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<blockquote data-quote="The Grumpy Celt" data-source="post: 3045064" data-attributes="member: 1019">Seeing all the talk about the “white man makes a better Indian/Samurai/Whatever than do the real Indians/Samurais/Whatever” made me think…How often has that actually happened?In Little Big Man, Brimshack and Ed_Laprade make a good case whether or not the Hoffman character does “prove himself,” and if so, to what degree.In Dances With Wolves, the Costner character does not “save” the Indians. While he does make himself useful during a buffalo hunt and during a skirmish, it is the Indians who have to save him from the white soldiers.That said, the relationship Cruise’ character in Last Samurai had with the Japanese characters was hard to swallow and the final speech by the Japanese Emperor was almost saccharine. The movie was only bearable due to the visuals and Ken Watanabe’s performance.In a similar vein is the forthcoming Pathfinder, which according to IMDB.com is about: A Viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he (as played by Karl Urban) ultimately becomes their savoir in a fight against the Norsemen. If I go see it, it will be for the visual special. And possibly women in leather.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Grumpy Celt, post: 3045064, member: 1019"] Seeing all the talk about the “white man makes a better Indian/Samurai/Whatever than do the real Indians/Samurais/Whatever” made me think… How often has that actually happened? In [i]Little Big Man,[/i] Brimshack and Ed_Laprade make a good case whether or not the Hoffman character does “prove himself,” and if so, to what degree. In [i]Dances With Wolves,[/i] the Costner character does not “save” the Indians. While he does make himself useful during a buffalo hunt and during a skirmish, it is the Indians who have to save him from the white soldiers. That said, the relationship Cruise’ character in [i]Last Samurai[/i] had with the Japanese characters was hard to swallow and the final speech by the Japanese Emperor was almost saccharine. The movie was only bearable due to the visuals and Ken Watanabe’s performance. In a similar vein is the forthcoming [i]Pathfinder[/i], which according to IMDB.com is about: A Viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he (as played by Karl Urban) ultimately becomes their savoir in a fight against the Norsemen. If I go see it, it will be for the visual special. And possibly women in leather. [/QUOTE]

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