Morgan Freeman’s character in Unforgiven reinforces the film’s classification as a revisionist western, in which Ned Logan, as an African American, is granted a much larger and significant role than even before in western films. Traditionally, Western films seldom include African American characters, and even more rarely do they include them as main characters. Unforgiven depicts Ned Logan as an equal to William Munny – both are hardworking farmer men who have settled down after a notorious past of violently wreaking havoc and fear over the west. Logan is even given an equal share in the reward money among the other two men, who are white. As the film progresses, Logan’s role continues to embody traits of a revisionist western. The fact that he is the only one of the three to be caught and punished for killing the two cowboys demonstrates how his being an African American still puts him at a disadvantage, as this is the reality of racial differences in American society during the 1990s.
In addition, Clint Eastwood’s character also emphasizes the film’s revisionist qualities as William Munny progresses into a complete alpha male cowboy. In the beginning of the film, William is depicted as an old man gone soft from his violent days of drinking whiskey and killing people, men, women, and children alike. His inability to shoot a can, or even mount a horse, or his vulnerability to becoming so ill all prove that he is no longer the strong, independent alpha male cowboy he once was. What's more, he constantly says “I guess” because he does not have full confidence in himself, a mannerism which the alpha male is never found to do. However, once Ned is killed, Munny immediately transforms into the heartless killer that defines him as an alpha male cowboy; he kills several men single handedly without a thought, is fearless up against dozens of armed men, and takes a drink of whiskey for the first time in eleven years. These traits that suddenly qualify Munny as the alpha male cowboy also qualify Unforgiven as a revisionist western. Munny is a much darker alpha male than ever before seen in westerns, and the extreme amount of violence depicted throughout the entire film reinforces the cynical attributes of revisionist westerns.
What defines Unforgiven the most as a revisionist western is its realistic portrayal of all the roles of men, women, and minorities, and the violence that exists in society, in contrast to the idealistic and romanticized depictions in traditional westerns. The reality that African Americans are a significant part of society and that the alpha male is not the hero we all want him to be is brought to light in Unforgiven and reinforced by the roles that Ned and William play, and they reflect how the same realities exist in American society.
Unforgiven may be classified as a revisionist western due to its inclusion of an African American cowboy and a heightened depiction of violence. In a genre typically dominated by white alpha males in which the others are given unequal roles, Ned Logan surfaces as an anomaly in the West, indicating the changing roles of African Americans in American society. Not only is Ned Logan a main character, but he is considered an equal to William Munny, both in history and in stature, and is allotted an equal share in the reward money. In classic westerns, African Americans are rarely seen, and when they are, such as in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Pompey is merely a servant to Doniphon, and has not nearly the same power as Ned has in Unforgiven. Because this film was made in the 1990s, African Americans have become an accepted part of society, and have established their equality to others, as evident in the film. However, Ned’s being the only member of the trio to be caught, whipped, and killed is an allusion to the history of unequal treatment that African Americans have experienced, and will continue to experience as some parts of society find it difficult to completely accept African Americans as equal members in society.
ReplyDeleteThe alpha male cowboy depicted by Clint Eastwood – William Munny – is a realistic and honest representation of the cowboy which classic Westerns have glorified. Munny is not proud of the brutal and savage killer he once was, and has taken to raising his children on a pig farm because realistically he could not live a long and productive life as a murdering drunk. While the stories told about him throughout the film that attest to the formidable cowboy he once was may invoke wonder and envy in young cowboys like the Schofield Kid, Munny reveals that those days were nothing to be proud of, yet alone remember. In addition, Munny is not the typical cowboy seen in most westerns – he has trouble getting on his horse, he can’t shoot a pistol straight, and he is struck extremely ill. None of the invincible and admirable qualities that the alpha male usually possesses are evident in Munny, which goes to suggest that those qualities of the alpha male are not actually realistic depictions. William Munny’s specific moment of turning into the powerful alpha male cowboy is marked by alcohol, a dank rainy night, homicide, and panic. Nothing like the classic shootout between two cowboys standing at a distance; Munny has the quickest draw and kills every man he aims at, but the victories are not experienced with a feeling of righteousness, but with disgust and cringing. Overall, William Munny’s character goes to show that the actual role of the alpha male cowboy is not something actually to be admired, but is something horrible and frightening. The stories of the ideal alpha male cowboy that classic westerns presented are actually myths and contort the presentation of the cowboy in a better light.