Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Unforgiven

The 1993 Western, The Unforgiven, is a revisonist film compared to the previous Westerns we viewed. This film uses more violent action scenes to appeal to today's viewers and shows a different view on the others in the West.

Western films typically portray blacks and women as the "other". They are never given strong roles and they are treated with less respect. In this film, Morgan Freeman plays Ned Logan, a black cowboy who is treated as an equal. This shows the changes in the West, compared to traditional Westerns films. Throughout the film, Willian Munny (Clint Eastwood) shows respect and appreciation for Ned. Bill doesn't want to complete his mission without Ned and acts histerical after Ned dies. This shows the large amount of respect that Bill has for Ned in the film, which is very uncommon for an alpha male to have that much repect for a black character.

This film also portrays Willian Munny (Clint Eastwood) as an alpha male cowboy. Although Bill isn't the strongest of the cowboys because he had trouble getting on his horse in the beginning of the film, Bill is still stong enough to be considered an alpha male. Bill's character shows the pain and stuggles that the alpha male must endure and that it is a duty that is not fit for any man. Bill has feelings which hold him back from being a true alpha male because he feels regrets when he fires his gun and has a strong bond with Ned. This is uncommon for an alpha male and this shows how throughout time, the alpha male cowboy has weakened.

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