Frontier Myths

Many movie writers incorporate stereotypes into their film. Stereotypes in movies can be good mechanisms to help the audience better understand the characters. For example, common stereotypes of cowboys include grittiness and determination, which helps to develop them for the viewer’s entertainment. However, stereotypes can also present characters in a negative light. In Madea’s Big Happy Family, Tyler Perry uses the motif of African American stereotypes, which includes rampant drug abuse, broken families, and inappropriate, disorderly behaviors. At its roots, his movie contains nothing more than the theme of pigeonholing African Americans.

The “frontier” was an American movement westward beginning in 1807 that was driven by a desire for a land where a fresh start was possible and a space where there was less European control, as well as the thirst for economic growth and creating jobs. Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the frontier shaped American history and largely contributed to the idea of American exceptionalism. Although the motive for the expansion westward can be viewed as positive, the intent to “civilize” the “uncivilized” groups of the west including the Native Americans, however, was far from moral or just. The frontier was a means of enlarging the economy by creating new communities and an American historical landmark because of the amount of American citizens migrating westward with hopes of new opportunities, however, the frontier also brought unethical treatment of native western groups.

The film consists of many cliché western characters. There is a banker, an outlaw, a prostitute, a doctor, a gambler, and a pregnant woman. These characters are categorized by social class. The banker, the pregnant

According to the film critic, Phillip French, “The Western has always been about America rewriting and reinterpreting her own past,” if this is indeed the case, then the two most popular Westerns of the early 1990s reveal that many Americans had rejected the traditional interpretation of the Old West. The critically and commercially successful, Dances with Wolves and Unforgiven, repudiated the patriotic frontier myth that had characterised the Western when it was the preeminent genre in American cinema. Informed by new Western historiography, itself an expression of political concerns that had been moving into the American mainstream since the 1960s, the movies display a complex and nuanced understanding of the frontier experience. Dances with Wolves rejected the traditional narrative of the inherent superiority of the Anglo-American hero conquering both Native Americans and the wilderness, and also focused on the environmental destruction that accompanied the ideology of Manifest Destiny. Unforgiven would similarly reject the frontier myth, replacing the democratic, civilised frontier town, with a brutal regime in which white men’s property rights prevail over any sense of justice. The film is noted for its self-reflexive nature, with a writer documenting and embellishing the tales of the Old West before the viewer’s eyes. This self-reflexion indicates that Americans were re-evaluating the myths of the frontier, and seeing them for what they were, creations by the

Lone star is a contemporary western set in Texas in the 90s. The film reflects themes of police corruption, immigration and the inter-cultural relations in a small border town. The film captures the backstories of different characters and intertwines them together through their interpretation of history and community.

The central message of this film is that Mexicans are taken for granted in the United States. The film touches on many major racial issues. At a comedic point in the film, it makes light of the confusion of Hispanics versus Mexicans and assumption that everyone is a Mexican. It highlights the very real poor treatment that some Mexicans face.

By conquering the frontier, characters in western films portray how they, as well as society at this

The subject of the effects of the western frontier on the life of men, women and children was present in many of the movies and readings of this semester. The settling of the western frontier brought on many issues that affected men, women and children. Many of those issues prevented families from thriving. Some of the most common things to do on the frontier were mining, farming and ranching and shooting. Life was hard and family life was affected; mainly marriage and rearing of children. Oh Pioneers, Brokeback Mountain, and True Grit have great examples of how the frontier affected families.

The Western genre tended to portray Native Americans stereotypically; males were often shown as barbaric and the antagonist to the masculine Western cowboy. This links back to the savage stereotype, and how Westerners are often shown in a positive and heroic light whereas other ethnicities are demoralized and shown as negative characters. There are a select few stereotypical representations of Native Americans which are highly common in film, for example Native Americans typically speak “with a broken dialect of ‘baby’ English. They are not able to fully understand or express thoughts in the English language” (“The role of Native Americans in film, n.d.). This representation has changed in recent years with the

The actions of the black characters support the cultural stereotypes that are pervasive throughout this film. A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (Iftkar, 2013). Blacks are

"Gran Torino" tackles racism head on. Although the main character Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood, is prejudiced against almost everyone, the film focuses on an Asian neighborhood, uncovering racism and violence. The neighborhood has gone down hill since it has become immigrant-dominated. The house next door is now owned by a Hmong family, a widespread South-east Asian minority, and Walt does not trouble to distinguish them from the Koreans he fought in the 1950s. Throughout the film, we learn Walt had to kill many Koreans as part as his duty as a soldier during that period of time. The film takes a twist when the bitter old war veteran's life takes an unexpected turn after Thao, a shy, teenage boy who lives next door to Walt is bullied by his

Popular culture was demonstrated when the granddaughter was texting during the grandmother’s funeral services; with the gang interaction and the music they played; the encounter on the corner with the Caucasian teenager walking with Sue and they were stopped by the three African American males and harassed physically and verbally with race and gender stereotypes and age when Walt came to the rescue. Walt had a quite a few verbal stereotypes for all of them in addition to using his gun to break up the conflict. Popular culture

The film Gran Torino directed by Client Eastwood challenges The issues of stereotypes through the attributes of contemporary assumptions of status, gender and ethnicity. Exploring the themes of absence of a male dominate figure, enabling protagonist Theo to be a feminine figure exploits the idea of gender portrays the Hmong men to be stereotyped.Ethnicity and status also express multiple meanings through the cinematography and the Hollywood narrative style illustrates many representation  of the western and eastern cultures These key terms gender, ethnicity  and status all intertwine with each other during the entire film. The Hmong culture have been stereotyped by the western culture concerning that the American way is the only way which

While the movie progresses, the minority group shown in the movie intensifies and takes on a larger role in the movie. The two stereotypical views portrayed in this movie are the common ones, such as Asians are weak and smart and or the view that Asians drive around in lowered cars and cast themselves as thugs. One scene

The 2008 movie “Gran Torino” starring Clint Eastwood is filled with an abundance of cultural diversity, which is met with much resistance, stereotype, and prejudice by the movies’ main character, Walt Kowalski. Walt’s world is changing; his Detroit neighborhood is decaying, his relationship with his sons is distant, and his Korean War memories continue to destroy his ability to fully enjoy life. Through an unlikely bond with the Hmong children next door, Walt finally receives redemption by coming face-to-face with the same destructive prejudices consuming neighborhood teenage gang members