Dance With Wolf
2009110900
김건태 Kun Tae Kim
미국 문화와 영화
Dances With The Wolf.
“This had not been a fight for territory or riches or to make men free. This battle had no ego.” The film Dances With the Wolves depicts a man's story who became the part of Indian society, and eventually one who became one of them. Who is John Dunbar? Is he an American Army Lieutenant John Dunbar? Or part of Sioux Tribe warrior, Dances with the Wolf? Watching this film has made me thought about various different things. First one was, which side is virtuous? Is the concept of “white man's burden” and “history is written by the winner” just? There is a saying that the history is written by the winner. The second one was, somewhat more personal thought. I was relating myself to John Dunbar, and the Sioux. I was too, a foreigner in foreign country. Alien from their culture and customs, I too had to adjust into their society, and become one of them. And that was not easy. Still today, many people from different background live together, but at the same time form their own community. Difference in culture, language, and customs creates confusion in one's realization of identity.
Before moving on to the first question, I would like to discuss about “White Man's Burden”. White men thought they had a mission to converge all the “savages” to Christian beliefs, and to “civilize” them. As mentioned in another film we watched during the class, Pocahontas, that movie raises question on “who is savage?”. A point I would like to focus on before I begin my thoughts on the movie, I would like to view different points of views. The question of “virtuous” comes from what point you look at. Looking at different side, my enemy can become an angel to another person.
The first question, which side is virtuous? Once, a famous comedian, George Carlin said in his stand-up comedy show, “we are praying to the god to defeat our enemies, and they are praying to the god to defeat their enemies, so somebody's gonna get
김건태 Kun Tae Kim
미국 문화와 영화
Dances With The Wolf.
“This had not been a fight for territory or riches or to make men free. This battle had no ego.” The film Dances With the Wolves depicts a man's story who became the part of Indian society, and eventually one who became one of them. Who is John Dunbar? Is he an American Army Lieutenant John Dunbar? Or part of Sioux Tribe warrior, Dances with the Wolf? Watching this film has made me thought about various different things. First one was, which side is virtuous? Is the concept of “white man's burden” and “history is written by the winner” just? There is a saying that the history is written by the winner. The second one was, somewhat more personal thought. I was relating myself to John Dunbar, and the Sioux. I was too, a foreigner in foreign country. Alien from their culture and customs, I too had to adjust into their society, and become one of them. And that was not easy. Still today, many people from different background live together, but at the same time form their own community. Difference in culture, language, and customs creates confusion in one's realization of identity.
Before moving on to the first question, I would like to discuss about “White Man's Burden”. White men thought they had a mission to converge all the “savages” to Christian beliefs, and to “civilize” them. As mentioned in another film we watched during the class, Pocahontas, that movie raises question on “who is savage?”. A point I would like to focus on before I begin my thoughts on the movie, I would like to view different points of views. The question of “virtuous” comes from what point you look at. Looking at different side, my enemy can become an angel to another person.
The first question, which side is virtuous? Once, a famous comedian, George Carlin said in his stand-up comedy show, “we are praying to the god to defeat our enemies, and they are praying to the god to defeat their enemies, so somebody's gonna get