The Searchers: Disrespectful Representation

 Courtney Woodring

Professor Wisniewski

ENGL 280

September 25, 2020


The Searchers directed by John Ford is a western tale of love, racism and family. The racist representation of Native Americans is common among this genre and this film certainly reinforces that. While the film does have some other great aspects to it, the disrespectful representation cannot go unnoticed.  

For starters, the film has their lead Native American role, Scar, played by none other than a white man. Because Scar did not have a lot of screen time compared to some of the other characters, the film did not feel that it was necessary to cast an actual Native actor and instead casted, Henry Brandon. It was thought that a person of color of actual Native blood could not play out the part as well. The character Martin, who is known as being an eighth Cherokee and somewhat of a comic relief is also misrepresented. While his character did not necessarily have to look as Native as Scar, they play up his lack of common sense and laughable nature. This is because of the false belief that all Native Americans are illiterate and untamed.  

These fictitious assumptions are periodically placed throughout all aspects of the film. They portray Native Americans as savages who want to do nothing more than kill the white people. They are seen as underdeveloped mentally and looked down upon. When the racist character Ethan hears that his niece has succumbed to the Native lifestyle, he will let nothing get in the way of him killing her. He assumes that because Debbie has spent so much time with the Natives, she has become one of them and he cannot have such a disgrace in the family. At one point in the film he even kills a Native without an ounce of remorse.  

The inappropriate representation of Native Americans in this film was overall very alarming and disrespectful but besides the poor portrayal of Natives, I actually enjoyed the film more than I thought I would. Not being the biggest fan of the western genre, I went into this movie with a biased perception of what I was going to be watching. But I was pleasantly surprised by the interesting plot, attractive cinematography, and its ability to keep me entertained.  

  

 

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