Race Representation in the Revisionist Western
The revisionist western subgenre was created as a way to update the classic western narratives in an attempt to keep up with rapidly changing American ideology. The classic western narrative was based on principals of justice and idealism largely stemming from the optimistic notion of westward expansion. In the early 19070s these idealistic principals began to fall out of favor in American cinema.
American cinema was adopting a more cynical and realist approach which was largely due to the social upheaval caused by the Viet Nam war. These revised western narratives challenged the notion of the virtuous, idealistic hero (Lusted). These new texts complicated previous idealistic notions and created more reality based depictions of the old west. With these more realistic depictions came the need to address the previously avoided idea of race relations in the western setting. The evolution of this trope can be traced throughout four film texts ranging from classic western form to the more recent revisionist western.
The films include The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, John Ford 1962, Little Big Man, Arthur Penn 1979, Dances With Wolves, Kevin Costner 1990, and Posse, Mario Van Peebles 1993. Each of these films tackles the idea of race relations in the western context in a different manner. Through the analysis and comparison of these texts in can be determined that while the revisionist trend did create westerns with more conscious depictions of non-whites it is still the white character around which these narratives are based. The revisionist Western succeeds in acknowledging the existence of other races but fails in truly telling a story from the non-white perspective.
Many westerns do not include non-white characters at all and others that do entirely overlook the racial difference and portray the non-white characters as unimportant and inferior. An example of this practice can be seen in Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The film only includes one non-white character. He is a black male whom all of the other characters refer to as Pompey. While Pompey’s character is depicted as being kind and well meaning he is clearly shown to be inferior to the white characters.
He is subservient to all the white characters and unquestioningly carries out their every demand. Pompey is not even given a full name like the other male characters who are repeatedly referred to by their first and last names. Pompey is a lovable kind character but he holds no real importance in the narrative. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was made in 1962 and thus is not considered a revisionist western.
Posse can be looked at as a revisionist text, which attempts to alter and modernize previous depictions of blacks in the western genre as in the previous example. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Posse can be looked at as existing at opposite ends of the spectrum of black depiction in the western genre. Posse seeks to reveal the true role of black cowboys in the west. The film succeeds in recognizing and depicting the fact that there were in fact many black cowboys in the west despite their lack of representation in early western texts. However, the film stresses this notion to a fault.
The dialogue and music of the film appear overly modern which takes the characters out of the classic western setting. These elements of the film undermine the attempt to create a realistic text from the perspective of non-white western characters. The viewer is forced to read the text as a modern response to old racially homogenous westerns rather than the potentially more constructive reading of the film as a realist alternate perspective of the old west. Posse comes off as a sort of modern satire rather that a historically accurate film which would help to dispel the notion of racial homogeneity in the old west.
When examining the notion of race relations in the western genre and revisionist western sub-genre it is important to discuss the relation between American Indians and white settlers. American Indians play large roles in the plots of both revisionist and classic westerns. The revisionist western seeks to portray American Indians in a more historically accurate manner but this is not always a success. As with the depiction of blacks, the presence and importance of the American Indian is more successfully written in revisionist texts but these depictions still largely fail to truly adopt the non-white perspective in a historically accurate manner.
The Film Little Big Man which was made in 1970 is an early revisionist western text which attempts to tell a story from the perspective Cheyenne people. The film is extremely successful in its attempt to re-define the traditionally hostile relationship between the white man and American Indian. The character played by Dustin Hoffman who is know as the Little Big Man is raised by The Cheyenne people and comes to adopt and respect their way of life. He attempts to integrate back into his own white society but is repulsed by the way of life of his people and their treatment of the Cheyenne and other American Indian tribes. In this text it is the white settlers who are depicted as being crude savages rather than the traditional depiction of American Indians in this manner. Nearly every white character Little Big Man interacts with turns out to be dishonest in some manner.
The supposedly virtuous preacher’s wife eventually becomes a prostitute and Little Big Man’s own sister abandons him after he decides that he cannot handle the notion of taking a human life as a gunfighter. The Cheyenne on the other hand are depicted as being an honest and peaceful people. While this revisionist film does succeed in depicting an American Indian tribe in a more positive light not before seen in classic westerns it fails to really develop this depiction. The Cheyenne people, while depicted as peaceful and far from savage, are trivialized by the humorous manner in which they are shown. A Cheyenne warrior is humorously shown bathing in dirt and walking only in reverse while the tribal elder and Little Big Man’s “grandfather” is show as being somewhat of an imbecile and a womanizer.
This humorous or satirical aspect of the film somewhat trivializes the serious events of the film such as the slaughter of the Cheyenne by white cavalry. This humor is not isolated upon the Cheyenne. White characters in the film are also made fun of, as is the case with General Custer. However, the humorous aspect of the film, while it is applied to all characters, most directly affects the Cheyenne as it undermines their importance and re-directs the viewer’s attention away from their plight.
Another huge undermining of this revisionist view of the Cheyenne people occurs due to the fact that while the film supposedly represents the point of view of the Cheyenne, the main character from whose point of view the story is told is white. The 1990 revisionist film Dances With Wolves also falls into this same category. The text addresses important issues of white/ American Indian relations but is then discredited by the filmmaker’s desire to ensure the film will sell to dominant white audiences which is accomplished through the use of a white protagonist.
Dances With Wolves can be looked at as a further revision Little Big Man. Both texts seek to acknowledge the role of American Indians in the west. Dances With Wolves is more successful in this acknowledgement. The film paints a very realistic picture of the way of life of American Indians and their interactions with white settlers. Unlike Little Big Man the film uses no satire in an attempt to be entirely realist. In this sense it’s revision of the classic western text is a success. However, as mentioned above, the film unfolds from the perspective of a white protagonist.
The text is about the role of American Indians in the life of a white settler not the other way around. The text focuses on the manner in which Kevin Costner’s character is affected both practically and emotionally by his bond with a group of American Indians. While the non-white characters play a large role in the film and a definite bond is shown between white and non-white characters the text is not in any manner a non-white based film.
The three previously mentioned revisionist texts all differ greatly from classic western texts such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. They all seek to complicate the outdated idealist and incomplete nature of classic westerns. To an extent they all succeed in this undertaking. Looking at the western genre through the lens of race representation it is clear that progress has been made.
Westerns are no longer racially homogeneous and non-white characters have bigger and more important roles. However, the western genre, revisionist included, is still driven by the white character. There are no realistic and believable texts that successfully situate a non-white character as the protagonist. The western is a genre, which traditionally draws dominantly white audiences. It is for this reason that no believable and historically accurate non-white centered westerns have been made.
There is a fear that there will be no audience for this type of film. In order to further revise the western genre risks must be taken in an attempt to move beyond simply acknowledging non-whites in western texts to a point where a text can be successful without reliance on the white male protagonist.
Works Cited
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, John Ford, 1962
Little Big Man, Arthur Penn, 1970
Dances With Wolves, Kevin Costner, 1990
Posse, Mario Van Peebles, 1993
Lusted, David The Western
Harlow, England: New York: Pearson/ Longman 2003
The Encyclopedia of Westerns/ Herb Fagen ; Forward by Tom Selleck ; Preface by Dale Robertson
New York: Facts on File/ Checkmark books, 2002
