“Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”: transforming revolutionary to sellout.
Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron is a beloved film by many. It attempts to tell the story of the pursuit of freedom and the conquest of the wild west from a different perspective. As the movie itself proposes “They say the history of the Wild West was written from the saddle of a horse, but it’s never been told from the heart of one”. (Dreamworks Entertainment, 2002) In this film we follow Spirit, a wild mustang, in his journey to reclaim his freedom from the colonizers who are threatening it.
What makes the film special apart from its animation and storytelling, is its perspective. Historically, western films (commonly called “westerns”) assumed narratives such as “white vs native”. Because of lack of representation, the only portrayal of native americans was that of westerns, essentially sidelining Native Americans to negative images in film “... westerns continue to shape the public image of Native Americans in many countries. This is all the more problematic because for many years a colonialist attitude was characteristic of the genre, which defined the frontier as a border between civilization and wilderness and stylized the indigenous population as ’noble savages’ or even more frequently as ‘gruesome beasts’ ” . (Hetebrügge, 2020) These narratives that describe a sight of struggle between two opposing parties are identified by Stuart Hall as binary oppositions, a mechanism used to signify relationships of power between the dominant and subordinate groups in society (Hall, 1997). Moreover, he explains how these oppositions serve as symbolic boundaries, used to purify whatever doesn't fit within the dominant frame. “... marking difference leads us, symbolically, to close ranks, shore up culture, and to stigmatize and expel anything which is defined as impure...” (Hall, 1997, p. 237). Thus, because natives didn't fit within the dominant frame they were expelled as “savages”. However, Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron was developed in the 21st century from the perspective of the horse, this meant there could be more positive representations and less distorted view of the Old West. Through the horse’s friendship with Little Creek, a Lakota Indian also captured by colonizers, they were able to break stereotypes perpetuated in westerns, whilst also making the viewer question American values in the Old West. Was freedom achieved, or taken away? As the opening states “They say the mustang is the spirit of the West. Whether that West was won or lost in the end, you'll have to decide for yourself” (Dreamworks Entertainment, 2002).
Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron was ahead of its time both in production and complexity. It dealt with big themes in a way that was suitable for both children and adults. Because the movie came out in 2002, in a period where Dreamworks had just been founded and was looking to distinguish itself from Disney by creating serious “edgy” and beautifully animated movies, audiences got to experience a film that worked towards introducing previously unseen perspectives. Despite the movie’s success, however, it was quickly overshadowed by other big franchises that led to it becoming a niche artifact. However, it would later be tied back into the mainstream. In 2017 Dreamworks launched Spirit: Riding Free along with a movie called Spirit: Untamed.
Spirit Riding Free is a tv show about a colonial girl named Lucky Prescott, who lost her mother and finds solace befriending a wild horse. There’s not much to say in terms of how the sequel/remake expanded or interpreted the first film because it's not loyal to the original story or its representations. Instead its social commentary became much tamer, targeting issues of class and race through side characters. Although they strove to include different races and ethnicities, you can partly credit the current social climate for these actions. Due to social media now holding studios accountable for their shortcomings, most shows try to be politically correct. This could also be a factor as to why the original storyline was scrapped, as it involved complex themes that are difficult to present without being unproblematic.
On another note, something that bothered me was how the remake became a commercialization of the niche original. Dreamworks, identified economic potential in Spirit as a niche artifact, all they had to do was make it trendy again. Trends or measures of what is popular, are shaped by markets seeking to commercialize counter culture and neutralize the threat to dominant market order. Thus, according to Devon Powers, trends are a way in which we bring rebellion back into the regime which they tried to escape from (Powers, 2019). In order to bring Spirit back, the company partnered with social media personalities who promoted the show to younger audiences, a strategy that yielded success (Digital Media Management 2020). All the steps Dreamworks took to make spirit mainstream are outlined in Powers’ book as a process called “diffusion”. Diffusion is the process in which a niche product moves into the mainstream from the bottom up (Powers 2019). Moreover, like in the case of spirit, companies can interfere in this process, using influencers to accelerate the adaptation of the product. “A company can intervene in the cool cycle. It can put its shoes on really cool celebrities and on fashion runways and on MTV. It can accelerate the transition from the innovator to the early adopter and on to the early majority,” (Powers, 2019, p. 69). Although effective, this strategy made me feel disconnected from the remake. Essentially, the show became a sellout of a film that I love.
In short, Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron had great social commentary that can still be appreciated today. However, it is criminally underrated and arguably could have accomplished more. The sad thing is that the film was revived as a sellout tv show and film. Although it does bring a sense of nostalgia and new forms of representation, its commercialization takes away from the authenticity of the attempt. In the end, for me, the nail in the coffin for Spirit: Riding Free is the attempt to bring back its predecessor, instead of telling its own story.
References
Asbury K. (Director) Cook L. (Director) (2002). Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. DreamWorks.
Digital Media Management. (2020, March 9). Spirit: Riding free. Retrieved from https://digitalmediamanagement.com/work/spirit-riding-free/
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Newbery Park, CA: Sage, pp. 225-249
Home Entertainment. Hetebrügge, J. (2020, April 8). The western movie and the image of the Native Americans. Startseite. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.kinofenster.de/filme/archiv-film-des-monats/kf2003/kf2003-der-mit-dem-wolf-tanzt-english-hg1-bild-der-natives-americans/
Powers, D. (2019). On trend: The business of forecasting the future. Chapter 3. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
By: Anastasia Russell
ReplyDeleteHi Carola! I found your post very interesting. In the beginning of your post you mention the representation, or misrepresentation, of Native Americans in Western films. In Adorno & Horkheimer’s article, Dialectic of Enlightenment, they cultivate the term Culture industry: the idea that culture is mass-produced and commercialized, motivated by the incentives of capitalism. The process of products getting commercialized into the culture industry is called incorporation (Adorno, 3). The idea of a Native American has been incorporated into a stereotype of a Westerner. Not only that, but the stereotype of the Westerner has observably been incorporated and commercialized. This has manifested in the form of not just film production, but also material production. For example, people profit off of this portrayal in the form of ‘Dude Ranches’: western styled ranches where people vacation to get the ‘western’ experience. There are lodges, horses, and workers who act in character of ‘the western’ stereotype perpetuated in films. An ideology has been incorporated into mainstream culture and commodified by the culture industry. Near the end of your post you mentioned that the sequel, Spirit Riding Free, addressed issues of class and race through side characters, in comparison to main characters. In turn, the portrayal of the message was weaker. Adorno and Horkheimer argue that through the operation of the culture industry, media becomes uniform and standardized. Producers avoid risk by not differentiating their content. In the case of Spirit Riding Free, the producers avoided risk by not putting large emphasis on issues of of class and race and stuck to the safe path that consumers would quietly consume.
By: Anastasia Russell