Masquerade

Redskin was one of the best movies we have seen so far. Beside the great action, which reminded me a little of free running, it had a great theme. This theme shows its evidence throughout the film, in multiple ways over the course of the film’s timeline. The story is one of separation. Our hero of the film, who looks very Italian, is the chief’s son, Wing Foot, goes through many incarnations of separation. The first is the physical separation between himself and his parents. But when the white man comes to take him away, he is not just separating him from his parents but his tribe, his identity. We somewhat define ourselves based on the people we are constantly around, and he was forced to live away from them all. When at this school, more like an institution, he is again physically forced from his heritage. The first act of this crude American baptism is the replacing his Navajo “costume” ( the word they use for what the Native’s wear instead of clothes, which is what they use for the white’s) and replaced by western clothing. Clothing is a huge part of this film. Clothing is how everyone defines themselves, and those around them, but more on that in a second. Another symbolic act was the separation of his hair. They cut his long dark hair into some cruel bowl-cut, another forced assimilation. But as the years progress so does his attachment to the heroine of the story, Corn Blossom. And when she is forced to go back home by a false letter of her mother’s eminent death, Wing Foot is once again forced with separation. But like all separation in this film he is eventually reunited once again. His first reunion was with his father and tribe. And judging based completely on Wing Foot’s clothes, his father and the rest of the tribe believe he has abandoned his heritage. Only does his grandmother, who is nearly blind, accept him. And only after she has replaced his western clothes to ones more fitting of a chief’s son, does his father and tribe accept him. He later goes after Corn Blossom who is being forced to marry someone else. They are reunited as well.
Straying a bit from the topic I found another theme that, also, seems a little obvious, and one I have seen in another movie, Babel. The simple idea that if we just listen to each other we can get along. Redskin deals with Native and White relations, as well as Native to other tribe relationships. And once again I am reminded of separation. We don’t need separation between anything. Whether it be our lady, family, culture, or anyone else’s based solely on appearance, or for any other reason for that matter. We break this divide, this line, with education, and I think in a small way, that is what this film was about. He wouldn’t have been able to unite two tribes, and benefit his own without the best education. We just need to listen and learn.