only thing, not Western was the fact that Ethan didn’t get the girl, but at least Pawley did. Little Big Man works as a western because there are cowboys and Indians and it’s about survival. Man vs the wild/man vs the civilization. The film also works as a revisionist western because the Indian and Settler roles are reversed. The Indians are looked at as the good guys, while the white people are bad. The hero in this film is not a hero but is still a morally troubled man, he is a survivor. The two films deal with different themes. The Searchers being about revenge, vengeance, family, purity (in regard to Debbie) and redemption, while Little Big Man is about survival in two worlds that Jack Crabbe don’t really belong to. Both can be seen as Western themes a lot of westerns are about righting a wrong and getting revenge and redeeming yourself like in The Searchers, but surviving a fight between man and society like in Little Big Man is a Western theme as well. Little Big Man has an obvious political message. It was a film that was made with a message that the film’s makers were against the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It also so presents the audience with injustice and prejudices an obvious example being the
The setting of …show more content…
Ethan Edwards, the hero, is a man of few words he doesn’t talk a lot. He’s got money, but it implied that was acquired in a shady kind of way. He fits the classic western archetype. Martin Pawley is the good but beat down young sidekick just trying to get the job done and get the hell out of there. The film also includes the drunk, the preacher, the sheriff, and the love interest, but in this case, it’s the sidekick with the love interest and let’s not forget about arguably the most important characters in a western… the Indians. The settlers in the film are portrayed as more civilized and good to make the audience feel for them and root for Ethan and Pawley to get the girl back from the Indians. That being said there are no exceptions as the settlers are indisputably the good guys. The American Indians are portrayed in a bad and evil light, but also in good light, the traders are the good and Scar and his posse are the bad. The “bad” Indians are shown as rapists, killers, and kidnappers. This is unquestionable, but with the one exception being traders. This was to make the audience want to see Scar be taken down by the “good guys”. In Little Big Man our Hero is not the “classic western” hero like Ethan Edwards is in The Searchers. Our hero isn’t really a hero in the “classic western” sense. He’s just a survivor, which doesn’t mean that he can’t be a hero, but Jack Crabbe isn’t really. Not like Ethan Edwards anyways. He does what …show more content…
Lone hero gets a mission, goes on said mission, gets the sidekick, accomplishes the mission. The only thing, not Western was the fact that Ethan didn’t get the girl, but at least Pawley did. Little Big Man works as a western because there are cowboys and Indians and it’s about survival. Man vs the wild/man vs the civilization. The film also works as a revisionist western because the Indian and Settler roles are reversed. The Indians are looked at as the good guys, while the white people are bad. The hero in this film is not a hero but is still a morally troubled man, he is a survivor. The two films deal with different themes. The Searchers being about revenge, vengeance, family, purity (in regard to Debbie) and redemption, while Little Big Man is about survival in two worlds that Jack Crabbe don’t really belong to. Both can be seen as Western themes a lot of westerns are about righting a wrong and getting revenge and redeeming yourself like in The Searchers, but surviving a fight between man and society like in Little Big Man is a Western theme as well. Little Big Man has an obvious political message. It was a film that was made with a message that the film’s makers were against the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It also so presents the audience with injustice and prejudices an obvious example being the