Hostiles

Classics, film noir, summer blockbusters, and cult classics.
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The Oracle
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Hostiles

Post by The Oracle » Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:44 am

I just finished watching the movie Hostiles staring Christian Bale as US Cavalry Captain Joseph Blocker, a soon to retire Calvary captain who spent his career fighting Indians. His last assignment he is charged with escorting an aging Cheyenne Chief and his family who are being released from imprisonment to Montana. Blocker has a real disdain for the Chief played by Wes Studi. He sees him as a killer and wants nothing to do with being responsible for his safety. Overall as I started watching to move I found it to be an apologetic display of white man guilt toward the treatment of Native Americans. However, I couldn't stop watching it. As I watched I also found the movie to be a sort of coming of age story as the country moved from settling the wild west to making amends with the personal demons that I feel many people of White and Native decent had to come to grips with.

Although the movie seemed to spend the time with the "white man burden", the idea that two former foes could come together as essentially friends at the end was refreshing. Unfortunately, I do not believe that they used the talents of Wes Studi or Adam Beach (who played Studi's son)in a way that could have showcased the not only the struggles of Native Americans, but perhaps they could have been used as a way to make people look at history through the eyes of Native Americans. Much like the issue of slavery, we cannot ignore the past and treatment of the Native American people. However, we also cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that the Indian Tribes also killed and that the idea of the noble savage was as misleading as the idea of the all savages are blood thirsty murderers. My own belief is going into the 1880s and 90s the majority of warring was simply a case of leftover stereotypes from decades earlier.

One last comment, the head toppers worn by Bale and a couple of his men were fantastic.

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Cousi
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Re: Hostiles

Post by Cousi » Mon Aug 20, 2018 3:53 pm

There is enough evil on both sides of the equation, whether you're talking about slavery or the treatment of the Native American nations. Being of Native American decent myself, I have a tendency to side more with 'the US violated every single treaty they had' side of the argument. That actually does a disservice to both sides of my ancestry. While the US government does have a virtually irredeemable history in respect to their treatment of treaties and the whole "Manifest Destiny" was taken as an excuse to engage in what amounted to a sort of genocide, that does not excuse the many raids on settlers conducted by the various nations. For well over a century, possibly even continuing today, the Smithsonian Institute has had a policy to eliminate any evidence of 'higher societal accomplishments' by the native peoples. This has confounded our understanding of various sites including Cohica and several others.

I was concerned about this movie and it's treatment of a personally significant period in history. I am opposed to the concept of "white guilt" simply because there are very few, if any, alive today who have engaged in anything they should feel any guilt of. I do see the need for us to acknowledge the evil we've done and teach it to our children so that we do not repeat it. We also need to not absolve the Native People of the history like we have been doing for decades. I believe we as Native People need to acknowledge the evil we've done and teach it to our children so that we do not repeat it.

We are all human. We all are capable of great good and great evil. Denying any of that to either side is a form of coloring history to favor one side or the other, which is dishonest and I do not support. We must face our history with all of it's light and dark honestly if we are to become better.

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The Oracle
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Re: Hostiles

Post by The Oracle » Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:49 pm

Cousi,

I couldn’t agree more. Being that my grandmother who, I never met, grew up on a reservation, I have a belief and an obligation to tell the whole story, not just one side. Unfortunately, for me that is a side of my family I know the least about and have the least connection. I wish it were different.

Don’t get me wrong, the movie was not a complete overtone of white guilt, I just believe the characters that Studi and Beach played were overwhelmingly silent. I think it was a missed opportunity. But I found the movie good

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n11pilot
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Re: Hostiles

Post by n11pilot » Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:33 pm

Oracle, this was a damn fine review. Despite its emphasis on white guilt it sounds like there is enough to make it watchable.

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Cousi
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Re: Hostiles

Post by Cousi » Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:20 pm

The Oracle wrote:
Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:49 pm
Don’t get me wrong, the movie was not a complete overtone of white guilt, I just believe the characters that Studi and Beach played were overwhelmingly silent. I think it was a missed opportunity. But I found the movie good
That is good enough for me to give it a shot.

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n11pilot
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Re: Hostiles

Post by n11pilot » Mon Aug 20, 2018 11:09 pm

Cousi wrote:
Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:20 pm
The Oracle wrote:
Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:49 pm
Don’t get me wrong, the movie was not a complete overtone of white guilt, I just believe the characters that Studi and Beach played were overwhelmingly silent. I think it was a missed opportunity. But I found the movie good
That is good enough for me to give it a shot.
Oh my God! My apologies. I totally remembered what Oracle wrote very wrong. I read "White man's burden" and remembered "White guilt". Sorry about that.

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Blackthorn
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Re: Hostiles

Post by Blackthorn » Sat Aug 25, 2018 12:22 am

n11pilot wrote:
Mon Aug 20, 2018 11:09 pm
Cousi wrote:
Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:20 pm
The Oracle wrote:
Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:49 pm
Don’t get me wrong, the movie was not a complete overtone of white guilt, I just believe the characters that Studi and Beach played were overwhelmingly silent. I think it was a missed opportunity. But I found the movie good
That is good enough for me to give it a shot.
Oh my God! My apologies. I totally remembered what Oracle wrote very wrong. I read "White man's burden" and remembered "White guilt". Sorry about that.
That was my first thought, too, Pilot.

I saw the movie today and liked it a lot. Westerns are my favorite genre, and I'm very picky about what it takes to make me like one. All of the characters in this flick were believable, and the guns were true to the era (as far as I could see). It's the best new western I've seen in a long time.
The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything….Albert Einstein

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