The film Medicine River was in many ways directed towards both
the Native American audience as well as the general audience. Any audience could find scenarios in the
movie to relate too. I’ll admit that it wasn’t
the most exciting movie, but I could find a couple scenes to connect with. I believe a general audience would be able to
understand it since it was very well laid out and it centered Will, the main character,
submerged in the city. But on the other hand, the storyline contained a lot of
struggles regarding his Native American culture which I can’t see holding much
interest to the general audience. He
often reflects back on times on the reservation with his mother. It built onto the idea that to him, his
culture meant a lot to him that he never wanted to let go. Because Native American traditions have faded
over time, I feel as if they try to keep within the race. His feelings seemed to be divided between the
white girl and the Indian but you could tell he sided more with the one of his
ethnicity. She would constantly tell him
she doesn’t want him, but that didn’t stop him from coming to see her when she
had her baby or helping her out in other ways.
Over all, when you dig deeper into the movie, you can really see the
truth behind what’s being shown.
I think you bring up an interesting point in terms of who is the audience for these works. Clearly, a general, that is white, audience would find many elements of the novel and film boring, for the mere fact that they call on experiences the white population does not have. Though it can still be appreciated by others, these works are made by Native Americans to speak to other Native Americans, in the modified medium that is "story-telling."
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of the same opinions that you did on this movie! I really believed that the movie was made for both a general and a Native American audience. Each group could relate to different stories in the movie. Nice job!
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