For me, DWW is a good movie but not a great one. Not even close to the greatest 250 movies ever made. I just finished watching it for perhaps the fourth time, and I lowered my rating from nine to eight. The problem is characterization, or the lack of it. Put another way, there's a lot of stereotyping. The reversal of white/Indian roles might obscure that fact, but it doesn't change it. The "good" Indians, the Lakota, almost uniformly fit the 19th century "noble savage" model, while the "bad Indians" are just plain savages; we never see a single redeeming trait in any Pawnee. Except for Dunbar and one other, the whites are uncouth louts--or crazy. I'm sympathetic with the plight of Indians in the late 19th century, but this movie now feels to me more like a propaganda piece than a serious attempt at drama. After all, the entire concept depends on the one white man with any nobility in him choosing to become a Sioux. That's a pretty obvious indication of the intent. There are moving and exciting scenes. The hunger of DWW and Stands with a Fist for each other is persuasive and at times comic. The friendships, especially between DWW and Kicking Bird, feel real enough. But all of it is at the service of the political agenda. I'm progressive enough in most matters. But mine and the movie's agenda deserve better than this. So do the Indians.
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mwmace
9 years ago
Excellent comments. The movie was a politically correct propaganda piece.
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