mercury4 says > Yet the Mexicans are the ones treated differently. Poncho is a stereotypical dumb Mexican and Anthony Quinn's character turns out to be a shady character and he's referred to the whole movie as "the Mexican."
Sparks: Sparks is portrayed in an atypical way for the time but at least one character ridiculed, taunted, and told him he wouldn't have to work; suggesting he's lazy.
Poncho is a stereotypical dumb Mexican and Anthony Quinn's character turns out to be a shady character and he's referred to the whole movie as "the Mexican."
Poncho: I don't think Poncho is portrayed in the way you describe. He's as much a part of the posse as the others. In fact, he's the one who spots the three men with the cattle bearing Kinkaid's brand and tells the others where to find them. Like Sparks, he gets an equal vote in deciding the fate of the accused.
Anthony Quinn's character turns out to be a shady character and he's referred to the whole movie as "the Mexican."...
Juan: Juan's as shady as he's guilty of murder and theft. These are things said about him but there isn't any proof. The guy accusing him probably can't tell one Mexican from another. When Juan chose to say nothing other than 'no sabe', it shows he's used to being wrongly accused and already knows what Martin is just learning; why bother telling people what you know they won't believe anyway?
Unlike Martin, Juan mostly internalizes his feelings. He knows the only way to escape a false accusation is to escape. He tries that but when he fails he takes his impending death 'like a man'. He confesses his sins because that's part of being Catholic. Assuming Poncho is also Catholic, which he likely is, he knows someone about to die would confess ALL his sins and not hold anything back because it would be his last chance to clear the slate, so to speak. Obviously Juan would not have confessed to a murder and theft he did not commit; clearly Poncho knows.
If Poncho reveals this information or anything that might be to Juan's benefit, he will likely be accused of lying and siding with his own kind. His reaction after hearing Juan's confession shows he's conflicted and haunted but, like most people in his situation, decides to remain silent. His fear of alienation is that strong.
Some racism, but here's the funny part
Racism: This movie depicts prejudice more than it does racism. The way the three accused men are treated is the essence of what prejudice is. The men in the posse form an opinion, a negative one, of people they do not know and have never met.
They attribute characteristics to these people then upon meeting them they accept information that supports their predetermined beliefs and reject anything that doesn't fit. They don't bother to get to know who these people really are, the label they've put of them is all that matters. They've stripped the humanity from these people so they have no problem justifying any behavior towards them; up to and including murder by lynching.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
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mercury4
9 years ago
I stand by my original post. Poncho acted dumb and had that stupid accent. Sometimes he sounded like Mel Blanc when he talked. How sad is that? Remember when Mel Blanc would play a Mexican in comedic skits? And Anthony Quinn's character, while not guilty of what he was going to hang for, had a shady past. That guy recognized him. Remember? He also knew that Juan Martinez was not his real name. Quinn maybe wasn't a murderer, but had a shady past. And the whole movie they call him "the Mexican."
When Poncho was asked if they should wait, he should've said yes. Saying yes isn't telling them what the confession was. All it's saying is that they should just wait. They didn't ask him what he said or if he's a murderer. He says, "I don't know," with that stupid Mel Blanc Mexican accent. I didn't see Poncho step forward with the other seven. He was willing to take his confession to a priest, but he would watch him hang when they had inconclusive proof. Poncho was a buffoon, a stereotypical dumb Mexican, and a coward.
The black character, Sparks, had humility, decency, a heart, a conscience, compassion, etc. And like I said, the leaders of the lynch mob asked him what he thought. This was a black man at such a time and they were asking him. And the filmmakers had Sparks step forward first. This movie was made in the 40's and they had a black man step forward first. Poncho, the stereotypical Mexican with the dumb accent, was the coward that was too afraid to speak up or step forward. If any black character was portrayed like Poncho in a movie, people would cry racism and I wouldn't blame them. They'd even throw in a word like Uncle Tom. To me, Poncho was an Uncle Tom of the Mexicans. He went along with everything, did what he was told by the white man, and never spoke up. Worst of all, he let one of his own people hang without a trial. You can't tell me that if Quinn's character was black and Poncho was black, black people wouldn't be offended.
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