Captive Subjects: Point of View and Initiation in Hombre

FREDERIC REMINGTON FREDERIC RtMINGTON ARTIST OF TUt WtST ARTIST OF THt WIST ia • i i h i ' • • • '• « ' Harley Brown. INDIAN FIGURE—FOR "PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY." 1985. Pen and ink on fifteen 1961 four-cent postage stamps celebrating Frederic Remington as Artist of the West. 53 4"x5". Reprinted with permission of the artist. Photo courtesy of Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ, and Santa Fe, NM. C a p t i v e S u b j e c t s : p o i n t o f V ie w a n d I n i t i a t i o n in Hombre M a t t W a n a t The following essay illustrates the reciprocal insights among existing theories of film spectatorship, critical attention to cultural contexts, and coming-of-age plots in the Western. From Little Joe to Laura Ingalls Wilder and from Shane (1953) to The Shootist (1976), the television and film Western, like the literary Western, has shown substantial interest in young initiates for whom the events of the plot become synonymous with the lessons of life.1O f particular importance to the Western’s narra­ tive structure and strategies are initiates’ points of view regarding heroic events. Because of its well-established emphasis upon point-of-view editing, film theory can help us better understand the points of view of initiates and their narrative and ideological effects. Film theory has long debated the relationship between point-of-view editing and ideology, and criticism of the Western has focused on the ideological myths of the genre. However, neither film theorists nor critics of the Western have adequately explored the position of the initiate in the politics of the film Western. The following essay looks at the relationship among point of view, initiation, and ideology in Martin Ritt’s film Hombre (1967), a particularly rich example of the possibilities and contradictions of sociopolitical revisionism in the Western. Because I believe the initiate’s point of view is formally and politi­ cally complex, this essay explores Hombre in some narrative and ideo­ logical detail rather than surveying the countless examples of initiation in the genre. Nevertheless, even a cursory list of titles from television and feature film illustrates the importance of the initiate to the Western:2 Television: Fury (1955-1960), The Rifleman (1958-1963), Rawhide (1959-1966), Bonanza (1959-1973), The Big Valley (1965-1969), The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967-1969), and Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983). Feature Film: Red River (1948), Shane (1953), The Searchers (1956), The Tin Star (1957), Rio Bravo (1959), Ride the High Country (1962), Hud (1963), Major Dundee (1965), El Dorado (1966), Hombre (1967), True Grit (1969), Little Big Man (1970), The Last Picture Show (1971), Bigjake (1971), When the Legends Die (1972), The Cowboys (1972), The Shootist (1976), Mad M ax 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Pale Rider (1985), Young Guns W e s t e r n A m e r ic a n L it e r a t u r e 43.3 (F a l l 2008): 2 7 9 -3 0 4 2 8 0 W e s t e r n A m e r ic a n L it e r a t u r e F a l l 2 0 0 8 (1988), and Unforgiven (1992). This partial list speaks to the centrality of coming-of-age plots to the genre through a variety of initiates— mostly male but some female, mostly white but some Native American, and mostly young but some immature twentysomethings.3 If only for the per­ vasiveness of coming-of-age plots, the time has come to study the initiate more carefully. The initiate of Hombre is older than most, but his immaturity is exag­ gerated. More important, the initiate simultaneously comes of age and comes to understand cultural difference. Hombre is one of a number of Western films that explore racism though white subjectivity. These films include John Ford’s Sergeant Rutledge (1960), Martin Ritt’s The Outrage (1964), Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man (1970), Ralph Nelson’s Soldier Blue (1970), Stuart Millar’s When the...