Essay about Dances With Wolves - 1291 Words

Dances With Wolves In his movie Dances With Wolves actor Kevin Costner tries to do away with any preconceived notions that the viewer might have had about the Native American Indians being a savage and inhuman race. He does this by first unraveling the mysteriousness of the Indians then he brings the viewer to a point of connectedness with the Indians and their culture. We then come to a sincere appreciation for them as human beings and individuals and find ourselves siding with them in matters of allegiance. This movie accomplishes this goal with several tactics and strategies. As the story unfolds we follow the life of John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) and take on his emotions and therefore come to the same realizations that he does.†¦show more content†¦We see that they are easily frightened at times like when Kicking Bird runs from the naked John who is also just as shocked by the Indians presence however does not want his horse, Sisco, to be messed with. We see through Johns eyes how frustratin g it is to not be able to communicate with other people and we understand how much trouble this has probably been for the Indians before. We see them as being generous people when John is presented with a Buffalo skin from them as well as their kindness in accepting his gifts. We also see how in Johns eyes the Indians are developing personalities of their own as individuals and not just a group of people. The second thing that must be done in order for the movie to completely change our opinion of these savages and bring our allegiances to them instead of the white settlers and army is that we must not only overcome our fears and prejudices we must also now connect with them in such a way that we feel bonded by friendship and love. The best way to accomplish this is through a feeling of belonging. As John becomes more and more involved with the Indians we see more and more of the personalities of the Indians themselves and we begin to see how human they really are. Now John begins to form friendships with these Indians and therefore so do we. One example of this is Johns friendship with Kicking Bird. John andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Dances With Wolves1093 Words   |  5 Pagessavages. Dances with Wolves represents a shift in this mindset. It was one of the first movies to paint life on the Great Plains as complex. Nevertheless, the film still contains many of the familiar Hollywoo d Indian myths. Dances with Wolves follows John Dunbar, a former Civil War soldier, who is transferred to Fort Hays. There Dunbar meets his Sioux neighbors, and slowly builds a relationship with the entire tribe. By the end of the movie, Dunbar has become fully integrated into the tribe. Dances withRead More Dances With Wolves Essay1128 Words   |  5 Pages The film, Dances with Wolves, staring Kevin Costner gives a historically accurate presentation of the Sioux Indians and their way of life. In this production, Lieutenant John Dunbar, played by Costner, is rewarded for his heroic actions in the Civil War by being offered an opportunity to see the American frontier before it is gone. Dunbar is assigned to an abandoned fort where his only friends are a lone wolf and his beloved horse, Cisco. After several weeks of waiting for more American troops,Read MoreDances With Wolves And Avatar1142 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Dances with Wolves and Avatar: Similar but Different† Dances with Wolves and Avatar are thought to be very different, but they are actually more similar than viewers may realize. First off, these are two must see films! The viewer walks away with much more than just having seen a movie. Both of these movies encourage cultural understanding, motivate, and teach individuality. Dances with Wolves and Avatar are alike in plot and cultural significance. These two films are alike in plot because in bothRead More Dances With Wolves Essay2082 Words   |  9 PagesDances With Wolves No matter how you choose to categorize human beings, whether by race or religion, nationality or gender, the resultant categories will display at least one immutable constant. Each group, no matter how diverse their beliefs or how dissimilar their behaviors, will contain men of honest and peaceful natures as well as men of divisive and violent natures. In the film Dances With Wolves, we are exposed to two distinct categories of people inhabiting post civil war America, theRead MoreThe Film Dances With Wolves2160 Words   |  9 PagesSpoken by Joseph Campbell, myths â€Å"support a certain social order and define humanity under any circumstance.† The film Dances With Wolves tells a fictional story that expresses those two mythological functions through the journey of John Dunbar beginning as a United States soldier and becoming a part of a Native American tribe, the Sioux. Through this transformation, the mythological functions help define what it means to be a true human bein g. A true human being is someone who has become so awareRead More Dances With Wolves Analysis Essays2123 Words   |  9 PagesDances With Wolves Analysis The movie Dances With Wolves was produced in 1990 and directed by Kevin Costner who starred as the main character. Dances with Wolves tells us the story of a white man who gets acquainted with the Sioux, who learns to love and respect them as valuable people with a culture and who discovers how wrong white peoples preconceived ideas about Native Americans are. A sense of adventure and drama is the feeling Dances with Wolves gives us. With this movieRead MoreEssay on Dances With Wolves by Michael Blake1805 Words   |  8 PagesDances With Wolves by Michael Blake is a novel that covers the topics of cross-culture, equality and respect. It also shows me the history of modern America. Reading this novel is a great adventure to me. Through years of getting ready, Michael Blake spent nine months on writing the book and got it done in 1981. The story happens in 1863, when US civil war was in ongoing. Knowing the potential amputation of his wounded leg, Union Army Officer Lieutenant John J. Dunbar turns suicidal and ridesRead More Shifting Perceptions in Dances With Wolves Essay1821 Words   |  8 PagesShifting Perceptions in Dances With Wolves In Kevin Costners motion picture Dances With Wolves, a white veteran of the Civil War, John Dunbar, ventures to the American frontier, where he encounters a tribe of Sioux Indians. At first, both parties are quite wary and almost hostile to each other, but after some time, Dunbar realizes that they have both grown to love and value each other as friends. As the movie critic Robert Ebert comments, Dunbar possesses the one quality he needs to cut throughRead More Overcoming Stereotypes in the Movie, Dances With Wolves Essay1768 Words   |  8 PagesOvercoming Stereotypes in the Movie, Dances With Wolves Everyone has a preconceived opinion of how a certain ethnic group is in terms of the way they live, the morals they hold, the way they deal with people different from them, and how they deal with one another. We come to these conclusions by what we have seen in the media, heard from other people, or actually experienced ourselves. Most people would consider these opinions to be stereotypes. Dances with Wolves is a motion picture that deals withRead More Changing Native American Stereotypes in the Film, Dances with Wolves1546 Words   |  7 PagesChanging Native American Stereotypes in the Film, Dances with Wolves The film Dances with Wolves, that was written by Michael Blake and directed by Kevin Costner, helps to shift our perspective of Native Americans from one of stereotypical distaste, to one of support and respect. According to an anonymous critic on www.eFilmcritic.com This is one of the few westerns that devotes its time to looking at the plight of the American Indians (particularly the Sioux), who were thought by some as