Spaghetti Westerns, unlike the Westerns directed by Americans, portray the outsider view of America. These films, produced mainly by Italians, took the genre Americans utilized to reflect on past American culture and deciphered it to depict the evil nature and violence tendencies of America. Of this new genre, two films produced in 1966, The Good the Bad and the Ugly and Navajo Joe, reflect these outside views of America. These films vastly differ from the classic Western, and with this difference bring a whole new playing field to the mix.
The Good the Bad and the Ugly presented a daunting view of America – that all Americans care about is money and would trample over anyone to get it. The film told the story of three men on a search to find a fortune in gold buried in a cemetery. Encompassing the adventure were numerous scenes of violence, most of them for no reason pertaining to the advancement of the story. The story portrayed distrust and unfriendly alliances which was all surrounded by considerable violence. In a cultural view, America at this time had indeed been on the extreme end of violent activities and heavy distrust. During the 60s, America was plagued with numerous assassinations, public violence significant of the civil rights movement as well as the continuing war in Vietnam. The assassinations, to countries looking at America, depicted distrust among Americans as important figures were assassinated, including Pres. John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Further, the war in Vietnam made America look greedy and lustful in its desire to obtain whatever it wants no matter the cost, as portrayed in this film.
Similarly, Navajo Joe also depicts America as a country eager to take what it wants whenever it wants. Most notable from this film is that in speaking about the alpha male cowboy, there was none in this film. The only character that came close to being the alpha male cowboy was the Indian, Joe. Joe, usually considered an “other” in classical Westerns, was the major character in this film. Similar to the alpha male cowboy, Joe was strong, rugged, self-reliable, keen, very skilled, and not afraid of anything. Joe always fought against the odds, triumphing every time. However, unlike the alpha male cowboy, Joe did not fight for duty; instead, he was driven by revenge and also took some payment near the end. In the film, Joe makes a key point when he states that his father was born in the land, while the “American’s” father was actually born in Scotland. This point is significant of the civil rights movement occurring during the time as the Blacks were fighting for civil rights however they were not treated as equals because they were not “Americans.” However, truly, none of the Americans indeed came from America; they are all immigrants, just like in the film, only Joe is the true American.
The film also depicts the greed of America and the violence used to further that greed. Duncan and his crew kill Indians for scalps, just to sell at a dollar a scalp. Furthermore, the gang kills everyone relentlessly in the train just to get to the fortune in the safe. Similar to The Good the Bad and the Ugly, the film shows America as a country bent on its own desires, raining down violence to further its goals. Moreover, a final point notable in the film is the scene where the immigrants are talking about how they hope to have a good life in America. The immigrants mention that they love the scenery, the land and that they know their son will love it too. However, the immigrants soon meet their deaths when Duncan’s gang sabotage’s the train. At the time, immigrants in America usually came with high hopes for a better future. However, when finally reaching the States, they met discrimination, low wages, and unsanitary living. The American dream was only a dream; the ideas of working hard to make a living amounted to nothing other than America’s screensaver. The immigrants met harsh conditions, just like the immigrants in Navajo Joe.
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