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The Searchers : A Racist ParableJohn Ford's Classic Deals With Changing Attitudes in AmericaThe Searchers marks a turning point for Westerns in its depiction of American attitudes to racial hatred. Social attitudes pervade on a genre imbued with racism.
In 1956 a western was released which finally came to terms with its racist past and attempted to redress the balance. The Searchers, while not the first anti-racist western, could be argued to be the biggest of the time. It certainly would be for John Ford who suffered allegations of racial hatred throughout his career. American Westerns Reflected the Values of Their TimesWesterns have always had a racial slur to them with the white man slaying the Indian but there is also another way of reading this. Films are always affected by the attitudes of the time when they were made and the early days were a time when racial segregation was the norm. For the western, the one true American genre, there could be no hiding from the attitudes of society. Take My Darling Clementine, an earlier John Ford picture. In this film the new sherriff, Wyatt Earp, is seen kicking a drunken Indian out of town remarking that they don't need these type of people. This is 1946, a time just after the war when many people of colour had signed up and given their lives. By 1956 a change had happened and this is reflected in The Searchers. Our 'hero' Ethan Hawke sets out on a journey to rescue his niece who has been kidnapped by Indians. His ulterior motive, though, was to kill her, as she had become one of "them." The Searchers is a Turning Point for WesternsThrough the eyes of her family we can see how his attitudes are frowned upon and that times have changed. Through his partnership with Martin, a quarter Indian, he starts to accept that they might not be all bad. What we are seeing is what was happening all over America at the time. The Civil Rights movement may not have been in full flow but there was certainly a change afoot. It is in the famous final scene that we see how far America has travelled in its acceptance of racial harmony. Ethan rescues Debbie and instead of killing her takes her home. He has managed to overcome the ingrained racism in his core and accept her again. He can never fully accept her though and that is why he can never enter the door at the end and join the rest of the family. Our last image is of him turning away and walking off. A relic of a dying age. Perhaps the greatest metaphor in the film is when he is shot by the arrow. From then on we see that he is poisoned by his hatred and it can never truly leave him. He is destined to remain an outsider while the rest of America moves on. The film can be seen as a turning point for westerns and the focus would shift to other ideas for inspiration such as violence. The western, just as America did, had finally accepted a terrible part of their history and tried to make amends.
The copyright of the article The Searchers : A Racist Parable in Film Westerns is owned by Martyn Coppack. Permission to republish The Searchers : A Racist Parable in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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