Dances With Wolves Essay -- Movies Native Americans History Papers

Dances With WolvesNo amour how you choose to categorize tender beings, whether by race or religion, nationality or gender, the resultant categories will intro at least one immutable constant. Each group, no matter how diverse their beliefs or how dissimilar their behaviors, will contain men of open and peaceful natures as swell up as men of divisive and impetuous natures. In the film Dances With Wolves, we ar exposed to two distinct categories of pot inhabiting post civil war America, the snow-covered spell and the Native American. We, near likely, begin the movie with defined ideas as to which group contains honest, peaceful men and which group contains violent and savage men. We are, however, exposed to behaviors which are in foe to the accepted stereotypes associated with these groups. As we move through the film we are interpreted from the comfortable starting point of our existing stereotypes into new territory, both literally and philosophically. The film accomplis hes this by allowing us to journey with John Dunbar, a man who is as open minded and free of preconceive notions as the primitively empty journal on which his new ideas and understandings are written. Through his experiences we are exposed to the sharp contrast between the violent and crude, as well as the peaceful and thoughtful natures of men. With every exposure we are purposefully moved further and further away from what may have been our preconceived notions regarding these groups of people. Through Johns eyes we are first exposed to the world of the white man embroiled in the carnage and butchery of the Civil War. The dark hospital scene only emphasizes the fact that life in the civilize world can be anything but. A brief contrast is do when the... ...bar, separate ourselves from them. The film Dances with Wolves provides us with an opportunity to journey out of a comfortable world which may be founded on hastily launch stereotypes, into a world of truth. It begs us to d eal with people from a cast of knowledge and understanding, rather than one of ignorance clothed in superiority. It shows us liberal of our own shortcomings to make us see that we could also be the victims of generalizations do by others based on the behaviors of the few. It presents us with a poignant display case of what can be lost when people become what they claim to be fighting. It is a message that is as applicable today as it was in the time of the American West. Works CitedCostner, Kevin, dir. Dances with Wolves. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. Videocassette. Orion, 1991.