White Heroism In The Searchers

White hero phenomenon has been the core in mostly every Western movie. John Wayne, the symbol of Western buckaroo hero, in The Searchers is the one to portray white heroism. In the movie, John Wayne acts as Ethan Edwards who is the western savior to protect the whole family; whereas, he is also the outlaw in the wild west who hunt down Native Americans. Ethan’s white heroic theme in the movie was built up by mise en scène’s costumes, character blocking, camera works, sound’s non-diegetic music, and the wild west settings. In the sequence, The Searchers presented a parallel image of Ethan, the courageous buckaroo, deciding not to enter the door compare to the opening scene of the film; whereas, he walks into the house that triggers the entire

Riding on the horses, Ethan and the other members enter the frame for the first time in this sequence. The continuous non-diegetic background music has changed its instrument from trumpets to violins. This is a transition which works with editing because the violins’ rhythm creates the emotion of certainty that they see the “hero” returns back home peacefully. Thus, this music became another outstanding transition to edit to the next shot; additionally, to visibly observe Ethan’s return. Although this second shot was to give the audience the images to interpret hero’s comeback, but also illustrates the danger of the infinite western dessert that the Indians will also be hunting for white people. The Searchers is review critically by different races since the “white hero” value runs through the entire film. The wild west settings contains numerous uncertainties and hazards. In this shot, the horses searching food from the dust but peacefully gives the viewers the idea of the harsh living environment; whereas, the saviors survive under the Indians dusty