A possible essay topic? We shall see.
I will edit this post at the end of the film.
I changed my mind.
I am now leaning more towards either: Blondie the not-so-good-guy or why Brokeback Mountain is certainly a western and romance story. Not sure which yet.
25 February 2010
Hollywood Stopped, so Spaghetti Started
So, Leoni made Clint Eastwood a star, huh? Good for him. Where would the world be without Clint Eastwood? The same place it is now, just with one less actor.
I did not know that a lot of actors in spaghetti westerns did not speak English, and the voice was dubbed in. It looks that way in TGTBTU, but I was not sure of it. I think it's neat that Leoni never learned to speak English, but he was creating films set in America. It's not bad by any means, just interesting. He started making westerns because Hollywood had stopped making them. I guess that's what most people do-- they create things they lie when no one else does, or at least differently than others do.
I like that he made actors seem as if they had not bathed in “three weeks”. They were unshaven, scruffy, and had bad teeth. This is how cowboys were (in my mind at least.) I don't think they just randomly burst into a song when they were sad or what have you. They were rugged and tough and went after what they wanted. I guess we all have our opinions of how the American cowboy was.
He made them a bit meaner than I like, though. I do not think children should be slaughtered by the cowboy-- it's excessive. However, to Leoni, it was just a way of showing he viewing audience that particular cowboy was meaner and badder then the rest. It does make his point, but it could have been done another way. For example, he could have killed three men at once, with little to no reason. That would show him as being rough and mean, without taking the life of a child.
Maybe I just have a huge soft spot for children.
I did not know that a lot of actors in spaghetti westerns did not speak English, and the voice was dubbed in. It looks that way in TGTBTU, but I was not sure of it. I think it's neat that Leoni never learned to speak English, but he was creating films set in America. It's not bad by any means, just interesting. He started making westerns because Hollywood had stopped making them. I guess that's what most people do-- they create things they lie when no one else does, or at least differently than others do.
I like that he made actors seem as if they had not bathed in “three weeks”. They were unshaven, scruffy, and had bad teeth. This is how cowboys were (in my mind at least.) I don't think they just randomly burst into a song when they were sad or what have you. They were rugged and tough and went after what they wanted. I guess we all have our opinions of how the American cowboy was.
He made them a bit meaner than I like, though. I do not think children should be slaughtered by the cowboy-- it's excessive. However, to Leoni, it was just a way of showing he viewing audience that particular cowboy was meaner and badder then the rest. It does make his point, but it could have been done another way. For example, he could have killed three men at once, with little to no reason. That would show him as being rough and mean, without taking the life of a child.
Maybe I just have a huge soft spot for children.
24 February 2010
Once Upon a Time in a Western
I don't understand why exactly I watched this. The only thing I really got out of it is that the movie was choreographed to music. This is really neat to me, and it must have taken a lot of time to get it right. It is a small detail and a huge part of the film at the same time: small because it's just a matter of when the actors move, and large because it is throughout the entire film.
I do not see the significance of a clean shaven blue eyed man (Henry Fonda), and why it was such a big deal. I also don't get why this film has so many followers. I guess I will have to just watch it myself.
I do not see the significance of a clean shaven blue eyed man (Henry Fonda), and why it was such a big deal. I also don't get why this film has so many followers. I guess I will have to just watch it myself.
Quotes
PLAYBOY: You blame all this on liberals?
WAYNE: Well, the liberals seem to be quite willing to have Communists teach their kids in school. The Communists realized that they couldn't start a workers' revolution in the United States, since the workers were too affluent and too progressive. So the Commies decided on the next-best thing, and that's to start on the schools, start on the kids. And they've managed to do it. They're already in colleges; now they're getting into high schools. I wouldn't mind if they taught my children the basic philosophy of communism, in theory and how it works in actuality. But I don't want somebody like Angela Davis inculcating an enemy doctrine in my kids' minds.
PLAYBOY: In your distaste for socialism, aren't you overlooking the fact that many worthwhile and necessary government services—such as Social Security and Medicare—derived from essentially socialistic programs evolved during the Thirties?
WAYNE: I know all about that. In the late Twenties, when I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist myself—but not when I left. The average college kid idealistically wishes everybody could have ice cream and cake for every meal. But as he gets older and gives more thought to his and his fellow man's responsibilities, he finds that it can't work out that way—that some people just won't carry their load.
PLAYBOY: What's your source for that statement you attribute to Kunstler?
WAYNE: It appeared in a Christian Anti-Communism Crusade letter written by Fred Schwarz on August 1, 1969. Here, I'll read it to you: "The notorious left-wing attorney, Bill Kunstler, spoke on political prisoners and political freedom at the National Conference for a United Front Against Fascism, which was held in Oakland, California, July 18, 19 and 20, 1969. He urged blacks to kill white policemen when they entered the black ghetto. He told the story of how a white policeman, John Gleason, was stomped to death in Plainfield, New Jersey. The crowd broke into prolonged applause. Kunstler proceeded to state that, in his opinion, Gleason deserved that death.... Kunstler pointed out that no white policeman has set foot in the black ghetto of Plainfield, New Jersey, since July 1967." That could turn out to be a terrible thing he said. Pretty soon there'll be a bunch of whites who'll say, "Well, if that's their land, then this is ours. They'd better not trespass on it." It can work two ways.
PLAYBOY: What sort of activists?
WAYNE: A lot of Communist-activated people. I know communism's a horrible word to some people. They laugh and say, "He'll be finding them under his bed tomorrow." But perhaps that's because their kid hasn't been inculcated yet. Dr. Herbert Marcuse, the political philosopher at the University of California at San Diego, who is quite obviously a Marxist, put it very succinctly when he said, "We will use the anarchists."
PLAYBOY: Was the Motion Picture Alliance formed to blacklist Communists and Communist sympathizers?
WAYNE: Our organization was just a group of motion-picture people on the right side, not leftists and not Commies. I was the president for a couple of years. There was no blacklist at that time, as some people said. That was a lot of horseshit. Later on, when Congress passed some laws making it possible to take a stand against these people, we were asked about Communists in the industry. So we gave them the facts as we knew them. That's all. The only thing our side did that was anywhere near blacklisting was just running a lot of people out of the business.
I focused a little bit on how John Wayne felt about Communism along the way in his career, and the interview came in quite useful. I pulled from several quotes in the interview. I believe it made my paper stronger (I did not say "I believe" once in the paper)
WAYNE: Well, the liberals seem to be quite willing to have Communists teach their kids in school. The Communists realized that they couldn't start a workers' revolution in the United States, since the workers were too affluent and too progressive. So the Commies decided on the next-best thing, and that's to start on the schools, start on the kids. And they've managed to do it. They're already in colleges; now they're getting into high schools. I wouldn't mind if they taught my children the basic philosophy of communism, in theory and how it works in actuality. But I don't want somebody like Angela Davis inculcating an enemy doctrine in my kids' minds.
PLAYBOY: In your distaste for socialism, aren't you overlooking the fact that many worthwhile and necessary government services—such as Social Security and Medicare—derived from essentially socialistic programs evolved during the Thirties?
WAYNE: I know all about that. In the late Twenties, when I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist myself—but not when I left. The average college kid idealistically wishes everybody could have ice cream and cake for every meal. But as he gets older and gives more thought to his and his fellow man's responsibilities, he finds that it can't work out that way—that some people just won't carry their load.
PLAYBOY: What's your source for that statement you attribute to Kunstler?
WAYNE: It appeared in a Christian Anti-Communism Crusade letter written by Fred Schwarz on August 1, 1969. Here, I'll read it to you: "The notorious left-wing attorney, Bill Kunstler, spoke on political prisoners and political freedom at the National Conference for a United Front Against Fascism, which was held in Oakland, California, July 18, 19 and 20, 1969. He urged blacks to kill white policemen when they entered the black ghetto. He told the story of how a white policeman, John Gleason, was stomped to death in Plainfield, New Jersey. The crowd broke into prolonged applause. Kunstler proceeded to state that, in his opinion, Gleason deserved that death.... Kunstler pointed out that no white policeman has set foot in the black ghetto of Plainfield, New Jersey, since July 1967." That could turn out to be a terrible thing he said. Pretty soon there'll be a bunch of whites who'll say, "Well, if that's their land, then this is ours. They'd better not trespass on it." It can work two ways.
PLAYBOY: What sort of activists?
WAYNE: A lot of Communist-activated people. I know communism's a horrible word to some people. They laugh and say, "He'll be finding them under his bed tomorrow." But perhaps that's because their kid hasn't been inculcated yet. Dr. Herbert Marcuse, the political philosopher at the University of California at San Diego, who is quite obviously a Marxist, put it very succinctly when he said, "We will use the anarchists."
PLAYBOY: Was the Motion Picture Alliance formed to blacklist Communists and Communist sympathizers?
WAYNE: Our organization was just a group of motion-picture people on the right side, not leftists and not Commies. I was the president for a couple of years. There was no blacklist at that time, as some people said. That was a lot of horseshit. Later on, when Congress passed some laws making it possible to take a stand against these people, we were asked about Communists in the industry. So we gave them the facts as we knew them. That's all. The only thing our side did that was anywhere near blacklisting was just running a lot of people out of the business.
I focused a little bit on how John Wayne felt about Communism along the way in his career, and the interview came in quite useful. I pulled from several quotes in the interview. I believe it made my paper stronger (I did not say "I believe" once in the paper)
The Searchers
I'm not sure how I feel about The Searchers. It was a long movie, and it was a bit boring in parts. I mainly like the end (go figure). Those who were not killed anre reunited, and John Wayne leaves off into the sunset.
It was quite typical: cowboys fighting Indians, male hero saving the damsel in distress, and kidnap and murder.
Indians protrayed as savages, no matter the situation, and the white man is the hero of the world.
Note: I got WAY behind in my blogs, and this is a lousy excuse for one.
It was quite typical: cowboys fighting Indians, male hero saving the damsel in distress, and kidnap and murder.
Indians protrayed as savages, no matter the situation, and the white man is the hero of the world.
Note: I got WAY behind in my blogs, and this is a lousy excuse for one.
Papers and Such
I wrote about why John Wayne was an American Hero/Legend/Idol. I was going to write about how Jesse James was the original gangster, but I had a lot of trouble finding enough information to write about. I don't know if it was because I wasn't looking in the right places, or something else.
Anyway, John Wayne was a college football star and had a tough time growing up and still made it big... America eats that stuff up. I think it was a successful paper. I used the Playboy interview in a lot of it, as a resource. I probably made a B on it... hopefully I didn't get a C.
Anyway, John Wayne was a college football star and had a tough time growing up and still made it big... America eats that stuff up. I think it was a successful paper. I used the Playboy interview in a lot of it, as a resource. I probably made a B on it... hopefully I didn't get a C.
01 February 2010
Playing Indian
This piece, by Umberto Eco, made me laugh and ponder simultaneously.
It makes many point about how we, as Americans, make Indians seem in cinema-- horrible and stupid. How they attack, how they fight, how they just await their deaths. It's offensive even to me. I only wish I had realized it before now.
The Duke
John Wayne is known as a big rugged man. I have not watched a John Wayne movie since I was quite young, so I'm not sure what to expect from his movies-- maybe a lot of desert and horses, stetsons and feathers, women and children, violence and love?
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