Unforgiven

Revisionist westerns are those that stray from the traditional story line of westerns, and from the customary plot and characters. A traditional western can be summarized as one in which the alpha male cowboy is the main character and there are other characters who barely have any effect on him. Traditional western alpha male cowboy has very little respect for other characters, and don’t adapt well to the idea of a side kick. In Unforgiven, a revisionist western, there are many aspects that differentiate it from a traditional western from the start. The main plot involves revenge for the harm of a group of prostitutes in a town, giving the women a hugely important and influential role in the movie, which is unlike traditional westerns. The main aspect that differentiates Unforgiven from a traditional western is the focal relationship between William Munny and Ned. The first difference is that Ned is black, which puts a twist on the relationship from the start. In traditional westerns that we have previously viewed only include other races such as Indians, blacks as slaves, or Chinese as slaves, and no respect is paid towards them. On another level, the way the alpha male cowboy, Will, allows another person to become an equal and his companion is revisionist. Will chooses Ned to aid him in the search for the outlaw cowboys in hope for the bounty, and throughout the movie they continue their relationship as friends and companions. Not only does the alpha male offer to split the $1000, but in no way acts superior to Ned. The end really defines the movie as a revisionist film. The emotion Will shows because of the death of his sidekick, Ned after being brutally murdered for what Will had done, is not the way a traditional alpha male cowboy would react. A traditional cowboy would have little or no reaction, whereas Will travels back into town for revenge and then threatens the entire town that he will kill them all if they do not properly bury Ned. His respect and care for Ned really makes him different from the typical alpha cowboy, and classifies this film as revisionist.