#dances with Wolves

[dulcemapis]

after work doodles, half of a charthur kiss, and a repaint of a still from dances with wolves

(clear version of the charthur hand hold under the cut)

[elliehopaunt]

I can't quit laughing.

[verypersonalscreencaps]

MARY MCDONNELL as Stands With A Fist DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990, dir. Kevin Costner)

[filmjunky-99]

d a n c e s w i t h w o l v e s, 1990 🎬 dir. kevin costner

'How is Dances With Wolves?' - black shawl

'What do you mean?' - stands with a fist

'How is he learning?' - black shawl

'He learns well... he is fast.' - stands with a fist

[leam1983]

Lisan al-Ghaib

The Hellsite has a thing against White Savior narratives, and for good reason. The idea that general-purpose Natives have some elixir for mindfulness, mental health or even sociopolitical stability is nothing new. It's as tokenistic as you think if you take it at face value, but I think the more classic examples in the genre like Dances With Wolves or, God forbid, Avatar (a revised copy of the previous title, in many ways) tend to focus on something that's a smidge more positive - namely in that the Other - not the Noble Savage, so much as someone with an entirely external perspective - has the power to help us progress. A very debatable posture.

In effect, the classic examples in the genre contend that it's not really about "saving the Natives" or even becoming their saviour, but rather about the unformed or troubled protagonist finding themselves thanks to the Natives' input. I've always thought that Wolves' Sioux never needed Dunbar, Dunbar needed them. The Na'vi never needed Jake Sully, some other member of the People would've eventually filled in the blanks and become Toruk Makto. Instead, Jake Sully needed the Na'vi to fix himself. There's nothing magical there, despite the First Nations spiritualism that mostly coats the genre, ripped out of its context and sort of propped up the same way mindfulness is now pulled out of its own context and served up to the masses, as if living with a little anxiety or stress were somehow a symptom for something more insidious. The world forgot Herbert's object lesson, and suggested that for some people, especially damaged goods, the only way to find purpose is to subsume yourself in another culture. You emerge as the saviour, kill the monster, and fulfill your role in the story.

Taking up someone else's problems to fix yourself isn't an actual solution; I think any two-bit psychologist could tell you that. Even if Dunbar and Sully emerge whole and healed from their own tales, they're behavioural abnormalities. Power doesn't allow you to stay humble. Power corrupts.

Ask Shaddad. Ask the Bene Gesserit. Ask the Harkonnens, who never saw their end coming.

Back when Frank Herbert first wrote Dune, Eastern mysticism was taking off much in the same way we're seeing meditation and yoga. He pulled an interesting bait-and-switch in showing us a protagonist who seemed set to go from a mostly nameless aristocrat to your typical conquering hero - but he realized that some faiths can be noxious. Some currents can twist the mind. After all, Paul Atreides' own story addresses the fact that he comes to align with fundamentalists, and does so willingly.

In many ways, George Lucas tried to play the same melody with Anakin Skywalker being set up as the Force's hero, only for the will of the Galaxy to be made manifest through his son, instead. The problem is, unlike Herbert, Lucas lacks subtlety. The danger of messianic thinking more or less deserves a dream-state vignette on Dagobah, where Luke beheads Vader and sees his own face in the depths of his father's mask. Herbert, in comparison, makes those fears concrete. Paul was on shaky ground the moment he embraced the moniker of Muad'Dib, and slipped into something I might as well call psychosis, after drinking the Waters of Life.

Chani lost the man she fell in love with. Paul Atreides lost himself.

White Savior narratives aren't meant to be seen as the Civilized Man saving the day. They're meant to be seen as an outsider protagonist needing an external point of view to face the abyss, more or less.

If you're an optimist, the protagonist is thankful for the wisdom he's received and plays his part, not for prophecy or for Ego - but for basic care and consideration. Consider Shogun's Blackthorne, by the end of the series. He wasn't one to calculate his next move - he's clearly a man of passion. Japan gave him something to hold onto - and then squeezed around him like a vice made up of niceties and political manoeuvring. Yoshii Toranaga, on the other hand, is the chess player. Blackthorne's fate is the grimmest of the brighter ends of the White Savior genre. He didn't save anyone or anything; he merely proved useful.

If you're a pessimist, you turn to Dune or to any of your local Fire-and-Brimstone preachers.

Considering, when I hear the Hellsite dismiss Dune as just another story written by a White guy about some other White guy saving some vaguely Middle-Eastern-coded people; that tells me a lot of armchair critics haven't picked up the books or watched the movies.

If anything, Dune's very premise gives reason to those of you who decry Colonialist rhetoric. Dune isn't just a seminal science-fiction classic; it's also a warning about what happens when faith goes haywire, and of what happens when the balance of power tips in the worst direction possible.

[annemarieyeretzian]

Things I was grateful for in May 2024: Marathoning the original Star Wars trilogy, Rogue One: A Star Wars story, ColourPop’s Star Wars eyeshadow palette, The Book of Boba Fett soundtracks, a funny bumper sticker, Tony’s Chocolonely, Sprinkles’ lemon meringue cupcake, Artelice Pâtisserie, a trip to The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, LUSH Tofu shampoo, Violet Cream conditioner, Goddess bath bomb, Cucumber eye pads, and Herbalism cleanser, Dorian Storm’s (and Robbie Daymond’s!) return to Critical Role, and movie nights with my friend Robby.

[moorestreepmcdonnell]

Mary gracing us with her lovely presence on her Instagram  🤩

[angelx1992]

[justanothercatastrophe]

having rewatched dances with wolves, i can conclude that john dunbar is a lovable idiot. examples:

him almost shooting his horse because he thought it was an intruder

him accidentally knocking himself out on the doorframe

him making coffee for the lakota (idk he's just giving silly vibes the entire scene)

him asking stands with a fist whether she's married when its pretty obvious that her husband died

him trying to ask the lakota if they were hunting bison by putting his jacket up his shirt and rolling on the ground

him.

[megahorous]

Poison abandons Roxy in the woods for embarrassing her in front of Linda !

[bodie-r-hart]

The World of Cinema

[beastblade69]

DONEEEEEEE. in like 4 hours?? that was pretty quick

[elliehopaunt]

Her.

[watchlist-poll]

Wikipedia link

Letterboxd link

[filmjunky-99]

d a n c e s w i t h w o l v e s, 1990 🎬 dir. kevin costner Graham Greene (Kicking Bird)

[virtie333]

Whoops. I fell down the Thunderheart rabbit hole. This and Dances with Wolves were both filmed near my home, so they are both very dear to me.