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  • Essay / John Wayne's depiction of heroic figures during the Mexican-American War, depicted in his film The Alamo

    The Mexican-American War was an important period for the United States and especially for the Republic of Texas. However, thousands of lives were lost in this war; it was not in vain. After spending a very long period of fighting, peace was made between the two sides, creating the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In the film Alamo, directed by John Wayne, we were able to get an idea of ​​what war could be like. Although not 100% accurate, this film is still one of the few historically accurate films. Topics such as slavery, gender roles and stereotypes were explored in this highly successful influential film. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The film depicts the events of the Battle of the Alamo and the events leading up to it. We are introduced to another larger-than-life character, Davey Crockett, who resembles The Patriot's protagonist, Benjamin Martin. However, we learn that a hero is not necessarily always a single person but can sometimes be a group of individuals. These larger-than-life figures are essentially how the Greeks introduced the ideas of epic characters. These epic characters are characters capable of suffering personal loss and coming back stronger than ever. In the film, we saw characters like Travis, who took charge of defending the Alamo, giving others the chance to leave. However, several characters are ready to leave but Travis manages to inspire them once again by convincing everyone to stay. This is similar to the scene in The Patriot, when the militia families are attacked and Ben gives everyone the chance to leave. We see this spark of patriotism arise, which is the way American films want to present the winning sides. For the most part, Travis is sadly taken down, but the others continue to fight. This doesn't necessarily avoid the fact that there was some power tension between three of the protagonists, but they nonetheless managed to put their differences aside for the better of their people. Throughout the film, we were exposed to many stereotypes of how Mexicans were. depicted. For example, Mexicans were described as a very exotic people. In one scene, a Mexican girl was dancing on the table while dancing salsa. If one has prior knowledge of Mexican culture, one knows that the Spanish were more interested in salsa dancing. However, due to many prejudices in cinema at the time, directors did not really pay attention to the historical and cultural aspects of Mexicans. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Nonetheless, it was a very powerful film. Although it is over three hours long, it managed to capture the aesthetic of what was really happening at the time. Beyond the stereotypes of Mexicans, we were still able to get a good idea of ​​the historical aspect of the war. The epic characters were well represented and this film showed a perfect example that not all heroes are alone, but there can also be many..