Flim101 as art Journal 2

The Searchers

THE SEARCHERS remains a unique film that presents an interesting take on racism and the genocide against Native Americans while at the same time we also are given a glimpse into the birth of the western anti-hero a birth which , to a great extent , helped redefine the western genre to a significant degree in later years

At the film 's beginning , we are introduced to the character of Ethan Edwards played by John Wayne . Edwards is a sullen loner who is a veteran of the Civil War who returns to

his family home three full years after the war ends (This notion of wandering for three years is a subtle hint that Edwards is a TAXI DRIVER-esque loner who is internalizing a great deal of post traumatic stress ) Edwards , the loner , moves in with his brother and his brother 's family and when Edwards is away from the homestead the home is raided by a tribe of Indians who slaughter most of the family and kidnap Edwards ' nieces . When Edwards discovers this he forms a posse to search for his nieces and bring the Indians responsible for the atrocities to justice . While this may seem on the surface like a banal revenge tale the narrative is made far more complex due to the underlying themes existing below the surface of the narrative

There are certain conventions that were common in the western genre prior to the redefining of the genre in such films as THE WILD BUNCH and A FIST FULL OF DOLLARS where the line between the heroes and the villains are blurred due to the violent , amoral actions of the heroes In THE SEARCHERS , we can somewhat see the origin of this notion planted in the sense that the traditional expectations of the genre are somewhat twisted , but this variant on the traditional is more internalized than it is externalized . In other words , the anti-hero John Wayne portrays is more of an anti-hero based on what is in his heart as opposed to what his external actions are

That is to say , Wayne /Edwards is a hero in the sense that he has a noble mission : he seeks to save his niece who has been kidnapped by villains . Now , whether the villains are Native American or Anglo would normally be irrelevant as they become villains defined more by their actions than their race . That is , they are kidnappers , murderers and racists and it is up to Wayne and his searchers ' to set things right This is a common theme of mostly all westerns . However , where the anti-hero theme creeps into the proceedings becomes evident when he discovers almost at the outset that the Wayne character is a racist This significantly undermines much of our sympathy for him as he becomes a dislikable hero who is chasing after villains that deserve to be punished . In a way , the audience 's support for this anti-hero becomes one of convenience since he is the conduit for justice although he...