Once Upon a Time in the West

I like how the guy describes this western in such detail. It makes me want to watch this movie. It's interesting that he notices that each character has their own theme song whenever they are shown in the western. This movie is sort of choreographed by the music and that is the main focus of the film. It is one of the first movies that the music fit the image of the movie. I liked this little explanation of the movie but I had a few questions that were not answered. Who is Henry Fonda and why is he so important? And what is a spaghetti western?

The Beginning of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I thought the first scene of the movie was pretty boring. I didn't like how they stared at each other for so long but I guess that is a typical western movie. My first impression of Clint Eastwood was that I thought he was going to be one of the bad guys because he was saving this bad guy over and over again to split money between them. However, he lets him go 70 miles into the desert and leaves him to die, and he is characterized as the good guy. When I saw that the bad guy lived, I'm pretty sure he is going to want revenge with Clint Eastwood for what he did. I'm intrigued to find out what happens next.

Quotes...

I wanted to compare "How To Play an Indian", "The Searchers" and "I Hate Tonto and I Still Do".

1) "The indians have made a huge impact in the american lifestyle."- It's really interesting after doing some research home much they have affected us.

2) "So who are the actual native americans?" What is your opinion on who a native american is?

3) "John Wayne absolutely hates indians. Why is that?" John is very opinionated when it comes to the beliefs of indians.

4) "If I was a native american, would I be offended by Tonto?" I don't really know how I would react to this kind of behavior.

5) I'm still debating what else I should put in my paper...

What do I want to write about...?

I've been contemplating back and forth on what I want to write about...I think I would want to write on either the Jesse James story, John Wayne himself, or The Searchers. The reason why I would want to write about Jesse James is because I'm interested in the story and I like that it has some sort of twists. I would love to write about John Wayne himself and relate him to his movie characters and I like how he is so blunt about his opinions. I'm not really sure why I would want to write about The Searchers...any ideas? Hopefully, I'll think of something interesting to write about soon.

"Dear John Wayne"

I wasn't sure how I was going to react to the poem "Dear John Wayne". I felt that Erdrich was very straight to the point and brought her forward attitude across in her poem. It is obvious that she is upset at John Wayne with her tone. Especially, "Everything we see belongs to us. The eye sees a lot John, but the heart is so blind." I like how she calls him out on some of her problems with him. The only phrase that bothered me was "Even his disease was the idea of taking everything. Those cells, burning, doubling, splitting out of their skins." I don't get why she had to add that to her poem. I felt that it was irrelevant and uncalled for.

John Wayne's Playboy Interview....

I love how detailed and specific his introduction to the interview with Playboy was. I was surprised that The Searchers was never mentioned in his introduction because it was such a huge success in his life. I really liked how old fashion he was about his state of mind with the motion pictures business today. He says the business is completely different than it was back when he was at his famous point of his life. I completely agree that the business has changed since he was at his peak. He also thinks that almost every movie deserves to have a little lust and vulgarity in them."No, I don't. Two classic Westerns were better—Stagecoach and Red River—and a third, The Searchers, which I thought deserved more praise than it got, and The Quiet Man was certainly one of the best. Also the one that all the college cinematography students run all the time—The Long Voyage Home." I'm glad he included The Searchers as one of the top movies he has ever done because I also think it has great potential. I love how he has never changed his image and I also love how he doesn't let anything phase him. I also love his fire. He doesn't care what people think and he will tell you exactly what he is thinking. "If I had to do it over again, I;d probably do everything I did. But that's not necessarily the right thing to do." I am a big fan of John Wayne after this interview because I like his spirit and his sense of humor. It will change my way I see him now while watching The Searchers.

How to Play Indians

This "How To" guide is just like the Indians are in the movie The Searchers. "Never attack immediately: make yourself visible from a distance a few days ahead of time, producing easily observed smoke signals, thus giving the stagecoach or the fort ample time to send word to the Seventh Cavalry." The Indians in The Searchers produce a fire to make a smoke signal so they let the family or whoever they are trying to attack know they are there. They don't attack right away to make sure they get away with their crime later. "Attack by circling the wagons, but never narrow your circle, so that you and your companions can be picked off one by one." The Indians surrounded the wagons but never came very close so that their victim couldn't get away. However, John Wayne aka Ethan and Martin got away from the Indians by going through the river which the Indians were not fast enough. "In preparing to attack an isolated farm, send only one man to spy on it at night. Approaching a lighted window, he must observe at length a white woman inside, until she has become aware of the Indian face pressed against the pane. Await the woman's cry and exit of the men before attempting to escape." The Indians attacked the families' house and killed them all except for the youngest girl Debbie. Hopefully she is still alive.