Identity in Thunder Heart - Essay Example

Identity in Thunder Heart Thunder Heart (1992) provides a fresh departure from other films that discuss the identity of Native Americans. The following discourse argues that the author and director rely on many Hollywood props in giving the identity of Native Americans. The film applies three tropes to justify the presentation of identity. The tropes are formation of identity, building of the other, and seizure of resident spirituality. The film, Thunder Heart, is based on the storyline of a half-Indian FBI agent. The agent is on a mission from Washington, D.C to Badlands in South Dakota to conduct investigations into the matter of an Oglala Sioux. Graham Greene, a tribal police officer, challenges the roots and attitudes of the FBI agent. The story in the film revolves around Ray Levoi, an FBI agent of mixed blood venturing in South Dakota to investigate a murder case (Edwards 22). In the process, Ray finds his Indian identity. While on his mission to solve a murder case, Ray discovers that it was an extra-judicial killing because of a scheme surrounding the mining of uranium. Henceforth, he teams up with Walter Crow Horse, a tribal police officer, and Grandpa Sam Reaches, a traditional elder. The three unite with aim of stopping the plot and conserving the environment. Throughout the film, various depictions of Native Americans take place. The depiction is a fundamental difference from the presentation by other films produced before Thunder Heart. The director sets the film in contemporary times as opposed to most films set in a changeless Indian past. Native actors also play roles designated for them with the exception of the starring character. It adds to the revelation identity in Thunder Heart. Analysis of Identity The producer uses Grandpa Reaches, Crow, Jimmy Looks Twice, and Maggie Eagle Bear to strengthen the manifestation of the Indian Identity. All the characters show substance in revealing the identity of Native Americans (Indians) in the American society. Generally, the producer and director succeed in depicting Native Americans as dynamic and complex entities. With all the humour shown by characters, they still possess familiar stereotypes associated with Indians. The film displays the relationship between Indians and whites in the US society in an exceptional manner. In so doing, Thunderheart makes the main character half-white and half Indian (Edward 19). The protagonist lives his entire life in a white-dominated society, goes on a job mission in his ancestral land (land of birth for his ancestors), and discovers his identity while on duty. Furthermore, he solves a murder case, and returns to the usual white-dominated society full of wisdom; a preserve for an Indian man considered holy. Finally, Ray enjoys life from two best but contrasting worlds; white-dominated and Indian-flavoured world. However, the former life (white-dominated) defines the latter (Indian-flavoured). Building the Other The definition of Native Americans as different from whites remains a stereotype, which is present even among the modern society. In view of Western culture, Indian as an image is alien regardless of the perception. The film concentrates on building Native Americans as the ‘others’. The first scenes of Thunderheart initiate the exoticism of Indians (Edwards 83).The sound of howling vis-a-vis a portentous landscape in South Dakota forms the start of the film. Scenes at the start of Thunderheart depict Indian males dressed in feathers and buckskins as usually stereotyped. In the scene, they are taking part in rituals. To show ritualistic behaviour; a man dances circularly while another (longhaired) holds a material resembling a plant. Movement from the scene to next is drastic, as it starts with new music against a landscape clearly urban to the audience. The first two scenes present the audience with two opposite worlds. In the process, the film creates a self vis-a-vis other classification. Ironically, the ‘other’ component of the dichotomy comes first. Shifting to the uranium reservation after brief introduction of the starring character resulted in glaring differences between the Indian occupied and white-dominated worlds. Indian militants participating in unwarranted violence and supporting the government represent the first images of dynamic Indians. On the other hand, a senior FBI detective called Frank Coutelle, alias Cooch, is the face of white-dominated identity. What readers do not understand is that he is the same Levoi. In the final part of constructing the Indian as other, Thunderheart puts bare the images of the red devil and the noble savage. Within the same narrative, the strategy deals with guilt and fear while giving a methodology that makes fiction part of the story. The film strikes a balance in offering fiction and revealing the contradictory emotions in the American society. The society splits into two factions; those supporting the government and those clinging onto traditions (Kennedy 4). The latter is reminiscent of the noble savage while the former is a reflection of the red devils. The society associates the image of a red devil with violent acts. Appropriation of Native Spirituality Native Americans are represented by images that just reveal the stereotypes in the society. Specifically, acting Indian is a common occurrence even among high school and primary school-going children. Thunderheart is among few films that present native religious rituals openly (Edwards 112). Among the rituals, the film covers the sweat lodge ceremony, the Ghost Dance, and smoking of the peace pipe as well. Initial scenes cover the Ghost Dance. It is a serious ceremony, which the tradition prohibits anyone from showing contempt to. When FBI detectives run a search looking for Jimmy Looks Twice, the main suspect in the murder case, they perform the sweat lodge ceremony. In a manner suggesting a raid in Vatican with automatic rifles, investigating agents attack people in the middle of a cleansing ceremony. As a basic identity of Native American culture, spirituality occupies a proportional part of Thunderheart. The disappearance of spirituality is the basis of the dissolution of culture as depicted in the film. Formation of Identity The film introduces the main character as an all-American male citizen. However, after the first scene, it is clear to the audience that Ray Levoi is half-Indian and half-white. Being an FBI agent, going as an undercover by changing identity is part of his routine duties. On the contrary, his boss changes rules on the new mission by directing him to go, as he is, Ray Levoi (Kennedy 9). His biggest identity crisis is reconciling his two ancestral roots. The application of three tropes to justify the presentation of identity in the film serves the film well. In the end, the film succeeds in discovering the identity of Indians (Native Americans) within the American society. In addition, it highlights some of the misconceptions that have long characterized the American society. Works Cited Edwards, Cassie. Thunderheart. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Print. Kennedy, Randall. The Civil Rights Act’s Unsung Victory: How It changed South. A journal of Harper’s Magazine, June Issue, 2014. Print. Read More