Monday, November 30, 2009

Spaghetti Westerns

In the traditional Western film genre there is a standard template, which each character fulfills in every movie. There is the alpha male cowboy who serves as the hero and the helpless women characters who are at the mercy of the men. In addition, there are the African American characters who serve as the subservient helpers to the alpha male and the Native Americans who consistently prove to be an obstacle for the cowboy and townspeople to overcome. These unvarying roles are constant throughout the American Western genre. The spaghetti westerns however, provide a different view on these roles, as they provide a foreign perspective of America, particularly Italian.

In several spaghetti westerns it is common, like in Navajo Joe, for the Native Americans to become the victims, as well as, the “alpha male cowboy.” The protagonist in this film, Joe, was an Indian who saved the town from Duncan and his gang. This gang was trying to rob the bank and continually terrorizing the town. Duncan’s gang initially had killed Joe’s family and scalped his wife for a mere dollar. This film and others portray a significant increase in violence and are more graphic than the typical American Western.

In terms of cultural studies, the films Navajo Joe and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly were released in 1966, which marked the end of the civil rights movement and the beginning of the second wave of the feminist movement. In the traditional American Western, these cultural issues would be represented with an increase in women’s rights and the presences of African Americans interact with the townspeople, no longer slaves. For example, in the revisionist films Rooster Cogburn and The Unforgiven, both Sister and Ned Logan previously characterized as ‘others’ maintain a significant presence throughout the films, no longer lacking a role. However, in spaghetti westerns women had little to no presence. In The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, we never even see a women except when she finds her husband and child murdered. The spaghetti westerns use extreme violence and intense music in their films. The directors also use close ups to enhance the visualization and gore. They use money in both films to show that the American cowboy is consumed by greed and will stop at no mercy until he obtains what he desires.

1 comment:

  1. In the traditional western film genre, there is a standard template, which each character fulfills in every movie. There is the alpha male cowboy who serves as the hero and the helpless women characters who are at the mercy of the men. In addition, there are the African American characters who serve as the subservient helpers to the alpha male, and the Native Americans who consistently prove to be an obstacle for the cowboy and townspeople to overcome. These unvarying roles are constant throughout the American Western genre. The spaghetti westerns however, provide a different view on these roles, as they provide a foreign perspective of America, particularly Italian.

    In several spaghetti westerns it is common, like in Navajo Joe, for the Native Americans to become the victims, as well as, the “alpha male cowboy.” The protagonist in this film, Joe, was a Native American who saved the town from Duncan and his gang. We are first introduced to Duncan’s gang as they ride into Joe’s tribe and kill all of its members. Duncan even scalps Joe’s wife and sells it for a mere dollar. Further in the film, the gang attempts to rob the town bank and they continually terrorize the town. This film and others portray a significant increase in violence and are more graphic than the typical American Western.

    In terms of cultural studies, the films Navajo Joe and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly were released in 1966. This time marked the end of the civil rights movement and the beginning of the second wave of the feminist movement. In the traditional American Western, these cultural issues would be represented with an increase in women’s rights and African American presence. For example, in the revisionist films Rooster Cogburn and The Unforgiven, both Sister and Ned Logan, previously characterized as ‘others,’ maintain a significant presence throughout the films, no longer lacking a role. However, in spaghetti westerns, women had little to no presence. In The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, we never even see a women except when she finds her husband and child murdered. The spaghetti westerns use extreme violence and intense music in their films. The directors also use close ups to enhance the visualization and gore. There is also a strong presence of money and greed throughout the films, as the World believes America is consumed by greed and will stop at no mercy until he obtains what he desires.

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