The Searchers: From Novel to Screenplay

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Ideology

The Position of Race

The Searchers was released in the 1950's, a period in American history that is related to the changing social thought of racial barriers. It is during this time that the political realm saw a growing civil rights movement. Many films of the 1950's represented this through the western genre. Miller (2001) notes that, "Previous decades had seen a slow but persistent dismantling of racial barriers, decisions helped in part by scientific debunking of racial myths - most commonly that race in and of itself determined a people's mental and temperamental characteristics" (Miller 2001: 315). It is during this time that the views were slowly changing but Hollywood "could not afford to alienate its mainstream audience"(Miller 2001: 315). Therefore, The Searchers is presented in a racial and discriminative manner.

This ideology is present within the many themes and plots surrounding the characters. The idea of miscegenation, that is, the interbreeding of races, is a central concern of the film and novel. The threat of the Indians not only killing the 'civilized white people' but also raping them instead, offers a view that the authors portray as a central problem to the film. This is evident form the outset when the Indians capture Debbie, a white civilized girl. The audience attributes this to ideas of miscegenation, as Debbie takes on the characteristics of the Indians. She is transformed into looking like an Indian, with paint on her face, leaving the audience unaware of what has happened to her. Debbie refers to the Indians as 'her people' and makes no claim that she is of a different race. Pye (1996) notes, "…there is too much dangerous, repressed, sensitive material being dealt with, material, that it, about inter-racial sexuality" (Pye 1996: 232). It is this inter-racial sexuality that The Searchers uses to convey the message of miscegenation to the audience.

 

John Wayne "The Searchers" (gerber.iwarp.com)

Justin De Clercq

 

 

 

Justin De Clercq