Dances with Wolves Directed By: Kevin Costner


I chose to go to see "Dances with Wolves" which was directed by actor Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner was the main character of this movie. He played as a Lieutenant named John Dunbar. Dunbar was dubbed a hero after he accidentally led Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requested a position on the western frontier, but found it deserted. He later found out he was not alone, but meets a wolf he calls it "Two-socks." Dunbar then meets a curious Indian tribe. Dunbar quickly made friends with the tribe, and discovered a white woman who was raised by the Indians. He gradually earned their respect of the native people, and disregarded his white-man's culture.

Having been sent to a remote outpost in the wilderness of the Dakota territory during the American Civil War, Lieutenant John Dunbar encounters, and is eventually accepted into, the local Sioux tribe. He is known as "Dances with Wolves" to them and as time passes he becomes enamored by the beautiful "Stands with a Fist". Not soon after, the frontier becomes the frontier no more, and as the army advances on the plains, John must make a decision that will not only affect him, but also the lives of the natives he now calls his people.

This movie depicted the Indians in an unstereotypical way. White Americans during that time thought of the Indians as beggars, savages, and thieves. White men took over other people’s land and killed the buffalo for only game. I know that a lot of people have misunderstood, mistreated, or misjudged someone in their lifetime. All people are worthy of respect, you cannot just judge by first instinct or by what others say. Americans back then were small minded, revengeful, prejudiced, and swayed by rumor very easily.

Everyone in the world has to make a first impression on something new, sometimes it is a bad impression and they assume that you are always like that or that’s how you view everything. Whether you make a good impression or bad impression everyone is worthy of respect. You can’t just hate somebody just because how they act, and this is exactly what the Americans did. Many people have thought of someone in a certain way including myself, after you make those actions you look back and really think about it and how you had no right to do whatever you did. September 11th had a huge impact on the Middle Eastern people, many Americans depicted Arabs in a wrong manner. Just because a select few people did the wrong thing, doesn’t mean that everyone in their culture is one of them. Stereotyping is the one of the worst traits that Americans possess. In the movie John Dunbar was almost the near opposite of the average person back then. He took the time to understand what these Indians were really like. It turns out that they were extremely friendly and very helpful. The average American would kill John Dunbar for being a traitor even though he was one of them. Nobody takes the time to take in what people have to say over a period of time, they jump to conclusions. If everyone in the world acted as John Dunbar did the world would be such a better place. People keep talking about the bad of someone more than the good and that is all that spreads throughout the country. They don’t emphasize on the good traits, they tell the bad and only the bad even though these people have a lot of good in them.

The Indians were very good people and John Dunbar took the best of the American traits and put them all to use. In the end I’m sure he thought happy even though his own country would not accept him for John Dunbar, they looked at him as an enemy and only an enemy. The Americans did not take the time to compromise with the Indians; they kept shuffling them around like a deck of cards and throwing them wherever there was land and no food. If the Americans would have talked to the Indians they could have sorted it all out and the world would be a better place because of it. If only everyone could be like John Dunbar was this world would be nearly perfect. I know that nobody can do that though because you say you can but you do not follow it forever, because rumors change your mind in a heart beat.