Dancing With Wolves By Kevin Costner

Over the past nine weeks, we have watched three movies. The two movies that stood out were Dances with Wolves and Tombstone. Dances with Wolves was released in 1990 by director Kevin Costner and tells the story of a white army man bonding with the Sioux Indians. Tombstone was released in 1993 by directors George P. Cosmatos and Kevin Jarre and tells the story of Wyatt Earp´s time as officer in Tombstone. Both movies have many similarities and differences. Some similarities and differences can be found in the setting, events, characters traits, and directors style.

When John Dunbar goes out to find the Lakota Sioux, but he first stumbles upon Stands with a Fist. When he sees that her arms are bleeding; his immediate reaction was to use his U.S. flag, something that he carries with pride, as a tourniquet. This shows the audience that Dunbar is an ardent person and is willing to help another at his own cost. At one point in the film Dunbar finds himself not wanting to sleep at eh tribes’ camp, but not wanting to be an American soldier. When the Lakota Sioux attacks their rivals, the Pawnee, Dunbar claims to a sense of pride. Dances with Wolves remembers his journal that he kept when he was living at Fort Sedgwick, and rides Cisco back to retrieve it; he is captured by the Army and is interrogated for information about the tribes in the area. Dances with Wolves’ transition is complete when he refuses to cooperate with the Army and is sent

There are an infinite amount of unique responses to the question “What is the meaning of life?”. However, the majority of people will agree that the true meaning of life is to find happiness and what is really important to one’s self. In Jon Krakauer’s, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless conveys this idealism through his life’s journey as he bravely defies all limitations. Chris McCandless isolates himself from society in his Alaskan Odyssey as a way to defy accepted expectations and to begin discovering the meanings of life without any corrupted influences.

“Dear John Wayne” by Louise Erdrich is about the stereotype of the Native American, being a savage race on film and how the Native Americans watching the film react to those stereotypes.

I agree with what you said about two drastically different thoughts. While watching the video, I really admired the Lakota’s reverence towards nature. I was also shocked by the accuracy of some of Sitting Bull’s prophecies. I wonder if anyone during the time of the Wild West shows noticed the irony in the Native Americans being the villains and white people being the heroes. I know some people tried to help protect Native American rights, but I wonder if Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, or Frank Butler ever thought about it or did they just refuse to acknowledge

Hollywood has helped create and perpetuate many different stereotypical images of the different races in the world. Those stereotypes still continue to affect the way we think about each other today and many of those stereotypes have been proven to be historically inaccurate. The movie Dances With Wolves, directed by actor Kevin Costner, does an excellent job in attempting to promote a greater acceptance, understanding, and sympathy towards Native American culture, instead of supporting the typical stereotype of Native Americans being nothing but brutal, blood thirsty savages.

The Indians are finally presented in the movie by the screen scanning across a wide-open desert very peaceful and deserted. In the middle of all this silence the camera fell upon a skeleton of a human that we assume the Indians killed. This is how the movie sets the tone for how we are going to think about the Indians. They play with the stereotype that all us Americans think are true about the Indians. At first we think that we were right, but the story does not end there.

This movie was pleasantly surprising. It was an enjoyable watch and told a story that kept the plot line and details close to the real history of the Sioux Indians’ lives, starting with The Battle at Little Big Horn.

I thought this film was very unique because it shows the true Native American perspective of everyday life, not the usual phony stereotype of Indians such as teepees and bow and arrows. It also showed how much Native Americans are not much different than other cultures. Instead of singling other cultures out or judging people that are different from

From the very beginning you can see a glimmer of spirit in some of the Indians living on the reservation. The local radio personality, for example, made light of their situation nearly every time he was on the screen. His weather and traffic man is a jovial Indian, comfortably seated atop a van out in the middle of nowhere. He has an umbrella set up to shade him from the harsh rays of the sun, and it looks like he sits there on the roof of his van day in and day out. He speaks to the radio announcer over a cell phone, and his reports are given in a humorous way. When asked about the traffic, he replies that about a half an hour ago a car drove by and that's about it. He didn't seem to mind at all that he was away from the hustle and bustle we associate with life in this day and age. When they spoke about the impoverished conditions of the Indians, it was almost as if they had accepted their lot in life, and was doing the best they could under the conditions given to them. Not once did even a hint of anger at the white man enter their his voice.

The Native American culture is something that is cherished by their people. “Perhaps no other group of people has quite the rich and storied culture as those of the Native Americans. They have a history rich in struggle, strife, and triumph (Native American Culture).” Dances with Wolves, directed by Kevin Costner in 1990, is about a white man who becomes interested in the Native American culture and decides to befriend fellow an Indian tribe (Dances with Wolves). The Searchers by John Ford in 1956 is about a white man who is on a journey to find his niece who was kidnapped by an Indian tribe (The Searchers). These films do have a few differences but many similarities. Dances with Wolves and

“I am not scared of you!” yelled Wind in His Hair towards John Dunbar. In the beginning of the film, Dances with Wolves, Lieutenant John Dunbar identifies himself as a union soldier, but towards the end of the film he is considered a Sioux leader. Over the course of the film the Sioux discover John Dunbar is not a normal soldier, however he is still a white man. This change in identity is shown by increasing Sioux language, making many Sioux relationships and in the change of John Dunbar’s name.

The tribe was about to move to the woods for the winter. Dances with wolves had to go back to the post and get his journey he was writing everything in about him and the Indians, for if soldiers would find it, it would not be to good. He arrived back and the place was loaded with soldiers, and they shot at him like he was an Indian. He managed to survive, but he could not prove he was a Lt. In the army and was being arrested for treason.

In this movie, one may observe the different attitudes that Americans had towards Indians. The Indians were those unconquered people to the west and the almighty brave, Mountain Man went there, “forgetting all the troubles he knew,” and away from civilization. The mountain man is going in search of adventure but as this “adventure” starts he finds that his survival skills are not helping him since he cant even fish and as he is seen by an Indian, who watches him at his attempt to fish, he start respecting them. The view that civilization had given him of the west changes and so does he. Civilization soon becomes just something that exists “down there.”

In the way it is visually astounding is only a bonus, it is perfectly executed and displayed. I feel as if this is a masterpiece because of the way it tackles discrimination, not only from the ‘white side’ view but from the how the Native populace feels toward the invaders. It exposes the tender side of two worlds colliding, such as trying to make peace and attempting to learn both sides of culture. The contrast between the two worlds is shown by Jake Sully constantly moving between both worlds, the audience is eventually more exposed to the Na’vi side just as Jake Sully is. He says “It feels like out there is the real world, and in here is the dream..” James Cameron does beautifully in showing a ‘cliché’ event in a new