“We know what we are, but not what we may be.” A quote from William Shakespeare discusses the trait of identity. Identity applies to the film as it is a part of different characters and groups throughout the film. A majority of Americans have always been stereotyping Native Americans and the film Thunderheart, stereotyping takes place towards Native Americans. The film was released in 1992 and is about an American FBI agent with an Indian background, Ray Levoi. He goes to a reservation with his partner, Frank Coutelle, to investigate a murder. At first, Ray disregards the Natives but by the end of the film, he embraces his heritage and considers himself a Native American rather than an uptight, FBI agent. In the scene at Red Deer Table, the FBI’s and Ray’s true identities are revealed as the Natives are taken advantage of. In this scene, Ray and Crow Horse go to a place on the reservation during the night and discover pools of liquid after Ray nearly fell into one. Ray questions what it is and then Crow Horse throws a rock that he picked up into one of the pools and concludes that it test drilling for uranium. Crow Horse then sticks a knife into a hole and discovers sealant and then comments about how the Natives have been voting against the mining on the reservation. Crow Horse mentions that Jack Milton has tried to own the lands and keeps getting kickbacks from the leases. The mining is the reason for why the water has been contaminated. They both conclude that the murder was set up and pinned on Jimmy just so the mining could be done. Crow Horse tells Ray that “his people”, referring to the Americans, did this. Ray replies saying “they’re not my people”, and this means that he considers the Native Americans. In th... ... middle of paper ... ...ied that he was a Native American, rather than a corrupt, FBI agent that Crow Horse referred to him as. The FBI were shown as being self-centered because they killed Maggie and dumped her body at Red Deer Table leaving it to be discovered by Ray and Crow Horse. The FBI did whatever was needed in order to keep their drilling for uranium project a secret. The emotion that Ray had when he had discovered Maggie helped to show that he was considered himself a Native American and the director did a good job showing it. Also, the director brought ideas to the scene including that the Natives were being stereotyped by other groups and that they were always taken advantage of, like in this film. Identity was an important aspect of this film of Ray and the FBI and it applies to everybody in the world because it is a trait that everyone has and needs to embrace, like Ray.
Thunderheart is a movie inspired by the sad realities of various Native American reservations in the 1970’s. This is the story of a Sioux tribe, conquered in their own land, on a reservation in South Dakota. Thunderheart is partly an investigation of the murder of Leo Fast Elk and also, the heroic journey of Ray Levoi. Ray is an F.B.I. agent with a Sioux background, sent by his superior Frank Coutelle to this reservation to diffuse tension and chaos amongst the locals and solve the murder mystery. At the reservation, Ray embarks on his heroic journey to redeem this ‘wasteland’ and at the same time, discovers his own identity and his place in the greater society. Certain scenes of the movie mark the significant stages of Ray’s heroic journey. His journey to the wasteland, the shooting of Maggie Eagle Bear’s son, Ray’s spiritual vision, and his recognition as the reincarnation of “Thunderheart,” signify his progression as a hero and allow him to acculturate his native spirituality and cultural identity as a Sioux.
Ray Budds is an antagonist. An antagonist is a character in a story(movie) who causes trouble for the protagonist(s) which Ray did. In the movie Ray asked Julius, a protagonist, if black people had fathers too and if they can afford anything. This supports my statement because it shows that Ray says things to purposely hurt people like Julius, a black person that Ray doesn’t like. During the movie in one of the games Ray purposely missed a block, so the opposing football player could tackle the quarterback Pete, a black person. This evidence supports my statement because it shows that Ray has a thing against black people and would like to cause problems for them. When Gerry just became friends with the black people in the movie Ray came by
America was founded, and has been very successful because of people like Ray, who want to leave their backgrounds or use them to learn from them in order to better their lives in the future; the kind of people that will do anything, whether it is leaving their homeland for a foreign soil in search of a new life and freedom, or tackling the boy with the football. Things have been changed, invented, and made better by people that will not take no for an answer.
My overall impression of this movie that it was a great movie and I believe that Jamie Foxx played an excellent role of Ray Charles because of Foxx’s musician background. I learned about the real life of Ray Charles and about how he struggled, but made it into the music business given that he was a blind man and he had an amazing gift for creating music. I also learned about how he in essence he created the genre that we now have today called R&B which is a mix of all different kinds of black music such as gospel blues and more. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone that likes to learn about how modern music originated.
Ellison creates many stereotypes of African Americans of his time. He uses this to bring less informed readers to understand certain characters motives, thoughts, and reasoning. By using each personality of an African American in extremes, Ellison adds passion to the novel, a passion that would not be there if he would let individualism into his characters. Individualism, or lack there of is also significant to the novel. It supports his view of an anti-racial America, because by using stereotypes he makes his characters racial these are the characters that the Americans misunderstand and abominate.
He’s committed to his identity and proud of it; he lives as a traditional Navajo and he takes pride in Navajo ways. On the other hand, Chee is practical enough to see that many Navajos live in poverty, and that his own career could be much advanced by leaving the Reservation and living in the larger, dominant-culture world. Matters are complicated by the fact that Chee’s girlfriend, Mary Landon, is a white woman. For much of their relationship, she envisions Chee leaving the Reservation and taking a position with the FBI or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, so that they can raise their children in the “white world. There are a few FBI agents, some members of the Los Angeles Police force and a mentally twisted paid assassin who aren’t particularly engrossing. Margaret Billy Sosi, the Navajo teenager who runs away to find her grandfather and shows more quick thinking bravery than the other characters. They hold clues to the mystery surrounding him, and what’s especially interesting is that at first, no-one wants to listen to them because they’re elderly and some of them are not always
Whilst making their way to a British Fort, Major Heywood and his party are attacked by Indians. Three men come to their rescue, two of them Indians, and another is a white man whom was raised by the eldest Indian. This man, Hawkeye, his brother and father rescue the Major and the two women that are in his party.
Remember the days when life was easy and our biggest worry was what mum had packed us for lunch, or whether we would get up early enough to catch the morning cartoons? No? Or have those days been drowned out by the endless nagging of parents to study and get a good job…Now don’t get me wrong-I know education is important, but sometimes I feel we have too much pressure placed on us to live a ‘perfect life’ that when one mistake comes along, everyone, including ourselves, ends up upside down. Instead, as presented in the novel ‘Maestro’, by Peter Goldsworthy, we find the importance of not losing ourselves, but rather, taking these adversaries as opportunities. . I don’t know about you but I plan on living a life with no regrets-
They brought real Natives to play the Natives on the big screen and eventually movies were created by Natives themselves. Around the same time was the Hippie movement; many people wanted to be like the Natives they saw in the films even though it was not an accurate depiction of the Natives. They liked the 'positive stereotypes' of the Natives in the movies, the family unity and their strength as warriors. In the 1960's the American Indian Movement (AIM) also began and in 1973 The genocide at Wounded Knee occurred. Jim Jarmusch says “That is a genocide that occurred and the [American] culture wanted to perpetrate the idea that [the natives] these people are now mythological, you know, they don’t even really exist, they’re like dinosaurs.” This shows just how much Americans wanted to belittle the Natives, and despite succeeding for a number of years, the New Age of Cinema commenced and movies like Smoke Signals began what some would look at as a Renaissance. The Renaissance explained in Reel Injun discusses the rebirth of the Native American in the Hollywood films, and how the negative stereotypes went away with time. Reel Injun also makes a point to explain how it impacted not only the films but Americans who watched them, and ultimately America as a
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
In a desperate attempt to discover his true identity, the narrator decides to go back to Wisconsin. He was finally breaking free from captivity. The narrator was filling excitement and joy on his journey back home. He remembers every town and every stop. Additionally, he admires the natural beauty that fills the scenery. In contrast to the “beauty of captivity” (320), he felt on campus, this felt like freedom. No doubt, that the narrator is more in touch with nature and his Native American roots than the white civilized culture. Nevertheless, as he gets closer to home he feels afraid of not being accepted, he says “… afraid of being looked on as a stranger by my own people” (323). He felt like he would have to prove himself all over again, only this time it was to his own people. The closer the narrator got to his home, the happier he was feeling. “Everything seems to say, “Be happy! You are home now—you are free” (323). Although he felt as though he had found his true identity, he questioned it once more on the way to the lodge. The narrator thought, “If I am white I will not believe that story; if I am Indian, I will know that there is an old woman under the ice” (323). The moment he believed, there was a woman under the ice; He realized he had found his true identity, it was Native American. At that moment nothing but that night mattered, “[he], try hard to forget school and white people, and be one of these—my people.” (323). He
Dusty does not conquer with the situation and tries to fix the problem. because the decision did not go in his favor, the cowboys will attempt to build a well. This will allow for water to run through public property free of charge. At first there are complications, but they later find assistance and start working progressively in the right direction. On the last few days on working on the well, the group of cowboys stumble across a worriment. Dusty decides to take matters into his own hands to repair the well. In the end, the cowboys and friends were able to prevail and have the well functioning correctly for water to be used without
On Page 99 the documentary “An Injury to One (Travis Wilkerson)”, the film tells the history of a town whose mines are owned by a company named ARCO. A lake which happens fill the open-pit
What makes us who we are? Is this the real you? Questions such as these seem odd. Identity in today’s modern day society a person’s identity is based on how the person looks or where they come from, gender, race, and class.