Martyrs Of The Alamo: Film Analysis

Both Martyrs of the Alamo and The Alamo have trouble with how they tell the story of the Alamo. Martyrs of the Alamo does not portray Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in a very positive way, did not show very much of and demonized Santa Anna, and did not have a lot of Sam Houston. The Alamo was better about its portrayal of Mexicans; still demonized, but showed more of, Santa Anna; and included more about Sam Houston.

Martyrs of the Alamo is the earliest surviving silent film to show the battle for the Alamo. In this version, the Texans are fighting against not only a threat to their land, as the Mexicans try to remove Texan settlers from San Antonio, but also a moral threat, as the Mexicans are shown as lustful and lewd toward Anglo-American women. The negative portrayals of Mexican-Americans in Martyrs of the Alamo are very prominent. The Alamo is a extremely controversial and violent part of Mexican/American history, because they were fighting for what they both thought of as theirs. Added to this, Alamo legends often depict this battle as one between two national or racial character types. The film definitely shows negativity, because the main obstacle of the film is the treatment of Texan women by Mexican men. The movie says, “Under the dictator’s rule the honor and life of American womanhood was held in

In Martyrs of the Alamo, Santa Anna is demonized when he is portrayed as merciless and cruel towards anyone that tries to go against him. A good example of this is his movement of Calvary men behind his foot soldiers to prevent them from going backwards with the threat of death. Another attempt to demonize him is before the battle of San Jacinto when he is shown drugged up in a tent full of females dancing. This behavior leads to his being found cowardly crouching in a bush, his defeat, and his forced signing of a document to recognize Texas' freedom and