Textual Poaching - The Single Male

Artist’s statement

The idea for this project was the first to really take any clear form in my head upon reviewing the assignment description for this “textual poaching.”

I like the film, “How the West Was Won”, but not because of the writing.  I find the dialogue to be the biggest weakness of a film that is great in so many ways.  What I find particularly troubling is the way the genders are represented in many instances.  In the case of the males, there is a certain chauvinistic, male-dominant theme present in many of the characters.  The most awkward of all these men is the lonesome wagon train captain, Mr. Morgan.  Like me, he is a single man.  However, he is also an unfortunate example of how not to interact with women.  I chose to highlight his atrocious lack of tact by inserting some sound and video clips during his conversation with Miss Prescott.  I used a moment from the film as well as some clips I found online that express surprise and disgust with the advances he makes on the poor lady. 

First, I liked the fact that Miss Prescott actually whips Mr. Morgan during their first encounter.  I felt that this violent reaction was rather fitting to the encounter by the creek later on.  Men shouldn’t say things to women like Mr. Morgan says.  “Why for you, child bearing would come as easy as rolling off a log,” he says.  Why would you begin a conversation like that?  I feel like he shows little or no respect for Miss Prescott as a person and sees her more as a baby factory.  The film doesn’t do an adequate job of portraying how weird and awkward he really is.   

After I posted the video on Facebook, I got less feedback than I hoped for.  It received six "likes" and an equal number of comments.  Most of the comments were unhelpful things such as, "hilarious," "loved it," and "hahahahaaa".  The most valuable feedback came in the form of this phrase, "That's awesome!!  Especially the reworking of the whip!"  People seemed to enjoy the humor of the piece, but  I don't know how well they understood the assignment.  I addressed a slight formatting issue noted by one friend and uploaded the slightly revised version to YouTube.  That's the version linked herein.

As a single man, I empathize with the captain’s desire for companionship, but I am very much appalled by the manner in which he seeks to obtain said companionship.  This representation is an embarrassment to decent men everywhere.