One theme that I've noticed in the last couple movies we've watched is that they seem to have some similar characters and ideas. I have noticed that in Smoke Signals and Pow Wow Highway that there are angry Indians and wise, medicine men like characters. In Smoke Signals, we see Victor as the man on a journey, who sometimes loses his temper a little bit. We also see Thomas, who is very calm, cool and collected. He never gets worked up over anything, is always there for a bit of comic relief and he keeps Victor in line. We also see these types of characters in Pow Wow Highway. Here we see Buddy Red Bow as the angry Indian with the bad temper, and we see Philbert as the wise one of the two. He may seem like just the funny one, but he's actually very smart and wise.
I know we learned a bit about the "trickster" figure a while back in class, but I feel that this is a little different. I know we might be able to see Philbert maybe as the trickster figure, but I don't see that as his main role in the film. I see him more as the balance for the Buddy Red Bow and not a lot more.
I also believe that there may be a role for the trickster figure in some Native American Films, but not always. Especially seen here in these two films, there isn't a distinct figure, but more of the Hot and Cold characters that depend on each other for their survival. I find it an interesting commonality between films.
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