The Outlaw Josey Wales Analysis

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

Some themes that are included are justice and love. In ‘Lone Ranger’ (Directed by Stuart Heisler), it is seen that a hero dubbed the Lone Ranger, a western version of Robin Hood, is depicted as a saviour of the innocent. When he is enlisted to unknowingly help the bad guys Lone Ranger decides to help the Indian Tribal people recover their lands. In ‘The Dressmaker’, Tilly seeks a personal injustice that happened to herself when she was blamed for the murder of her half-brother, Stewart, when in truth he killed himself by mistake. Here we can see that both themes of injustice are battled by each of the protagonist’s own moral code and abilities. Having a faulted yet lovable protagonist can make the modern audience want to support them in their adventures and trials, and also able to relate to the character’s situations. Love is another key theme in spaghetti westerns with the classic idea of ‘damsels in distress’. Having this stereotype makes the audience believe that the hero and their ‘damsel’ are meant to be. When Teddy dies, it gives Tilly the courage to be fearless towards the curses she proclaims to

1. What are the main themes, politically and socially, that are portrayed in the film?

Q.1. What do you think is the main messages this movie is trying to deliver?

4. What was the point of the movie? (ex: a political statement, a moral idea, reflections on society)

This film highlights the flaws of humanity in a western world. The films ability to touch on topics of classism, prostitution, and alcoholism makes the content mature and unlike typical western films. This revolutionary and innovative western created a foundation for many future films. The sophistication of the content, and lack of adherence to the production code makes this film an “adult”

Unlike the two stories we read in class, everyone struggles for survival, the naturalism idea in the movie is represented by people’s lust and greed, the desire for dominance of pleasure. People do whatever possible to gain those things.

2) What are some of the themes that are central to the film? How have they been communicated?

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.

The film, The Outlaw Josey Whales, portrays Josey Whales on his mission to avenge his family killed by the redlegs. At the beginning of the movie he was just a simple farmer with a wife and son. After the Jayhawkers killed his family he turned into a man determined on getting vengeance for his family. On his mission for revenge he meets many characters along the way. One of the characters he meets is Lone Watie, a Cherokee Indian who lost everything on the trail of tears.

Today’s filmmakers have three areas to focus on: the event or theme of the film, the audience who will be watching the film, and lastly, the individual characters and the roles they play and how they are portrayed and interpreted. Many of these films bottom line objectives are to focus on the “erotic needs of the male ego.” The focus on fetishistic scopophilia tend to slant the view such that we see the world as being dominated by men and that woman are

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.”

Typically referred to as ‘Indians’ in popular culture, Native Americans were traditionally seen in Westerns as the antagonists. The Western genre typically tells the story of the colonisation and discovery of America, which saw the major Hollywood studios revive the interest in the Western. Westerns draw on “historical actuality, a romantic philosophy of nature, and the concept of the […] savage” (Saunders, 2001, p. 3). Westerns often split the “depiction of the Indian, with the cruel and treacherous [Indian] balanced by the faithful [Indian]” (Saunders, 2001, p. 3) which resulted in the portrayals of Native Americans witnessed in films today.

Cultural and psychological concerns is apparent through the use of characterization. Isolation/Alienation in the suburban life plays a big role in both the films

(Preview these questions before you watch the film. Take notes as you watch the film, then answer on a separate paper.)