Treatment of Mexico and/or Mexicans in Magnificent seven

The initial perceptions of Mexicans within The Magnificent Seven are the same typical Mexican stereotypes within American Western movies up to and including the 1960’s, these being the terrorising Bandido, and the helpless peasants. These two stereotypical character types are thrust, together, into the very first scene of the film. A long distance camera pans across an arid Mexican landscape. A group of unknown horsemen ride across the plains, and into a Mexican peasant village. The structures within the village are simple, made only of wood and clay. The shot then cuts to a medium shot of several of the village’s inhabitants. They are dark skinned, dressed all in white, all wear sombreros, and have very little if any individuality in their appearance.

This is the first of the two stereotypes that appear, the peasants. They maintain many of the distinguishing features that led in the f

Although included as a member within the bunch, Angel has an agenda that is far different from that of the rest of the group. The main driving forces for the Bunch are sex, and riches, but Angel’s interest lies in helping the Mexican rebels, and the good people of his village, something which is not completely selfish. This is the main difference between Chicano perception within The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. Angel’s counterpart, Chico, is very childish in trying to understand his true culture and really requires the help of the other members of the seven, at various points through the film to help him come to his final decision of who he really is, very much in the same way that the seven are required by the villagers to help them come to terms with their problem. This dependence upon the North is still apparent, but in the case of Angel it is not. He has his own strong mind, and as a result he helps himself, without even needing the rest of the group to help get him there. It is his unquestioned decision to take some of the guns that the bunch steal and give them to the Mexican resistance, he also sets about his own personal quest of revenge, avenging his father’s death and his woman being taken from him, all without help or encouragement from the rest of the bunch.

Even Eli Wallach’s character of the bandido Calvera is adjusted, and the stereotypical image somewhat lost. Although initially Calvera appears to have adopted every trope of the evil Bandido, his image changes quite dramatically throughout the film. He has his own set of moral values that previously were not included in bandido films. His code is almost respectful; as he lets the seven go free, when previous knowledge of the Bandido would suggest that his next logical step would be to kill them. He even gives them back their guns once they have left the village, under the impression that they will not return. “……….Calvera is no ordinary bad Bandido……he has his own code of professional ethics, which includes caring for his men and protecting the villagers from other marauders” . While Bandido’s were previously displayed in other films as plunders without reason, he and his men are actually themselves starving, and are not just plundering for just the shear fun of it. Under this pretence the character of Calvera is transcended into a real person with true motivations, and with reasons that are deeper than portraying a direct personification of ‘evil’.

The Bunch are not instantly introduced to the audience as being good or bad characters, as they ride into town they are initially shown as being fairly sinister, something achieved through low angle camera shots, and the dramatic non-diegetic music that accompanies them. However, the army uniforms that they wear would suggest that they are protectors of a sort. They also pick up an old lady’s packages that she drops as she bumps into them, and they help to escort her across the road. Then however, they are instantly transformed into sinister characters once again as they enter the bank and violently hold it up, before shooting their way out, indiscriminately killing anyone I their path. The other main group of North American protagonists are the bounty hunters led by Thornton, an ex-member of the bunch. They too are not shown to be given a distinct label of good or bad. Other than Thornton the bounty hunters are dirty, stupid, disobedient, and void of any decency, honour or morals. After the initial onslaught in the first scene two of the bounty hunters argue over who had killed the most people, not only from the bunch, but also innocent bystanders. They also steal from the dead bodies as the mourning relatives watch on. The audience are instantly thrown into disarray over which group to empathise with. Although in The Magnificent Seven there is a breakdown in stereotypes amongst the Mexican characters, such as Calvera, which creates confusion as to whether there

Some topics in this essay:
Magnificent Seven, North American, North South, Wild Bunch, American Western, Eli Wallach’s, Northern American, Bunch Angel’s, North American’s, Arthur Pettit, magnificent seven, wild bunch, north american, mexican characters, seven attempts, magnificent seven attempts, north south, american protagonists, north american protagonists, character types, mexican peasants, throughout film, throughout entire film, characters wild bunch, seven wild bunch,