Issue 183
News/Review: In Defense of The Searchers.
Recently, I was browsing TVTropes when I stumbled upon a page for reviews of John Ford's classic "The Searchers." The only review of it was negative, but there were just too many wrong points in that review for me to accept it. The first paragraph focuses on the portrayal of the Comanche nation. After making a good point about how their sole motivation for taking Debbie seemed to be to rape some white women, he made a mention about how he didn't like that they were so incompetent after that incident. It should be noted that at that point in the Indian wars when the film was set, the Comanches were clearly losing, and most of them had already been sent to reservations. And besides, they kept a woman captive for five years; they clearly had to have been doing something right. He goes on to complain some more about the portrayal of the Indians (I really have to ask: was he really expecting something like Dances with Wolves in 1956? It was certainly a fair portrayal for its day)even though, the fact is, that John Ford makes it perfectly clear that their actions are driven by a general hatred of the white man because, well, they tended to be no more likable than John Wayne's character Ethan Edwards was. Which brings him to the next point; he seems to think that Ethan is like every other character John Wayne played. Funny, I don't remember Tom Doniphon trying to desecrate Liberty Valance's corpse on the off-chance that it would hurt him in the afterlife, and I don't remember Sean Thornton giving Will Danaher rabbit-punches during their famous Donnybrook in the same way that Ethan shoots at retreating enemies in this film. And while the "Look" subplot definitely hasn't aged very well, it is certainly an oversimplification to compare Martin to Tonto, especially since, while Tonto was effectively the Lone Ranger's loyal slave, MArtin has several moments where he calls out Ethan on his behavior (like when he tries to kill Debbie, who has gone native.) The reviewer seems to miss the depth of the characters, apparently seeing the main conflict of the film as being Ethan vs. Comanches, and missing the point that, clearly, there are unlikable people on every side of a conflict, and Ethan and Scar both fit the bill for their societies very well. However, he seems to have not noticed that the conflict that is given more screen time is clearly the conflict between Martin and Ethan, with Martin acting as Humphrey van Weyden to Ethan's Wolf Larsen. The fact is, that this film is not even really about the rescue of a woman from the Indians. It is, in essence, a film about how revenge shapes the nature of our minds.
Recently, I was browsing TVTropes when I stumbled upon a page for reviews of John Ford's classic "The Searchers." The only review of it was negative, but there were just too many wrong points in that review for me to accept it. The first paragraph focuses on the portrayal of the Comanche nation. After making a good point about how their sole motivation for taking Debbie seemed to be to rape some white women, he made a mention about how he didn't like that they were so incompetent after that incident. It should be noted that at that point in the Indian wars when the film was set, the Comanches were clearly losing, and most of them had already been sent to reservations. And besides, they kept a woman captive for five years; they clearly had to have been doing something right. He goes on to complain some more about the portrayal of the Indians (I really have to ask: was he really expecting something like Dances with Wolves in 1956? It was certainly a fair portrayal for its day)even though, the fact is, that John Ford makes it perfectly clear that their actions are driven by a general hatred of the white man because, well, they tended to be no more likable than John Wayne's character Ethan Edwards was. Which brings him to the next point; he seems to think that Ethan is like every other character John Wayne played. Funny, I don't remember Tom Doniphon trying to desecrate Liberty Valance's corpse on the off-chance that it would hurt him in the afterlife, and I don't remember Sean Thornton giving Will Danaher rabbit-punches during their famous Donnybrook in the same way that Ethan shoots at retreating enemies in this film. And while the "Look" subplot definitely hasn't aged very well, it is certainly an oversimplification to compare Martin to Tonto, especially since, while Tonto was effectively the Lone Ranger's loyal slave, MArtin has several moments where he calls out Ethan on his behavior (like when he tries to kill Debbie, who has gone native.) The reviewer seems to miss the depth of the characters, apparently seeing the main conflict of the film as being Ethan vs. Comanches, and missing the point that, clearly, there are unlikable people on every side of a conflict, and Ethan and Scar both fit the bill for their societies very well. However, he seems to have not noticed that the conflict that is given more screen time is clearly the conflict between Martin and Ethan, with Martin acting as Humphrey van Weyden to Ethan's Wolf Larsen. The fact is, that this film is not even really about the rescue of a woman from the Indians. It is, in essence, a film about how revenge shapes the nature of our minds.
posted by DerekAxe at 7:03 PM
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