Unforgiven

Revisionist Westerns characterize themselves in modifying the already established tradition of classic Westerns. Typical characteristics in a Western, such as the superimposition of the alpha cowboy, the demeaning roles of women, and the lack of importance to “other” characters such as Indians, Mexicans and African Americans, are tweaked away from the farfetched and impractical to a more realistic approach of what the Western life was like, ultimately revising the views shown in the classic western. In a way, the film Unforgiven can be categorized as a revisionist Western.
We see an essence of revisionism n terms of the alpha male character, Munny, in contrast with his faithful partner, Ned. In classic Westerns, the alpha male cowboy, along with all other ruthless cowboys of the West, are generally white men. Ned Logan happens to be African American. This is the first time that a black man is given such an important role, especially important to the alpha male cowboy. It was Ned’s death that ultimately sparked the alpha cowboy to claim his revenge. Beforehand, the alpha cowboy was far from his glory days. We see him struggling with the farm in the beginning, just like he has trouble shooting the can from the tree at first. We no longer see an overbearing presence in terms of the alpha male cowboy, just like the villains seem to have more power.
If we take a look at the roles of women in the film, we are also presented with a seriously different representation of women from the classic Westerns. Traditionally, women are objects for the pleasure of men. They are in charge of the household, and spend their lifetime waiting for a man to wed her. However, in Unforgiven, we see a group of prostitutes who essentially are businesswomen. They might not have much power in comparison to men in town, but at least it’s not the typical background role of ignorance that women tend to represent.