ericadawn16: (Sleeping)
[personal profile] ericadawn16
Here is my professional article:

http://www.yourhighwayinthesky.com/2013/07/outside-the-parks/the-lone-ranger-fun-yet-familiar/

So, I liked it. I did. I'm not about to see it again in the theatre but I would definitely watch it again if it was on the television. There were some problems as I mentioned in the article. I realize that females in the original series were virtually non-existent but modern day audiences expect more especially audiences who remember Elizabeth Swann...
Come on, hadn't they seen Luther? Didn't they know what Ruth Wilson was capable of?

I have to admit between revealing that John and her character used to be an item and naming off exactly how many years since they last saw each other...I did wonder whether the kid was actually his. However, I remembered A Christmas Story... "The Lone Ranger's nephew's horse?" "Yeah, his name is Victor." so obviously, the kid is supposed to be his nephew.

Did you know that the Green Hornet is the Lone Ranger's great nephew? I had no idea but it makes sense. They both become sort of super heroes with the help of stereotypical minorities by their side. I learned it on IMDB because it pointed out how Tom Wilkinson is in both films. My mom didn't recognize him in this one which is pretty amazing.

So yeah, my mom liked it, too, BUT she didn't like how stupid they made The Lone Ranger be. They made him really dependent on Tonto and basically into a Will Turner character but I saw some hope towards the end. It would be cool to have a western hero who's smart like Sherlock Holmes but with better people skills.

There were some mixed messages with the film. John goes from a believer of justice and resolving matters without guns to being outside the law and becoming more like Batman. The film almost seemed to justify the need for groups like Anonymous to even out the balance between regular citizens and governments that are being manipulated by corporations. Of course, "sometimes piracy is the best course of action" was a constant theme in POTC.

The historian in me noticed how no one called them "Injuns". At that point in time? MOST would have called them that. However, historically accurate, this is not. Modern audiences demand modern sensibilities even in period pieces. Thus, no one uses any of the words that get Huck Finn into trouble and several characters are sympathetic to the Indians. Compare this with Back to the Future, Part 3 where "Injun" is said, Indians only appear in one scene and nothing nice is ever said of them.

And why wasn't there a decent little scene at the very end of the credits? Dammit, I know I shouldn't expect Shawarma or a dog being a cannibal king, but give us something!

I used "Native American" in the article because that's what everyone is using even though many say they prefer the term, "Indian". Sherman Alexie has not commented on the film which makes me sad. He's the one person whose opinion I would care about since I absolutely adored his "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". My mom called him a coward.

*Insert clever .gif about Anya and bunnies because it's 2 AM and I'm too tired*

And you just blew my mind with this one:

Date: 2013-07-07 08:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cassiopaya.livejournal.com
"Did you know that the Green Hornet is the Lone Ranger's great nephew? I had no idea but it makes sense. They both become sort of super heroes with the help of stereotypical minorities by their side. I learned it on IMDB because it pointed out how Tom Wilkinson is in both films. My mom didn't recognize him in this one which is pretty amazing."

Date: 2013-07-07 04:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ragnarok-08.livejournal.com
Cool article :)

Date: 2013-07-07 06:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maynardsong.livejournal.com
I'm getting serious mighty whitey vibes from the trailers of that movie which is why it has turned me off. Are there such undertones?

Date: 2013-07-07 06:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ericadawn16.livejournal.com
Now, I have to admit I can be naive about such things and don't always see things the way others do.

However, the title character is Caucasian male who is often made into a buffoon because he believes he's always right as long as he follows the law and/or John Locke.

Thus, Tonto is made into the person who's the brains of the organization and more often right than wrong.

Again and again, the movie points out how the Caucasians have been assholes to the Indians. The main villains are all Caucasians and to further make them into villains, these evil white guys dress up like Indians, Boston Tea Party style, in order to frame the Comanche and break the treaty when the Comanche are revealed to have been working hard with local law enforcement to keep their treaty intact. The same group of villains also slaughter two separate groups of Comanche during the film.

Can I tell you about the ending?

The whole point to the story was that this area is the Lone Ranger's "home" where he grew up, but by the time he's offered a chance to come back and rejoin the Caucasian society, he rejects it in favor of a more nomadic life like Tonto because the majority of Caucasians were such incredible assholes...it's not just the violence against Indians but they are also greedy about money and power. There was a lot of social commentary about how modern corporations buy laws and government so that it no longer protects the regular citizens.

But again, I don't always interpret things the way normal people do, like a lot of people refuse to watch Captain America because they say it's a movie about glorifying the US when I feel like it's a story about a man who's slowly coming to terms with how imperfect the country he loves really is and how he wishes to change that.

Date: 2013-07-07 09:04 pm (UTC)
ext_26142: (10th Doctor Certified Geek from ???)
From: [identity profile] beccadg.livejournal.com
Now, I have to admit I can be naive about such things and don't always see things the way others do.

While I haven't seen the movie, (I like spoilers, don't worry about that,) I think the fact that the Comanches made Johnny Depp an honorary member of the tribe says a lot. I don't believe they'd have done that if they'd felt the movie insulted Native Americans. Hearing the spoilers, it's even easier to see why they did it. They got to be smart tough good guys in it.

Date: 2013-07-07 07:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ericadawn16.livejournal.com
Related to the white power thing, Christianity doesn't come off well either. One of the very first things we learn about the Lone Ranger is that he thinks of law as his religion and later, the main villain insists on saying grace before a meal.

Between that and the Anti-Capitalism elements, I think the only reason that Fox News isn't trashing it like Cars 2 or The Muppets is because everyone else is trashing it for them.

Date: 2013-07-07 09:59 pm (UTC)
kilodalton: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kilodalton
Congrats on your article!

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