Sunday, April 15, 2012
Unforgiven Good vs Evil?
I feel like Unforgiven is related to Runaway Train with the lack of a "good vs evil" theme. Just like in Runaway Train where Manny and Rankin arent neccessarily good or evil, in Unforgiven Will Munny can also be considered neutral. Little Bill is the sheriff and typically it is a valid assumption that anyone that opposes a sheriff can be considered "evil". There are also many stories of Will Munny's past which would suggest that he isnt a "good" character. And now he is off to kill some men for money. However you also have to take into consideration that the story Will Munny was told, was severely exaggerated. He finally decided that he has to kill the men , so that he can claim the money and support his kids. So on one hand you have a guy who is willing to kill for money. But on the other hand you have someone who is willing to do something more extreme if it allows him to support his kids. It is impossible to say whether he is "good or evil". Little Bill also has a somewhat shady appearance. Although generally he is the "good guy", he has some debatable actions. For example, when he disarmed English Bob only beat him up the next minute. Beating up someone thats unarmed isnt exactly an action a typical "hero" would perform. However on the other hand he was trying to make an example of him so that more people will not come to claim the reward and kill the two men. It does not explain his action at the prison though. He told English Bob that if he shoots him, he can go free. However in reality he just wanted a reason to shoot English Bob instead. Giving someone a weapon, so that you can kill them is not an action a "hero" would perform either. I feel no character in Unforgiven can be classified as Good or Evil. All the other characters are "allied" with either Will Munny or Little Bill. If Neither of the two characters are good or bad, then certainly their allies can not be refferred to as good or bad as well.
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This is an excellent meditation on the relative moral stance of the main characters. I'll be interested to hear your take after we finish the film. The ending is excellent.
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