ProudTraitor says > My initial shock/laugh at the closeup face shot of the "Commanche" was later a little staled by the thought of him perhaps being a white man somehow ending up to be an Indian. That would make sense by the casting people choosing a blue eyed person for the role. However it appears he was not, at least it was not addressed in the movie. The though that comes up to mind is that couldn't have they just chosen an actor who looked more like a Native American? Other Indians in the movie looked quite suited.
First, this is where people tend to get into trouble. All races of people through time have mixed when they come into contact with each other. As a result, most people are not pure-bred. It just so happens some physical traits are more dominate than others so they are more likely to be passed on to future generations even when there having been interracial mixing.
That's the very reason racist, class-conscious, and other bigoted types work so hard to keep their offspring away from whatever types they consider undesirable. If the children are around each other on a regular basis they will invariably develop attractions to people outside their group of origin. If they can't keep them apart physically then they use words, negative stories, stereotypes, fear, and other prejudicial methods to build walls even where none exist.
In the case of the Indians in this movie, and other groups throughout history, women and girls were often kidnapped into the group then they were either raped or raised as part of the group. Many of them fought to stay with their new families because that's all they knew. They had children and adapted.
Casting a blue-eyed chief didn't require explanation. In fact, I think it worked better that there was no explanation provided. Throughout the movie we saw how it was possible for that to happen. White girls had been kidnapped into the tribe. Marty, who was part Indian had been raised in the white man's world. Marty had inadvertently married an Indian girl. Debbie, having spent most of her life with the tribe, objected to being rescued the first time she was found. Her memories with the Indians, at that point, would have been much stronger than her childhood memories with her family of origin.
That kind of thing happens so often there's a name for it: Stockholm syndrome. As humans we have a strong drive to belong and will adapt, especially as children, into whichever group in which we find ourselves for any appreciable amount of time. It's part of our survival skills. We're so resilient, I think, we're better at being transplanted than most plants and animals.
Anyway, we're not told what Scar's background is because it really doesn't matter. Also, from Ethan and the others' perspective, they wouldn't know or necessarily care about his ancestry. He was their enemy; plain and simple, even if his parent or he, himself, had once been part of their cultural group. We see how easily some of them were able to give up and turn their backs on Debbie and she had been part of their community; someone they all had known well.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
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