Dances With Wolves Analysis

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In Robert Baird’s piece titled “Going Indian” Dances With Wolves(1990), the author uses this film to contend the theme of the American imagination in the adoption into tribal society and the finding for true American self identity (153). The author brings to light that Dances with Wolves is just one of the latest films in cinematic and storytelling history that have played with this idea of a white person incorporating him/herself into this stereotypical tribal society. Some of his main arguments revolve around how Dances With Wolves connects to three famous ideas that seem to be constantly recurring in similar films. Baird also spends a decent amount of time describing the critical situations that come with creating these types of narratives …show more content…
According to the article, “the historical and mythic power of The Massacre is so pervasive that it seems all Westerns that deal with the confrontation of white and red people must address this issue in some manner”(158). In the context of Dancing With Wolves, the film contains three instances where the theme of The Massacre had to be confronted. One points to a flashback of a character named Stands With A Fist, and its scene of the embodiment of the trauma that comes after these experiences, while others are in confrontations with the US cavalry and other native tribes. The author writes that in Hollywood’s ninety year history, the industry has maneuvered through these delicate histories by either applying the ideals of violence rights injustice and brings order to the word versus introducing characters such as the “Novel Savages”(160). In the end, the author provides a detailed piece that connects various ideas about the imaginative fantasies of these stories to the themes of Dancing with Wolves. The article brought up several interesting ideas about the correct way to portray the confrontations of these two sides and how this whole genre of media problematizes the idea of the American
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