Short Film discussion post

Address three of the following questions. You may also take the conversation in new directions. Be sure to apply concepts and vocabulary studied in this week's reading and to respond to at least one other student's original post. 

1. Most Westerns deal with the issue or justice, crime, punishment and order versus chaos. The Ox-Bow Incident is no exception. There are several conversations where various characters are making comments or offering their ideas about how justice should work or what it is and isn’t. There are, of course, also actions that point to an “understanding” of justice (you may not necessarily agree with this understanding). Ultimately, what do you think the movie is saying about how justice does and does not work? Use specific examples and characters as you respond.


2. The posse decides early on that lynching is the best way to handle the suspects. We get several shots of the rope/ropes. What is the impact of seeing the rope/ropes? Consider the time period when this story is set: 1885. Historically, what role does lynching begin to have in our country during that time and beyond? You might want to consider what Revered Sparks (the only black character) says about lynching. Also, comment on why the posse would have chosen lynching over another form of execution? 


3. Westerns have a tradition of using stories, rumors, hearsay and a person’s reported reputation to propel plot lines. A character will tell a story about another or himself/herself or rely solely on reputation of another in order to form a judgment about that person (of course, we all do that to some extent—however, it is taken a bit to the extreme in the western genre). During the time when most westerns are set, forms of communication beyond stories are rare. So the spoken word

and a form of what we might call tall-tales became a way to convey information—often largely inaccurate but powerful in its telling. There are several examples in The Ox-Bow Incident of how a rumor or a story about a person influences an outcome. Discuss a few examples—be specific and thorough as you mention the story told and the impact it has.


4. Major Tetley and his step-son, Gerald, have a lot of tension in their relationship, and the final few minutes of the film end in a tragic/dramatic fashion between the two of them. How is the filmmaker using these two characters to develop various definitions of masculinity and what it means to “be a man”? Use specific quotes and scenes to clarify your response. It may be useful to consider how the audience of the time frame the story is set in (1885), the time frame of its production (1943) and our modern eyes today may differently view or interpret the role and meaning of “manliness.”


5. Women, people of color and any marginalized group of people are often overlooked or represented in a limited and stereotypical way in most Westerns. Again, The Ox-Bow Incident follows this genre convention with limited representation of diverse people. There are only 4 female characters (Rose, Rose’s sister-in-law, Judge Taylor’s housekeeper, Ma Grier and the woman in the painting) shown on screen and one more female character, Mrs. Miller (who we don’t meet but certainly is a part of the story) mentioned. In their brief appearances, discuss how each is a stereotype or even caricature of a woman. We also meet a black character (Reverend Sparks) and 2 characters who seem to be from Mexico (Poncho and Juan Martinez). In what ways do these characters serve as a limited representation and in what ways do they break through the stereotypes (if they do)?

Vocabulary

Art director Production designer Composition Framing Closed frame Open frame Moving frame Off-screen space On-screen space On location Set