Monday, April 26, 2010

HUM 221: Notes and comments (my notes and your comments)

Consensus from your comments on Monday's post: Trying to follow the script too closely just gets in the way of watching a movie. Better to read it ahead of time ... skim-read it enough to get a sense of the story before you watch the movie ...

But you do want to read it, right? You won't be able to write much of a final exam if you don't.

Just sayin'.

Here's what I want you to think about - and write about - today: What do John Wayne's teeth have to do with anything? How do they relate to the theme(s) of the movie? How do they relate to the themes Sherman Alexie talks about as an author in interviews, etc.?

Hint (or warning): To write about that, you have to decide what the theme - or themes - of the movie are. List a couple. What do you think the main themes are. Exercise your own judgment here. I know what I think they are; I want to know what you think they are.

Post your thoughts as comments to this blog post.

16 comments:

Shakeria said...

i think the theme of the movie is friendship and forgiveness... thomas helps victor grow and gets over the fact that his father left him, and at the sametime make their friendship stronger... this movie was also very comedic in a way. very entertaining.

Jake Hill said...

The theme of the movie is throughout life people encounter rough realalities that they have to face. Victor as a child was left by his father and Thomas helped him through that. It also shows how strong friendships can be, and how important they are.

jessica_handy said...

The theme of the movie has to do with Victor & Thomas' friendship, it also has a lot to do with Victor finding out who his dad really was.
And the part about John Waynes teeth i think was just thrown in there to be funny, doesnt really relate to the story.

Anonymous said...

im not really sure about jw teeth. It may have just been comic relief. I think the themes to this movie were common issues that surround Native Americans. The cop asked if he was drinking based on the stereotype that natives are drinkers. The main characters also had to deal with bad parenting and learning to forgive and forget their fathers.

Catey Rutschke said...

I don't think that John Wayne's teeth had anything really to do with the movie. They said that in his movies, you could never see his teeth and that they didn't know if they were really there or what they may be made of. It may have symbolized that a lot of people don't really know anything about the real Native American culture. The theme of the movie is to finding out a lot about your own culture that you didn't already know and making new friendships along the way.

Tara Proctor said...

I think the theme of the movie, from my perspective, is about a man finding himself in this world. Victor has to forgive his dad for leaving him and his mom. He resents his father because his dad saved a little boy from a burning fire, Thomas, but did not save him. His father has died and when he goes to pick up the ashes he starts to come to forgive his father.

Kathleen said...

I think the theme of the movie is forgiveness. Thomas tries to help Victor realize that his dad was more than just someone who beat him and his mom. Thomas also tried to get him to realize his dad was a good guy and that he should be forgiven. Comedy was put in but I think the overall message was a serious one.

Cait131 said...

I thought the movie was very interesting. I like how the trip that the boys took makes Thomas and Victor a lot closer. There were several different themes to this movie. Some were good, some weren't. Victor is kind of a rebel who always has a tough attitude, but towards the end he ends up getting a lot more mellowed out. The movie is mostly serious, but there's also some comedy in this movie. I thought it was very good.

calenevill said...

the theme of the movie is one of friendship that was weak between thomas and victor at first, but become strong at the end. John wayne had nothing to really do with the movie besides the quote about him being a coward.

dave maziarz said...

i think the theme of the movie is that even when you have a very tough life like victor, friendships and forgivness can get you through any challenge. im not sure about john waynes teeth though...as far as i can tell it was just comic relief.

Brad Selvaggio said...

the theme of the movie is forgiveness and friendship.John waynes teeth wasnt very tied in to the story but it was funny. the story had a lot to fo about victor finding his father.

logan eader said...

the theme of the movie to me is forgiveness and family. you also get a feel as to how life was on a reservation. in the movie, thomas and victor take a roadtrip and along the way they help eachother.

Michael Hayes said...

I think John Waynes teeth was just something that the friends thought was amusing. i dont think that it was really meant to mean anything. I think that the theme of this movie is about teens finding their own identity with society. Victors father left him which made him struggle with his own identity which is what the journey throughout the movie is about.

Michael D. said...

I think the themes of the movie are of forgiveness,overcoming stereotypes, and most importantly self-healing. When Victor says that we never see John Wyanes teeth he means John Wyne never smiles. He says this after two white men wont let Victor and Thomas sit on their bus seats. I think it was thrown in as a humorous secene but some themes also show through. They sing it in a Native American fashion for the whole bus to hear. This pokes fun at the Native American sterotype of singing but also shows Native American culture. I think it also pokes fun at the fact John Wayne never smiles because he wasnt happy. It shows that the white men arent happy because they cant come to terms with themselves (self-healing) and arent happy with who they are. I think the themes relate to Sherman Alexia because he had to forgive himself for alcholism. He had to do a lot of self-healing and think about who he was as a person and a Native American. Throughtout his work he trys to overcome Native American stereotypes and teach people about NAtive American culture.

mikefleshman said...

I think the theme of the movie is friendship. It was a good movie. Thomas helped Victor through the rough times of his father leaving him as a child. I dont think John Wayne's teeth had anything to do with the movie. It was just added for humor.

Lucas Baugher said...

the theme of this movie in my opinion is about family and what all is involved in it. This movie covers the lives of basically two young Indians and what happens to them at a young age. Victor's dad leaves him and his mom, and after his death, Victor and Thomas go to collect his ashes. The movie is basically centered around Victor and Thomas, and it documents their journey to Phoenix, and their trip back. An intersting movie, with a bad soundtrack and below average acting. But the movie was still somewhat intertaining.