Easy Rider: a Pursuit of American Identity

Billy is shown to be worry free at the beginning after he finds out that he accidently stole the can of tuna. Billy was not worried about law enforcement because it was such a minor item. This shows that he is very confident in himself and isn’t really worried about what could happen. When they are arrested, the first person he calls is his mom which makes the viewer think that Italians are mommas boys. Though this could be true in Billy’s case, this is not a hundred percent fact. With this in mind, he could have picked a public defender but he chose to pick a family member to represent him and his friend. This ties into the stereotype that Italians are family based and that family is of major importance as well as wanting to have ties with their own community. He loses faith in his cousins ability to represent them but in the end, he still sticks with family even if that means he could be put in prison. Stan is Billy’s friend that is getting tried for helping out with the supposed murder. He is seen dressed in a leather jacket and having slicked hair which could represent a gangster like

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

In 1939 John Ford masterminded a classical western film by the name of Stagecoach. This film has the integrity of a fine work of art. Being that it could be considered a work of art, the impression left on a viewing audience could differ relying on the audience's demographics. However, it is conceivable to all audiences that Ford delivers a cast of characters that are built on stereotypes and perceptions conjured from 'B' westerns that preceded this film's time. Each character is introduced to the audience in a stereotypical genre, as the film progresses, these stereotypes are broken down and the characters become more humanized. This is apparent with a handful of characters being

John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.

Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and individualism in the colonial period found expression in the development of cultural values, political institutions, and American identity during and after the Revolutionary War.

The western movie I pick is John Ford’s movie Stagecoach (1939). The movie is about a group of people traveling together by stagecoach from the town Tonto to Lordsburg. The people traveling together are a diverse group of people. All of them have the specific motivation for going, but they all share the same goal reaching to Lordsburg. The characters are Dallas who’s a prostitute, Mrs. Lucy Mallory who is the wife of the Army Cavalry officer, Ellsworth Henry Gatewood who is a banker, Hatfield who is a gambler, Samuel Peacock who is whiskey salesman, Doc Josiah Boone who is a alcoholic doctor, Buck Rickabaugh who is a stage driver, Marshal Curley Wilcox who is a marshal riding shotgun, and Ringo Kid who is an escaped outlaw.

“You’ve called down the thunder, well now you’ve got it,” shouted Wyatt Earp to the cowboys, in the movie about his life, Tombstone. As you can tell by Wyatt Earp’s famous quote, Tombstone is a violent, interesting, and crazy movie. Tombstone is a movie full of fighting, death, reckless cowboys, guns, and more, in the city of Tombstone. It is attention grabbing, and once you start watching it, you won’t ever want to stop. Although Tombstone is usually upbeat and full of fighting, it does have sad moments. Overall, this movie is about Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday’s crazy experiences and adventures in Tombstone, Arizona.

American western movies were a thing of the 1950’s but they were no longer captivating in the 1970’s. It was apparent that guns, cowboys, and American heroes were no longer seen as a point of interest for the viewing public. Mel Gibson’s film entitled, Blazing Saddles, debuted in 1974 and seemed to fit the bill of the post-1960’s western. Blazing Saddles is a film that is able to take on racism and utilize it as an important reflection of the time. The film goes where no film has gone before in terms of discussing race and Hollywood. Blazing Saddles was able to seemingly integrate elements of Blaxploitation and introduce the film industry’s first interracial buddy comedy.

Americans have not only defined themselves by their religious, ethnic and racial identity, but also by their individual freedom and common values. America has become a nation where its people can fight for what they believe in. Our founding fathers have formed America to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Being apart of the American culture and living on the land founded by our leaders specifies the meaning of the American Identity.

Is the American Identity still alive? Has it died? The issue concerning the American identity is has it died. Many claim that new cultures, new races, and new traditions have degraded the American identity. Although some people that the American identity has been lost because of new cultures and traditions, the American identity is still alive because those factors have not changed any original American traditions or the way they are celebrated.

The question is whether No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach provide adequate examples of the decline in American moral values. From my perspective of today’s world and my interpretation of No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach, I can see how the argument could be made that they have declined or haven’t changed at all. I see a difference between the relationship of Ringo and Dallas vs other members of their traveling group compared to Sheriff Bell vs Chigurh. These relationships, in my opinion, explains a lot about the development of moral values, or lack of, in the western United States. In this paper, I will describe the moral values that are represented in each movie and I will also try to describe my understanding of why American moral values may have declined between No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach.

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and

This film by virtue of its independence has shied away from the usual hype associated with American movies. The result is an original screenplay by Billy Bob Thornton that is transformed into a mesmerising tale of the south. Thornton cast actors with ability rather than their image or ‘Hollywood status’. Sling Blade challenges us to re-evaluate our principles and our definitions of right, wrong and of justice.

The film genre of the Western has long since proven to be more about the conflict and showdowns that occur in the storyline. Usually the western genre incorporates traditional western motifs and icons and adheres to those common plot structures of the genre, but Brokeback Mountain is different from what is to be normally expected because it does not seem like a traditional and conventional Western film at all. Brokeback Mountain has several different twists to it, like the more modern take on it – traditionally, characters in Western films were riding horses, but because Brokeback Mountain is a more modern movie, the two characters Jack and Ennis are seen traveling in cars and trucks most of the time. This alteration is very

“This scene not only expresses Billy’s rage, it visually represents his childhood. Billy is blocked by barriers of gender, class, and