Film Analysis: Even The Rain

Matthew Restall, a Professor of Latin American History, Women’s Studies, and Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He also serves the Director of the university’s Latin Studies. Throughout “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest,” he discusses many false truths that have been passed down through history. For instance, he discusses, “The Myth of Exceptional Men.” “The Myth of Spanish Army,” and “The Myth of Completion.” For the sake of time, I will discuss three myths that correlate with class lectures and serve as the topic of this paper, “The Myth of Exceptional Men,” “The Myth of the King’s Army,” and the “Myth of the White Conquistador.” It should be noted that Restall speaks to his audience assuring us that his “...his purpose is not to degenerate this technique of historical writing completely...Nor do I mean to create a narrative in which individual action is utterly subordinated to the larger structural forces and causes of social change.” (4). He states that his intentions are to react to more than just the works of Columbus, Pizzaro, and Cortez.

In conclusion, “Even the Rain” was a controversial film depicting the way Columbus and the Spaniards exploited the Indians. Religion was evoked as an excuse. However, the real intentions were noticed through the writings of Columbus and Bartolomé de las

For the longest time, Americans have celebrated Columbus day, commemorating the admiral’s supposed discovery of America. But, in “The Inconvenient Indian”, Thomas King shatters this idea and develops a new thought in the mind of the reader about natives. By using excellent rhetoric and syntax, King is able to use logos, ethos and pathos in his chapter “Forget Columbus”, where he develops the argument that the stories told in history aren’t always a true representation of how it actually happened.

The topic of Christopher Columbus is highly controversial throughout the world. Many say Columbus was a hero, using the facts of his discoveries of new territories, the many different establishments of trade, and many other positive things he accomplished. However, the attestations of the enslavement, torture, and murder of the natives, the spread of disease, and the proselytization of the Taino peoples demonstrate the villainization of Christopher Columbus. Visualizing and analyzing everything that happened to the Native Americans is fundamental to broadening one’s perspective on the vile acts of Christopher Columbus. Columbus’s violent acts towards the native peoples include enslavement, torture, and murder.

The legacy and impact of the Spanish conquest is continually discussed and analyzed. The struggle in finding native identities while also acknowledging Spanish heritage is a continuing process in Latin America. Modern film and art, such as Salvador Carrasco’s La Otra Conquista and Diego Rivera’s mural the arrival of Cortés speak about the conquest and its effects on Mexico identity. The film challenges myths about the conquest by arguing against the greatness of Cortés, showing power in native agency, and Spanish dependency on interpreters. The mural upholds myths of the conquest like the black legend, minimizes

Christopher Columbus plays a highly controversial role in American history as citizens proudly celebrate Columbus Day, yet are exposed to the inhumane atrocities he inflicted upon native populations. Although Columbus may be glorified as the man who “discovered” America, in A People’s History of the United States, historian Howard Zinn records the monstrous side of Columbus, depicted by his overwhelming desire for gold and slaves, authority to dehumanize the Arawaks and other native peoples, and ability to annihilate civilizations for his own selfish wants. Zinn’s account is mostly believable as conquistadors were known for their brutality and determination to seek out riches and fame. However, it is difficult

By describing the Indians as most innocent, exposing a genocide being committed against them, and revealing the egocentric goals of their oppressors, Bartolomé Las Casas generates empathy for American Indians. Las Casas not only exposes that there is a genocide occurring in the New World, he also states the motivations of those who were committing genocide. Las Casas generates empathy for American Indians by revealing the greedy, egocentric goals of the Spaniards who are committing heinous crimes upon the American Indians who inhabit the New World. Las Casas dedicates an entire paragraph to illustrating the egocentric goals of the “Spaniards who call themselves Christian”. Las Casas repeatedly refers to the Spaniards as Christian, especially when illustrating their crimes.

The film “The Mission” (1986) was written by Robert Bolt and directed by Roland Joffe. It explores the various relationships distinguished between Spanish Jesuits and Indian (Guarani) civilization situated along the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil around 1750. Although, as stated in the beginning of the movie that “The Mission” is “based on true historical events”, Bolt and Joffe distort the portrayal of the Guarani and Jesuit relationships. This essay will examine the distortions of the Guarani tribe and the inaccurate “historical” events that took place within the movie.

In the movie Rain Man that was released in 1988 is about a character named Charlie Babbitt and his understanding of his brother Raymond Babbitt who suffers from autism.

Singing in the Rain and A Clockwork Orange are both Classical Hollywood films. However, singing in the Rain closely follows what classical Hollywood film is supposed to be and A Clockwork Orange definitely tests the idea. Classical Hollywood Cinema is a type of traditional studio based style of making films in both the sound and silent periods. The directors of these types of films want you to simply watch and not worry about why the characters are doing what they’re doing. They want you to enjoy what you’re watching. They are also filmed with a sort of structure in the beginning the characters are all introduced to the viewers. There are then complications or conflict added to the plot. Then the resolution occurs where the conflict of the film has a confrontation and the protagonist ways his or her options. Finally, all major conflicts and issues in the film are resolved and generally the protagonist lives happily ever after. While the protagonists live happily ever after the antagonists of the films are punished from their actions throughout the film.

Violence is a very common trend in Latin America since the beginning of the Colonial Period. This is explained throughout movies and texts, showing how Latin America interacted with the indigenous people around the prominent time of colonization. Through this violence, the indigenous people were treated lower than second-class citizens—like free slaves that the Spaniards had stumbled upon. This violence spread to the African slaves acquired by Latin America as well. This is explained through fictional yet factual stories from past to present.

As a new and mysterious world awaits to be discovered, daring conquistadors leave their home country of Spain in a journey of exploration. Two men by the name of Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca set sail to thwart the untrustworthy Cortez who, behind the backs of Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca, sailed to the New World with half of Narvaez’s crew in search of treasures. However, the journey would prove to be treacherous as the conquistadors would have to encounter hostile Native Americans and strange terrain they have never seen before. Throughout the expedition, future encounters between the Native Americans and conquistadors were heavily influenced by the personalities of the individuals and past experiences the Native Americans faced.

One of the biggest contemporary issues with the Indigenous People is the way they are portrayed in Hollywood films in the past and today. The ideal of Native Tribes have changed throughout time, however the film industry has made it where they can train people to think a certain way about Native people. From what they wear, say, and how they act are all ways film had twisted the image how Indigenous people. In the film Reel Injun, a documentary about Natives in Hollywood film, the truth is brought out about how the image of Natives has changed over time.

Sailing vast oceans with narrow minds: Columbus and da Gama’s disrespect towards the indigenous people

In the book The Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov, Todorov brings about an interesting look into the expeditions of Columbus, based on Columbus’ own writings. Initially, one can see Columbus nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of these lands that he has encountered. He creates vivid pictures that stand out in the imagination, colored by a "marvelous" descriptive style. Todorov gives us an interpretation of Columbus’ discovery of America, and the Spaniards’ subsequent conquest, colonization, and destruction of pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and the Caribbean. Tzvetan Todorov examines the beliefs and behavior of the Spanish conquistadors and of the Aztecs.