American films

American Identity Through the West Two things come to mind when I think of the West; vast open spaces that seem to go on and on and also Clint Eastwood’s movie, “A Fist Full of Dollars” theme music. Whatever vision comes to mind for people, the west has been a part of American identity for decades. Westerns in film have been a huge portion of this identity. First, it began with documentation of Daniel Boone explorations, then on to the dime store novel. Western film would be the biggest…

Hidden Figures is a historical film that centers around an overlooked trio of African American women—Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan—who served as mathematicians and engineers for NASA in the 1960s. Without this trio, NASA would not have been able to successfully launch John Glenn to orbit Earth. Both at work and in their personal lives, this trio had to endure segregation and discrimination; nevertheless, they still managed to become major contributors to some achievements…

behind and the representation of Native Americans has progressed. Today we have films like Rango and True Grit which although still don’t serve the ideal representation of Indians, have come a long way from how Native Americans were depicted during the era when stars like John Ford, John Wayne and Randolph Scott dominated Western Films. In Rango we have an Indian character who is known as “Wounded Bird”. Wounded bird is dressed in some stereotypical Native American clothes and is characterized…

think of African American stereotypes, what are some of the characteristics you can imagine that people would advertise? In the documentary Ethnic Notations they explain what some of the stereotypes for African Americans were back around the 1940's. There were many cartoons and shows that depicted these stereotypes and many of them are still relevant today even though they might not be as vulgar as the were back in the 1940's. We still have many issues with stereotyping African Americans and not…

The 2013 action film, Olympus Has Fallen, portrays a terrorist attack on the White House. While meeting with the Prime Minister of South Korea, the White House and surrounding area come under foreign attack via airplane. While heading to the safety bunker, the president goes against the norms by inviting the Prime Minister and his guards into the bunker. While in the bunker, the South Korean government becomes compromised by members of the North Korean terrorist group. The president, along with…

I had read episode one and episode two. The American Old West has always been the center of a romanticized view people had in the 1800 's from all over the world. The West is an eight-part television documentary regrading the American Old West. In it, the West is presented as a vast and beautiful landscape where many people from different parts of the world come to purse a prosperous life. A new world for some and the center of the universe for others. Stretching from the Mississippi to the…

Native Americans are commonly known for their spiritual connections to the land and nature. The first commandment of the 10 Native American Commandments is “Treat the earth and all that dwell thereon with respect” (Wayshowers Community Fellowship). Animals were thought of as equal to them, and before hunting for food, it wasn't uncommon for them to ask permission from the animal's spirit (Harrison). As the years have gone on the relationship Native Americans have with the land and nature has…

for land and gold. Americans thought they had the right to invade the Indian Territory and that provoked the Indians. In the movie Dances with Wolves, John Dunbar ventures out on his own, ending up abandoning his white heritage. Dunbar settled out on his own in the middle of the great plains. Indians soon found him, but unlike any other white American they befriended Dunbar. He soon received a new name from the Indians, Dances with Wolves. He enjoyed that, he realized white American names had no…

Based on the material from the film, the competition for land becomes an important factor in the animosity between whites and Native people. Subsequently, the images of native people in the public changed over time as that competition increased. In 1781 when Thomas Jefferson wrote Notes of Virginia, slavery was so rampant that many American believed that it was the natural place for black people. However, in Notes of Virginia, Jefferson described how Native American’s by nature were brave…

population and epitome of civilization, must intervene in order to quell violence perpetrated by Middle Eastern extremists. The seemingly patriotic themes of the movie additionally strengthen orientalist constructs of Eastern peoples. As a result, American Sniper has reinforced the dangerous stereotypes that are the foundation of Western views of the Middle…