In the West of Everything, Jane Tompkins mentions on the first page how typical Western movies open up. She tells the readers taht the movie opens with a landscape shot. Some examples include Stagecoach (1939) "Desert, with btute, two riders galloping toward camera," (p.69) and Red River (1948) "Desert with wagon train, flat country, a few hills," (p.69). The other examples included on the page are pretty much the same as the ones mentioned before. What Tompkins explains in her book links with John Ford's The Searchers. The protagonist of the film is somewhat mysteriously shown in the barren desert under the bright hot sun and is also shown walking towards a house on the mountains. The setting of the film gives the protagonist some sort of an aura, characterizing the man as a person who could survive under harsh conditions. The desert makes the man look strong physically and mentally.
The opening scene correlates with what Tompkins had wrote about in that the landscape gives a spiritual message giving off the message: "Come, and suffer," (p.71). Ethan Edwards, the main character, is exposed under the sun with no place to hide. No shelter, no water, no rest, and no comfort are being provided to him, which makes the desert a deadly place to be in. The harshness of the landscape of the film represents how strong and enduring the characters are within the film because "The landscape challenges the body to endure hardship," (p.71). The characters are meant to suffer, but by overcoming the hardships through discipline, the characters grow wiser and become physically strong. In The Searchers, Martin turns into a character that I had just mentioned previously because he decided to follow Edwards for a long period to rescue their relatives. Charles Sheldon within Tompkin's book mentions that, "The appeal of the desert lies partly in its promise of pain, an invitiation to the irresistible because it awakens a desire for spiritual prowess, some unearthly glory earned through long-continued discipline, self sacrifice, submission to a supernal power," (p.72).
Another important point within the film that Tompkins seems to mention is the unimportance of women. Men are shown to be superior to women in western films. In The Searchers, the men seem to have complete control over the women because they push around the women and block their way from coming out of the scene. Women seem to have no important value within the film. Like Tompkins said, "There is no need to say that men are superior to women, the scene has already said it," (p.73).
The landscape, the dangerous situation in which the protagonist is in, and the class of women, are shown to be some of the elements within typical western movies.
In the West of Everything, Jane Tompkins mentions on the first page how typical Western movies open up. She tells the readers that the movie opens with a landscape shot. Some examples include Stagecoach (1939) "Desert, with brute, two riders galloping toward camera," (p.69) and Red River (1948) "Desert with wagon train, flat country, a few hills," (p.69). The other examples included on the page are pretty much the same as the ones mentioned before. What Tompkins explains in her book links with John Ford's The Searchers. The protagonist of the film is somewhat mysteriously shown in the barren desert under the bright hot sun and is also shown walking towards a house on the mountains. The setting of the film gives the protagonist some sort of an aura, characterizing the man as a person who could survive under harsh conditions. The desert makes the man look strong physically and mentally.
ReplyDeleteThe opening scene correlates with what Tompkins had written about in that the landscape gives a spiritual message giving off the message: "Come, and suffer," (p.71). Ethan Edwards, the main character, is exposed under the sun with no place to hide. No shelter, no water, no rest, and no comfort are being provided to him, which makes the desert a deadly place to be in. The harshness of the landscape of the film represents how strong and enduring the characters are within the film because "The landscape challenges the body to endure hardship," (p.71). The characters are meant to suffer, but by overcoming the hardships through discipline, the characters grow wiser and become physically strong. In The Searchers, Martin turns into a character that I had just mentioned previously because he decided to follow Edwards for a long period to rescue their relatives. Charles Sheldon within Tompkins’s book mentions that, "The appeal of the desert lies partly in its promise of pain, an invitation to the irresistible because it awakens a desire for spiritual prowess, some unearthly glory earned through long-continued discipline, self sacrifice, submission to a supernal power," (p.72).
Another important point within the film that Tompkins seems to mention is the unimportance of women. Men are shown to be superior to women in western films. In The Searchers, the men seem to have complete control over the women because they push around the women and block their way from coming out of the scene. Women seem to have no important value within the film. Like Tompkins said, "There is no need to say that men are superior to women, the scene has already said it," (p.73).
The landscape, the dangerous situation in which the protagonist is in, and the class of women, are shown to be some of the elements within typical western movies.