Unforgiven

When watching Unforgiven, it is clear that you are not watching a stereotypical western. The clearest indication of this is the alpha male cowboy, Munny. The stereotypical alpha male cowboy is usually ruthless in his struggle to survive, but is also clean cut, and looking for justice. In Unforgiven, Munny is clearly ruthless. However, he is anything but clean cut. He is a pig farmer, and looks like one. He is usually unshaved. In concerns of looking for justice, it is clear that the only reason Munny accepts the job is to get money. This is later proven when he sees the hooker that was cut. He was told that her face was tremendously disfigured, and that she was completely scarred. However, when he sees her, he knows that this was an exaggeration, and that she is only slightly scarred. He realizes that its not justice to kill the people who cut her, but continues anyways. Another way that Munny differs from the typical alpha male is that he is not associated with the law at all, and instead is a former bandit. He also is beaten by the town sheriff, who he in the end kills. This shows Munny’s complete disregard for the law, and his destruction of it. Another way that Munny differs is his alcoholism. While characters like Rooster Cogburn were shown to be alcoholics, and while some characters did frown upon drinking, it was never painted in as terrible a picture as Munny made. Munny made it clear that he could only do the terrible things he had done in this life because he was drunk. This is shown again by how he gets drunk before killing Little Bill and his posy. This view of alcohol paints the picture that it releases the monster, rather than the picture that it was a typical and mostly harmless part of the west, as was shown in many other films.
Another part of how Unforgiven is a revisionist western is shown by Munny’s sidekick. Ned Logan is black, and married to a native American. But, as a sidekick, he is treated as an equal. In The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, Pompey is Doniphon’s sidekick, but is never treated as an equal. He is the person who fetches something, or puts away the horses, but never someone who adds valuable information. In Rooster Cogburn, Wolf is shown in a more positive light as a minority sidekick, but is still a very flat character. He seems simple, never saying anything very insightful. Ned is the complete opposite of these characters. Ned is treated as an equal and a friend by Munny. Ned proves to be a character with actual emotions, shown by the pain he expresses when shooting someone. Although his death didn’t say too much about how race, it does paint a better picture of brutality in the west. In Red River, Dunson buried and said a prayer over the men he killed. In Day of the Outlaw, they make sure to bury Bruhns in respect to him. In Unforgiven, Ned is put on display. This blatent disrespect for a corpse is new to the films we have watched, and paints a picture of a much more brutal west.