Hidalgo
Don't know how many of you have seen this movie, but I, unfortunately, have been subjected to it thrice. I saw it in the theater when it first came out, under the impression that it would merely be a horse-racing movie along the lines of The Black Stallion or National Velvet. Turns out I was wrong.
Although the movie contains propaganda for several different ideas, I was most bothered by the anti-Christian element. The hero, an American Pony Express Rider named Frank Hopkins, has entered his horse Hidalgo into a 3,000 mile race across the deserts of Arabia. While in Arabia he meets a married Englishwoman who also has a horse competing in the race. The lady (whose husband is conveniently far away in England) invites Frank to her tent one night and tries to get him to have relations with her. He is rightfully disgusted by her behavior and quickly exits the tent. The very next scene shows him speaking with the daughter of an Arabian sheikh, who asks, "You have been to the tent of the Christian woman?"
The intent is clearly to associate the immoral behavior of the Englishwoman with Christianity in general, as well as to contrast it with the supposedly pure and noble Arab culture of the other woman. Throughout the movie, the Englishwoman becomes more and more cruel and heartless, stooping to murder and trickery to try to secure victory for her horse. And repeatedly (especially right after she has perpetrated some new horror), she is referred to as 'the Christian woman.'
As you can imagine, this didn't sit very well with me at all, and I quickly decided not to see the movie a second time. Unfortunately, my lot in life has placed me with a second year Spanish teacher who is not-so-subtly anti-Christian, and he thought it would be fun if we watched Hidalgo in class one day. I bore with it as patiently as I could, but next class...we had a substitute teacher. Several of the students complained that they had been absent and had missed the movie, so the substitute, not really knowing either the Spanish language or what to do with the class, decided to have us watch the whole thing again. As for me...I spent the period writing poetry in my notebook.
Although the movie contains propaganda for several different ideas, I was most bothered by the anti-Christian element. The hero, an American Pony Express Rider named Frank Hopkins, has entered his horse Hidalgo into a 3,000 mile race across the deserts of Arabia. While in Arabia he meets a married Englishwoman who also has a horse competing in the race. The lady (whose husband is conveniently far away in England) invites Frank to her tent one night and tries to get him to have relations with her. He is rightfully disgusted by her behavior and quickly exits the tent. The very next scene shows him speaking with the daughter of an Arabian sheikh, who asks, "You have been to the tent of the Christian woman?"
The intent is clearly to associate the immoral behavior of the Englishwoman with Christianity in general, as well as to contrast it with the supposedly pure and noble Arab culture of the other woman. Throughout the movie, the Englishwoman becomes more and more cruel and heartless, stooping to murder and trickery to try to secure victory for her horse. And repeatedly (especially right after she has perpetrated some new horror), she is referred to as 'the Christian woman.'
As you can imagine, this didn't sit very well with me at all, and I quickly decided not to see the movie a second time. Unfortunately, my lot in life has placed me with a second year Spanish teacher who is not-so-subtly anti-Christian, and he thought it would be fun if we watched Hidalgo in class one day. I bore with it as patiently as I could, but next class...we had a substitute teacher. Several of the students complained that they had been absent and had missed the movie, so the substitute, not really knowing either the Spanish language or what to do with the class, decided to have us watch the whole thing again. As for me...I spent the period writing poetry in my notebook.
posted by Frenchy at
2:26 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, Sanchez! I love your blog! You have a real talent for writing and I liked this post in particular.
Good luck with your blog! And allow me to congratulate you on your acceptance to TAC :)
Hey Hannah!
Thanks for dropping by. Nice to see a friendly face...or rather...a friendly comment. :)
Oh, by the way, who I actually am is Elizabeth from YFL (in case you didn't know), so you can call me that if you want instead of Sanchez. ;)
Actually, I knew, but wasn't sure if you wanted your real name floating around the internet, so I decided to be safe. :)
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