The Searchers: A Western Twist

This film Searchers was one of my favorite films because I thought it was interesting, and it was a Western theme filmed which I always was interested in. I am not sure why I am interested in Western films, but my favorite film was True Grit. I also thought The Hateful Eight looked so good, but I never had the chance to watch it. I always grew up watching unique films, and when I saw True Grit I was instantly hooked. 


Ethan and Hank Quinlan are two characters that are similar in ways, but different when it comes to each film they are in. They are different because Ethan knew his limits, and Hank didn’t. Hank ended up getting killed because he took it too far while Ethan was mad, but in the end of the film he flipped his personality. I thought Ethan was going to kill Debbie, but in the end he was going to take her home. I thought it was a personality change and I thought Ethan was mad at Debbie, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. Hank was always set on the bad, and it ended up getting himself killed. Ethan showed his character in a way that we thought he was going to get revenge on Debbie for not choosing her family. The twist was how he wasn’t mad, and didn’t want to kill her but to take her home. 


This film portrays native characters as being the bad guys, and when I saw how one of the characters wasn’t native I thought that could have been disrespectful in some people’s eyes. I feel like certain films have a downfall when it comes to portraying the characters because of how the actors don’t fit the characters they are meant to play. That was one thing that bothered me because the last film, Touch of Evil.  It bugged me how there was a Mexican character not accurately portrayed. 


Overall I thought this was my favorite film out of all of the films because the whole Western theme was right up my alley. I think that the movie was interesting, and kept me on my toes at all times. Totally unrelated to the topic, my favorite animal is a horse so horses in the film were an extra plus.


Comments

  1. Kaitlyn WoodardSeptember 27, 2020 at 1:47 PM

    I agree with you on the fact that Ethan is racist like Hank. And that unlike Frank he has learned to look past it partially. When it comes to traveling with Martin and saving Debbie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Courtney WoodringSeptember 27, 2020 at 2:00 PM

    Hi, I enjoyed your interesting take on Ethan’s personality change throughout the film. I also agree with your view on the representation of Native American characters throughout the film. I am hoping to watch a movie soon that accurately represents its ethnic characters! Good Job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2020 at 4:55 PM

    I completely agree with you about how Hank and Ethan are similar characters. Both are racists who let that part of them get in the way of the work they're doing, and ultimately making it harder to finish the task at hand.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 29, 2020 at 2:11 PM

    I also agree that Hank and Ethan are similar characters. Although the actions of one led to death and the actions of the other led to his niece so how different are they then?

    ReplyDelete

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