Many theatrical storylines depict Indians and Native Americans as selfish thieves and savages, who have no mercy for anyone but themselves. Instead of following the trend of portraying Indians as ignorant fighters, the movie Dances with Wolves avoids these stereotypes by playing the Sioux tribe of South Dakota as an authentic caring people with real emotions and values. In all, the movie did an impressive portrayal of life and the way things happened in that time period; however, producer Kevin Costner failed to keep the entire movie exact in its history.
In Dances with Wolves, the acting hinted that buffalo was hard to come by in the time period of the setting. In reality, buffalo abundantly covered the landscapes of South Dakota. Actually,
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Using a coffee grinder to grind the coffee beans, and sugar to sweeten the strong flavor, Dunbar makes the heated beverage for his new friends in return for a confused expression as to show they are unfamiliar with the drink. In all fairness, a person would not be able to notice a problem with Dunbar’s act of kindness, however; someone with any knowledge of frontier type history would know that the Native Americans have been trading coffee and sugar like sweeteners for hundreds of years. Indians, like the Sioux tribe, have traded many things among one another including coffee trades which can be dated back all the way to the tenth century. It is certain that the Sioux tribe that Dunbar is hosting have been in contact with the things being given to them, but Dances with Wolves makes the tribe act as if they have never seen or tasted such items …show more content…
When muskets and handguns and all other types of firearms were introduced to the area, Native Americans were quick to get their hands on them. Dances with wolves portrays the Sioux tribe as not knowing what a gun is, or yet, even knowing how to fire one. However, in reality Native Americans like these would have definitely been in contact with a gun at some point in their lives. Especially since Indians during this time period were fast adapting to new uses of weapons, as they needed all the help they could possibly obtain in order to protect their tribal families and hunt more than enough food to last them through the cold and harsh winters in South
In the film Dances with Wolves, the settlers view the Indians as primitive and uncivilized creatures. Dunbar, played by Kevin Costner, needs a change of pace so he decides to go to the "furthest outpost." Upon arriving at his post, he gradually realizes that the Indians are just as scared of him as he is of them. Soon Dunbar identifies with their way of life and in the end has to choose to live either as a settler or as an Indian.
One of the Natives says “We’re Indians watching Indians on tv,” which seems surreal because it is not how they live as savages. Over time these real Indians start to believe that what films show is their reality because aside from the stories they hear, seeing it shows a new perspective and changes their views on how their ancestors lived. It changes their views as in they believe they must all be these tough men who are masters of horseback riding, when they do not even own a horse. So it becomes a race to save the image or prove themselves that they have of their own culture in their own land, which is harder once civilizations grow and forget that Natives too are humans. John Trudell explains, “We're too busy trying to protect the idea of a Native American or an Indian - but we're not Indians and we're not Native Americans. We're older than both concepts. We're the people. We're the human beings.” Moreover, Native Americans believe in the great spirits of their ancestors and how nature is one with humans, but the sacred lands of where their ancestors fought for freedom and died, become forgotten by erasing the memory Americans have about the battles. The Battle of Little Bigfoot and The Battle of Wounded Knee is very much alive for the Natives in the film, there is a deep respect for their ancestors, but the memory of their ancestors only lives in them. “We'll never be able to
Though there are some aspects of the book I personally don’t like, it cannot stop Dances With Wolves from being a great epic tale of life on the prairie in 19th-century America. Narrating the story in the third person, through skillful applications of figure of speeches, Michael Blake talks about cross culture, equality and respect in the book. His looking at the story Indian and white army from a new angle provide me a better and broad understanding of the history. Reading this novel is really a great adventure to me.
Gender dictates various components of American life: political quarrels, typical company employee hierarchies, social norms, the list continues. This year’s presidential election proves this statement to be true; as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump bump heads against notions of foreign policy and tax reform, American voters have divided themselves into a category of either for or against women’s equality. Trump’s recent rape allegations has portrayed him as sexist, allowing Clinton to make arguments against him and advocate for women’s rights. Besides politics, gender guides child development, teaching children what “roles” both men and women must play in order to be deemed acceptable. This is why the term “CEO”
“Film is more than the instrument of a representation; it is also the object of representation. It is not a reflection or a refraction of the ‘real’; instead, it is like a photograph of the mirrored reflection of a painted image.” (Kilpatrick) Although films have found a place in society for about a century, the labels they possess, such as stereotypes which Natives American are recognized for, have their roots from many centuries ago (Kilpatrick). The Searchers, a movie directed by John Ford and starred by John Wayne, tells the story of a veteran of the American Civil War and how after his return home he would go after the maligned Indians who killed his family and kidnapped his younger niece. After struggling for five years to recover his niece back, who is now a young woman, she is rescued by his own hands. Likewise, Dances with Wolves is a Western film directed and starred by Kevin Costner. It is also situated during the American Civil War and tells the story of a soldier named John Dunbar that after a suicide attempt; he involuntarily leads Union troops to a triumph. Then, by his request he is sent to a remote outpost in the Indian frontier “before it’s gone”. There, the contact with the natives is eminent and thus it shows how through those contacts this soldier is transformed into another Indian that belongs with the Sioux to tribe and who is now called Dances With Wolves. While both John Ford and Kevin Costner emphasize a desire to apologize to the indigenous people, they use similar themes such as stereotypes, miscegenation, and the way characters are depicted; conversely, these two movies are different by the way the themes are developed within each film.
When they are represented, they are misrepresented. They are easily one of the most underrepresented cultures and people in American media. Native Americans shouldn’t be confined to a stereotype, should have a greater presence in the media, and shouldn’t be misrepresented when they are presented. The stereotype of Native Americans has been concocted by long history.
The film Dances With Wolves, attempts to change our stereotypical view of Native Americans, as savage and uncivilized people, by allowing us to see life from their perspective, helping us to realize that many of their experiences are not all that different from our own. The main setting of the film is the Great Western Plains of North Dakota. John Dunbar comes to discover the west before it is completely destroyed through settlement and what he actually finds is a group of people that he comes to understand and love, for all of the qualities that he finds within their individual lives. The Sioux soon become a part of John Dunbar's experience not only in the west, but in his life as well. Through his eyes, the viewers begin to see that these Native Americans are not what they are expected to be, but instead are civilized and are companions that can have strong relationships.
When most people think of "Indians," they think of the common stereotyped of the wild, yelling, half-naked "savages" seen on the television movies. With more modern movies like Dances with Wolves and some of the documentaries like How the West was Lost, some of these attitudes have changed. But the American public as a whole is still very ignorant of what it means to be a Native American-today, or historically.
The movie Dances with Wolves was a real good movie and I enjoyed watching it. It showed how life was back in the time of the Civil War. The movie also showed how Indians lived and how they respect everything except the white men.
The movie starts by showing the Indians as “bad” when Johnson finds a note of another mountain man who has “savagely” been killed by the Indians. This view changes as the movie points out tribes instead of Indians as just one group. Some of the tribes are shown dangerous and not to be messed with while others are friendly, still each tribe treats Johnson as “outsider.” Indians are not portrayed as greater than “...
In the beginning of this film, the "White Man" viewed these Native Americans as vicious humans that had no remorse for individuals out of their race. They did not make it any better on their part either, because they continued with their in-human killings of the "white man", and tortures. One of their famous strategies, was known as "the scalping". When Dunbar and Timmons were traveling to the fort, they viewed a decayed body with an arrow sticking out of it. Then on his way back, Timmons was shot repeatedly with arrows, scalped, and left to die. When Dunbar first came into contact with an Indian, his first reaction was fear, but somehow he built up the courage, and walked bravely and naked to confront the Indian. He then realized that as the Indian ran cowardly away from him, the Indian was just as afraid of him as he was afraid of the Indian.
In the book Of Mice and Men, the author,John Steinbeck, uses stereotype characters to convey his message. He wants to empathize with his characters as human beings. He uses stereotype characters such as Lennie, George, Curly, Slim, Candy, Crooks, and Curly's wife. Steinbeck's goal is to inform people how life was like for a migrant worker in the 1920's to 1930's.
The film, Dances with Wolves, staring Kevin Costner gives a historically accurate presentation of the Sioux Indians and their way of life. In this production, Lieutenant John Dunbar, played by Costner, is rewarded for his heroic actions in the Civil War by being offered an opportunity to see the American frontier before it is gone. Dunbar is assigned to an abandoned fort where his only friends are a lone wolf and his beloved horse, Cisco. After several weeks of waiting for more American troops, a Sioux Indian makes contact with Dunbar and reports this finding to his chief. This incident sets off a train of events that would forever change John Dunbar and the Sioux tribe he encounters.
Hollywood has helped create and perpetuate many different stereotypical images of the different races in the world. Those stereotypes still continue to affect the way we think about each other today and many of those stereotypes have been proven to be historically inaccurate. The movie Dances With Wolves, directed by actor Kevin Costner, does an excellent job in attempting to promote a greater acceptance, understanding, and sympathy towards Native American culture, instead of supporting the typical stereotype of Native Americans being nothing but brutal, blood thirsty savages.
“Woof.” Did you hear that bark? Punchis punchis. Wait, do you hear that beat as well? They’re coming from the dog party! The dog party is an ad for a brand meant for dogs. All dogs are invited to join and have the most wonderful time of their life! Dogs of all breeds and kinds are here to have some fun and party with their friends.