Dance with Wolves The American President

1. Compare and contrast each pair in terms of the following elements:

The American President Dance with Wolves

Kevin Costner as Lt. John J. Dunbar / Dances with Wolves exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost, befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military, fallen in love with a white woman who has been raised amongst the tribe Mary McDonnell as Stands With A Fist Graham Greene as Kicking Bird Rodney A. Grant as Wind In His Hair Floyd Red Crow Westerman as Chief Ten Bears Tantoo Cardinal as Black Shawl Jimmy Herman as Stone Calf Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse as Smiles A Lot Michael Spears as Otter Jason R. Lone Hill as Worm Charles Rocket as Lt. Elgin Robert Pastorelli as Timmons Larry Joshua as Sgt. Bauer

CHARACTERS

Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd - widowed US democratic president, who has a 63% approval rating as he prepares to run for reelection. Hes a widower raising his daughter Lucy on his own Annette Bening as Sydney Ellen Wade - tough-talking environmental lobbyist Martin Sheen as A.J. MacInerney, White House Chief of Staff Michael J. Fox as Lewis Rothschild, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Anna Deavere Smith as Robin McCall, White House Press Secretary Samantha Mathis as Jane Basdin, Personal Aide to the President Shawna Waldron as Lucy Shepherd, the president's daughter David Paymer as Leon Kodak, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Anne Haney as Mrs. Chapil, Secretary to the President of the United States Richard Dreyfuss as Senator Bob Rumson (R-KS)

Tony Pierce as Spivey Kirk Baltz as Edwards Tom Everett as Sgt. Pepper Maury Chaykin as Maj. Fambrough Wes Studi as the fiercest Pawnee Wayne Grace as The Major

Nina Siemaszko as Beth Wade, Sydney's sister Wendie Malick as Susan Sloan Beau Billingslea as Special Agent Cooper, United States Secret Service Gail Strickland as Esther MacInerney Joshua Malina as David John Mahoney as Leo Solomon Taylor Nichols as Stu

An adventure story set in the 1860's, during the final years of the Indian wars. It was located in South Dakota In 1863, First Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) is wounded in the American Civil War. Choosing suicide over having his leg amputated, he takes a horse and rides up to the Confederate front lines, distracting them in the process. The roused Union army then attacks and the battle ends in a Confederate rout. Dunbar survives, is allowed to recover properly, receives a citation for bravery, and is awarded Cisco, the horse who carried him, as well as his choice of posting. Dunbar requests a transfer to the western frontier so he can see its vast terrain before it disappears. Dunbar arrives at his new post, Fort Sedgwick, but finds it abandoned and in disrepair. Despite the threat of nearby Indian tribes, he elects

It was filmed in 1995 .The setting is SETTING

contemporary Washington DC. It's an election year.

PLOT

Immensely popular Democratic President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) is preparing to run for reelection. The President and his staff, led by Chief of Staff A.J. MacInerney (Martin Sheen), attempt to consolidate the administration's 63% approval rating by passing a moderate crime control bill. However, support for the bill in both parties is tepid: conservatives do not want it, and liberals think it is too weak. If it passes, though, Shepherd's reelection is presumed by his staff to be a shoo-in, and Shepherd resolves to announce the bill, and the Congressional support to pass it, by the State of the Union. With the President of France about to arrive in the United States to attend a state dinner in his honor, Shepherd widowed when his wife died of cancer three years

to stay and man the post himself. He begins rebuilding and restocking the fort and prefers the solitude afforded him, recording many of his observations in his journal. Meanwhile Timmons, the wagon driver who transported Dunbar to Fort Sedgwick, is killed and scalped by Pawnee Indians on his way back to Fort Hays. Timmons's death and the suicide of Major Fambrough, who had sent them there, prevents other soldiers from knowing of Dunbar's assignment to the post, effectively isolating him. Dunbar notes in his journal of how strange it is that no other soldiers join him at the post. Dunbar initially encounters his Sioux neighbors when several attempts are made to steal his horse and intimidate him. In response, Dunbar decides to seek out the Sioux camp in an attempt to establish a dialogue. On his way he comes across Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell), who has injured herself in mourning her deceased husband. She is the white adopted daughter of the tribe'smedicine man Kicking Bird (Graham Greene), her original family being killed by the aggressive Pawnee tribe when she was young. Dunbar returns her to the Sioux to be treated, which changes their attitude toward him. Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with Kicking Bird and warrior Wind In His Hair (Rodney A. Grant) who equally wish to communicate. Initially the language barrier frustrates

earlier is placed in an awkward predicament when his cousin, with whom he had planned to attend the dinner, gets sick. The President's attention soon focuses on Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), just hired by an environmental lobbying firm to persuade the President to pass legislation committing his Administration to substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions. During their first meeting, Shepherd and Wade are immediately intrigued by each other. At this meeting, Shepherd strikes a deal with Wade: if she can secure 24 votes for the environmental bill by the date of the State of the Union, he will deliver the last ten. Whatever his personal feelings towards Wade, he expresses this to his staff, especially the pragmatic A.J., as a sound political move. He believes Wade will not be able to get enough votes to meet her side of the deal, thus releasing Shepherd from responsibility if the bill fails to pass. Later that evening, in a series of phone calls, Shepherd invites Wade to the state dinner. During the State dinner and subsequent occasions, the couple fall in love. When the Republican presidential hopeful Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss) learns "the President's got a girlfriend", he steps up his attacks on Shepherd and Wade, focusing on Wade's activist past and maligning Shepherd's ethics and his family values. The President refuses to respond to these attacks, which drives his approval ratings lower and costs him crucial political support, without which his crime bill seems doomed to failure. At the White House Christmas

them, so Stands With A Fist, though with difficulty remembering her English, acts as translator. Dunbar finds himself drawn to the lifestyle and customs of the tribe and begins spending most of his time with them. Learning their language, he is accepted as an honored guest by the Sioux after he locates a migrating herd of buffalo and participates in the hunt. When at Fort Sedgwick, Dunbar also befriends a wolf he dubs "Two Socks" for its white forepaws. When the Sioux observe Dunbar and Two Socks chasing each other, they give him the name "Dances with Wolves". During this time, Dunbar also forges a romantic relationship with Stands with a Fist and helps defend the village from an attack by the rival Pawnee tribe. Dunbar eventually wins Kicking Bird's approval to marry Stands with a Fist, and abandons Fort Sedgwick. Because of the growing Pawnee and white threat, Chief Ten Bears (Floyd Red Crow Westerman) decides to move the tribe to its winter camp. Dunbar decides to accompany them but must first retrieve his journal from Fort Sedgwick as he realises that it would provide the army with the means of finding the tribe. However, when he arrives he finds the fort re-occupied by the U.S. Army. Because of his Sioux clothing, the soldiers open fire, killing Cisco and capturing Dunbar. Senior officers interrogate him, but Dunbar cannot prove his story, as a corporal has found and

Party, Wade is dejected about her meeting that day with three Congressmen from Michigan about the environmental bill and how it was a dismal failure; in the process, she inadvertently mentions to the President and McInerney that the Congressmen in question said the only bill they were more interested in defeating than the President's crime bill was Wade's environmental bill. Shepherd and McInerney are conflicted by this information as Wade clearly had no idea of the implications of this casual conversation, much less that they might actually use this information in their favor and against her environmental bill. Eventually, Wade does manage to get enough votes to meet her part of the deal. However, in the meantime, Shepherd's team discovers he is exactly three votes short, with no other apparent options to acquire them except by shelving the environmental bill, thus solidifying the support of the three Congressmen from Michigan which he agrees to do. This results in disaster for Wade as she is immediately fired from her lobbyist job, as she failed to achieve her objectives, as well as seemingly jeopardizing her political reputation. She visits the White House to break up with Shepherd and says that she has a job possibility in Hartford, Connecticut. He tells her politics is making choices, his number one priority has always been the crime control bill, and that he does not want to lose her over this. She congratulates him on getting the leverage to pass a crime bill that in no way will help fight crime. She concludes, "Mr. President, you have bigger problems than losing me you've just lost my vote."

discarded his journal. Having refused to serve as an interpreter to the tribes, Dunbar is charged with desertion and transported back east as a prisoner. Soldiers of the escort shoot Two Socks when the wolf attempts to follow Dunbar, despite Dunbar's attempts to intervene. Eventually the Sioux track the convoy, killing the soldiers and freeing Dunbar. At the winter camp, Dunbar decides to leave with Stands With A Fist, since his continuing presence will put the tribe in danger. As they leave, Wind In His Hair shouts to Dunbar, reminding him of their friendship. U.S. troops are seen searching the mountains but are unable to locate them, while a lone wolf howls in the distance. An epilogue states that thirteen years later the last remnants of the free Sioux were subjugated to the American government, ending the conquest of the Western frontier states and the livelihoods of the tribes in the plains.

On the morning that he is to deliver his State of the Union Address to Congress, Shepherd makes a surprise appearance in the White House press room and eloquently rebuts Rumson's attacks on Wade's past and his own values and character. He declares he will send the controversial environmental bill to Congress with a massive 20% cut in fossil fuels far more than the 10% originally envisaged and that he is withdrawing his support for the weak crime bill, promising to write a stronger one in due time. In his speech he even promises gun control, in an attempt at root-andbranch solving of America's problems. His passionate and erudite defense of those things in which he believes, in contrast to his earlier passive behavior, galvanizes the press and his staff. Shepherd declares he is "going over to her house and I'm not leaving until I get her back", but Wade enters the Oval Office before he can leave. The couple are reconciled and the President, accompanied by Wade, leaves to give his State of the Union Address. The movie ends with Shepherd entering the House chamber to thunderous applause. Conflicts of a widowed president between a new love and a legislative agenda.

Conflict of being a white man who is present in Native American society while also trying to maintain his American identity. This conflict is evident in the scene where the Native Americans are celebrating the killings of the white Americans who slaughtered the buffalo. Though he is suffering with this conflict, he chooses to remain with the Native Americans as they go on their initial hunt of the buffalo and later saves a

CONFLICT

young Native American. Dunbar values his new realtionship with the Native Americans and is trying his best not to damage that relationship As I watching the movie dances with wolves, It showed how life was back in the time of the Civil War. The movie also showed how Indians lived and how they respect everything except the white men, I learned not to judge people hastily. Like how wind in his hair had judged Lt. Dunbar or how Lt. Dunbar had judged the Comanche people before he had met them

INSIGHTS GAINED

I learned that, politically, his character rests on his laurels while focusing his energies on trying to enact crime related legislation, which he views as the hallmark of his presidency. While he ignores the uglier aspects of active campaigning, his chief opponent, played by Richard Dreyfus, directs all his energies towards campaigning. Crime and environmental legislation notwithstanding, he focuses almost entirely on the presidents relationship with a lobbyist. This is a legitimate political point, but has little to do with actual governing. He doesnt really attack the presidents policies. The fact that policy doesnt enter into it becomes increasingly relevant when the presidents approval ratings start to drop. While this is completely fictional, one can readily see parallels in real life.

2.

Cite forms of the realization you were able to gain from the chosen pair As I watching the movie Dances with wolves I realized that the Indians in an unstereotypical way. Everybody in this time thought of the Indians as thieves beggars, and savages. They took over other peoples land and killed the buffalo. I know that a lot of people have misunderstood, mistreated, or instinct or by what others say. Americans back then were small minded, revengeful, prejudiced, and swayed by rumor very easily. Also the movie helped us understand how life was like in the West. It showed us that the soldiers were really ruthless and that they would just kill the buffalo for the hide and tongue, leaving the rest of the animal there to rot. While the Indians would take everything from the animal and use it to there advantage and there would be nothing to waste. While The American President movie tells the story of The two fall in love and the President must soon deal with the political repercussions (Sydney is trying to get legislation through Congress), as well as the cynical machinations of Republican opponent Senator Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss), who attempts to paint Sydney as a radical and use "family values" rhetoric to smear Shepherd. With the attacks affecting his standings in the all-important polls, and his love's legislation causing him headaches in the Capitol, Shepherd must decide whether he can risk continuing his relationship.

3.

What morale and lessons were you able to get from the chosen pair. The morale and lessons I learned is that Everyone in the world has to make a first impression on something new, sometimes it is a bad impression and they assume that you are always like that or thats how you view everything. Whether you make a good impression or bad impression everyone is worthy of resp ect. You cant just hate somebody just because how they act, and this is exactly what the Americans did. Many people have thought of someone in a certain way including myself, after you make those actions you look back and really think about it and how you had no right to do whatever you did and I learned not to judge people hastily.

4. Which among the movie pair you chose was the best in terms of cinematography and video message conveyed why? In choosing between the two movie pairs, Ill chose the American President in terms of cinematography and video message because This earnest, intelligent, and well-written romantic comedy is enjoyable and optimistic in classic Hollywood style, even if its idealism doesn't seem quite so credible against the cynical political backdrop of the Nineties. The American President is a bright, witty romantic comedy with really good dialogue, but at the same time it is a statement about politics, and about politicians, some who are idealists and some who are opportunists. Some funny irreverence about the White House, and a well-meaning political message.

5.

If you shall be given the chance to make or write your own movie, what genuine would it be like and why? If I had a chance to make a movie I would like to do a movie that is educational purpose and focuses on the animal rights. Because today many of us doesnt really understand what animal rights is all about it is the idea that some or all nonhuman animals are entitled to the possession of their own lives, and that their most basic interests such as an interest in not suffering should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interest of human beings. I would like to make a movie that focuses on how people treated other animals around the world, and how to prevent animal cruelty. How voluntary groups fight against animal cruelty. I would like to make a movie that after the audiences watched it, they have something to learned from the movie and how the movie changes their point of views in life.

Dance with Wolves The American President

A movie review

In partial fulfillment for the subject ENG 001

FAVILA, JANNA GELYN C. BSN IV