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April 8, 2019 at 2:58 pm #1373Gabrielle EspositoParticipant
You bring up an interesting point about Wind River and the “hero” figure. I think that since this movie is dealing with difficult subjects such as rape and murder, the expectation of a “hero” is going to be challenged. Cory doesn’t bring Pete to justice in the conventional way, but there is something horrifically satisfying about seeing Pete die in the same fashion as Natalie–a kind of poetic justice. “There is no legal punishment that would ever satisfy Natalie’s death” appears to be the message in Cory’s motivation for letting Pete drown in his own blood. I think Cory is the hero that the legal system cannot be, which in my opinion makes him the kind of person who is heroic in the fact that he accomplishes what others cannot. Not many people would be able to submit people to fate like Pete’s but Cory does for the sake of bringing Natalie’s father peace.
I do agree with you that Jane isn’t too heroic. She does dispel the tension during the possible shootout, but I think her greatest disadvantage is simply the fact that she isn’t familiar with Wyoming’s Indian reservation. As a result, Cory is often leading Jane. There is the visual element of Cory driving Jane up the mountain while she sits behind him, a possible visual symbolism that suggests Cory has a larger role to play than Jane. She seems to learning constantly throughout the movie, first with Cory’s fact about what happens to lungs in cold weather, and then the fact that she is shot because she learns too late that someone is in the trailer. Jane is never really sure of herself, whereas Cory is confident, able to lead, and knows many things about the potential tragedies Wyoming holds that Jane doesn’t. Jane comes off as an outsider reliant on Cory, and not a hero.
February 17, 2019 at 9:51 pm #1304Gabrielle EspositoParticipantAlthough Rick is in many ways a selfless hero, this aspect of him is more apparent towards the end of Casablanca. There is no doubt that Rick letting Laszlo leave with Ilsa, the woman he loves, was a selfless act, one that personally made me feel sorry for him given the state of Casablanca during the war and because of how much he loved Ilsa. But in the beginning of the film, I wasn’t impressed with him mostly because of the way he treated women. The rejection of Yvonne is somewhat a powerplay; Renault goes as far as to call him “extravagant” because he rejected Yvonne. There’s also the curious line of dialogue when Rick asks Sam to play “As Time Goes By,” saying that if Ilsa “can stand it, so can I,” which in part implies that Rick is slightly threatened by Ilsa’s emotional strength because she can stomach the song that brings up terrible memories. He seems like a jaded man, but in the end, I think that he does redeem himself by allowing Ilsa and Laszlo to get on the plane. Rick’s actions demonstrate strong character change, and make the viewer all the more sympathetic for him when he’s left in Casablanca because he’s demonstrated humanity.
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