Andrew Goodman Navajo Joe

Navajo Joe (1966), a spaghetti Western, clearly differs from the classic Western film. Most importantly, the film does not feature a white alpha male cowboy. Joe, the film’s protagonist, is a Navajo Indian who wreaks vengeance upon the gang of outlaws who slaughtered his entire tribe. Although Joe is not a white alpha male cowboy, he does meet the requirements of being an alpha male. He acts as a result of his duty to avenge his tribe, including his wife, who was murdered by Duncan’s enormous gang of outlaws. As he acts out of duty, he does not reveal to Estella, who is half-Indian, why he chooses to fight Duncan’s gang. Joe is a proficient marksman, is skilled with a knife, and is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat. As a result of his fighting capabilities, he is able to single-handedly kill dozens of men. Joe also reveals himself to be a taciturn loner, as although he interacts with various townspeople, he does not speak any more frequently than he needs to.
Note that spaghetti Westerns are produced in Europe and are directed by European directors. The spaghetti Western is, essentially, a European version of an American Western film. Thus, these films reflect European perceptions of American culture and of American values. Overall, the spaghetti Western reflects the belief, held by Europeans that Americans are a violent people who are attracted to portrayals of brutal violence. Additionally, these films reflect the European perception that Americans are a materialistic and intolerant people.
Specifically, Navajo Joe is a very violent film. The opening scene features Duncan killing and scalping an innocent Indian woman. Then, his large gang emerges and destroys an Indian village. As the film progresses, Joe attacks Duncan’s enormous gang by killing a few men at a time. After each killing, however, Duncan and his men become more ruthless and violent as they kill many townspeople after seeing the Wanted posters. After learning of the $500,000 heading to Esperanza, Duncan’s men kill not only the soldiers defending the train, but innocent men and women who just happen to be riding in the passenger compartment. In Esperanza, Duncan and his men brutalize the townspeople, even after it becomes clear that they do not know where Joe has hidden the money. In regard to materialism, the townspeople are shown to value the $500,000 more than they value Joe’s life as, on multiple occasions, comments are made which suggest that the money is more valuable than Joe. In regard to intolerance, Duncan is revealed to hate all Indians as he attacks and kills them in order to sell their scalps for $1 per scalp. Also, the townspeople make many rude comments about Joe as he is an Indian.
Thus, Navajo Joe, a typical spaghetti Western, reflects European perceptions of American culture as the film is very violent, reveals that Americans are materialistic, and portrays Caucasian Americans as being intolerant of racial minorities. As these are commonly thought of being negative attributes, from a cultural studies point of view, this genre is reflective of the notion that many Europeans view Americans and American culture in a negative light.