1. Introduction In his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, President Obama defines the essential qualities that together have created modern America: Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead. I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity (Obama). Hope and opportunity, or rather, hope of opportunity, were and are the fundamental principles that have formed and are still forming America today. President Obama iterates a common idea among Americans—that perseverance and hard work will breed eventual success, opportunity, and social mobility. Although these ideas represent a more modern, colloquial identification with the current cultural, political, and social state in America—a nation of progress and equality, they also reflect the ideas of the frontier on American development, as presented in Frederick Jackson Turner’s piece, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” Turner argues that the ideas of “hope” and “opportunity” originate in American expansionism on the frontier. He claims that the frontier was the place of social development, representing a “perennial rebirth” that “furnish[ed] the forces dominating American character” (Turner 2). 2. Claim Turner’s thesis continues to operate as a mystified portrayal of the Western frontier, a place he claims is full of prosperity, opportunity, and equality—the cornerstone of American development. Even President Obama, in defining hope as “a belief in things not seen,” offers a case for the frontier’s mystified existence in modern culture—that America is still pursuing things yet to be discovered. While Turner provides a positive perspective on the American frontier, other works have conflicting readings. Specifically, competing works challenge Turner’s idea that the frontier was a place of “perennial rebirth.” They in fact conclude that American expansionism on the frontier was not the place of positive enlightenment, but rather a brutal destruction and stark contradiction to the very ideals that people have come to define as the United States. This paper, through a comparative analysis of David Milch’s television series Deadwood and Kevin Costner’s 1990 film Dances with Wolves, will articulate a case for the aforementioned claim in order to demystify an essential component of Turner’s thesis regarding the portrayal of the frontier and its impact on American development. It will first discuss the depiction of the frontier in Deadwood and then move onto Costner’s work, Dances with Wolves. Film analysis will be analyzed with two focuses in mind: 1) film narrative—that is, the dialogue of the film, and 2) film text—that is, the film’s cinematic language. This paper will then proceed to compare the motivations behind each work and provide a conclusion on the implications of such a reading. 3. Deadwood In David Milch’s imagined frontier, the language of the frontiersmen and women provide a distinct contradiction with Turner’s perceived frontier. Within the first twenty minutes of the Deadwood series’ opener, crude language is thrown around loosely. The frontier is a rough and raw place, a place not for a family, but rather, a place for gangsters, dirty businessmen, and people who want to escape the law. The streets are filled with prostitutes, bars, drunken men, crooks, and gangsters. On this frontier, nothing is clean—nothing is pure. The language is emblematic of this kind of culture, a living symbol of the nature of the frontier Milch explores in his television series. I'll tell you what. I may a fucked my life up flatter than hammered shit, but I stand here before you today beholden to no human cocksucker. And workin' a payin' fuckin' gold claim. And not the U.S. government sayin' I'm tresspassin' or the savage fuckin' red man himself or any of these limber dick cocksuckers passin' themselves off as prospectors had better try and stop me (Milch). This is Deadwood, a place without law, government, and morals. In this passage, Ellsworth reveals four major qualities of this frontier: 1) the people’s motivations to settle on the frontier are purely economic, 2) government did not and should not exist, 3) the Native American population is a present threat, and 4) settlers are competitors for the same land and thus denoted as “cocksuckers.” These four ideas seem far from the ideas of Turner’s “rebirth” or social development. In fact, the frontier is a place that denies labor, equal opportunity, and positive competitiveness. Perhaps even scarier is the troubling message Milch provides viewers—that the “rebirth” on the frontier was not progress at all, but rather, a step backwards from the original direction of American development. While Turner does claim that this “perennial rebirth” involves a period of transition into more primitive means of existence which he defines as adopting Indian ways, the Deadwood television series highlights the inconsistencies in Turner’s conclusion. In one scene, a local bar owner discusses business with a doctor in town. The room is filled with pregnant prostitutes who are gathering for their weekly checkup. This scene does not support the notion expressed by Turner. Instead, it shows that the frontier was a destruction of moral values, an idea far from the idealized progression Turner claims. 4. Dances with Wolves While Deadwood provides a gritty depiction of the frontier after settlement, Costner’s Dances with Wolves shows the deterioration of a land once unsullied by white settlers. The land is a peaceful place, a place where the protagonist journeys in order to find his own identity. The cinematography captures the landscapes’ beauty, emphasizing the ability of Native Americans to live harmoniously with nature, a concept seemingly unknown by their white neighbors. The natives are peaceful and inquisitive. They are not belligerent savages Turner would have readers believe. In fact, Costner reveals the true savage through wonderfully written non-diagetic reflections by the protagonist: Who would do such a thing? The field was proof enough that it was a people without value and without soul, with no regard for Sioux rights. The wagon tracks leading away led little doubt and my heart sank as I knew it could only be white hunters (Dances with Wolves). The question that the protagonist proposes to himself is also one that Costner proposes to viewers. This specific passage follows an immensely emotional shot of skinned buffalo strewn across the prairie, their red skin blaringly contrasted with the green grass behind them. Here, Costner notes two interesting things; hunters are a people without value and soul: two essential qualities for hope, opportunity, and progress—for American social development. Interestingly, however, the protagonist has his “rebirth.” He says: “I never knew who John Dunbar was. Perhaps the name itself had no meaning. But as I heard my Sioux name being called over and over, I knew for the first time who I really was” (Dances with Wolves). Here, Costner offers a different conclusion—that the frontier represents a “rebirth” that should occur internally, and that this “rebirth” did not take place on the frontier, but rather with an appreciation and acceptance of the Native American culture. This is what Costner believes is an expression of Americanism, a movement towards equality, progress, and opportunity for all—even Native Americans. This internal transformation is the roots of America. 5. Conclusion Although these two works differ in their expression of the frontier, they demystify the proposed frontier that Turner offers. The frontier in both examples was not a place of progress or American development. Rather, it was a place of destruction, loss, and defilement—qualities contradictory to the identified foundation of America. It was dirty, crude, and lawless. There was little hope of opportunity in either case and the glimpse of this hope was surprisingly found in the untouched lands of the West. The frontier, thus, should not serve as an icon of hope and progress, but rather a reminder of the atrocities committed by American settlers and the selfish, violent, and oppressive nature of white authority. It is a reminder to us all that the only frontier we should seek to cross is the one within ourselves. Works Cited Dances with Wolves. Dir. Kevin Costner. Prod. Kevin Costner. By Michael Blake. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, and Graham Greene. Orion Pictures, 1990. Milch, David. "Deadwood." Deadwood. HBO. N.d. Television. Obama, Barack. "Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention." Democratic National Convention. Boston. Address. Turner, Frederick Jackson. The Significance of the Frontier in American History. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1920. Print.
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