Dead Man Blog

 Objective Review

The acid western Dead Man, is a drastic departure from the typical western movie. Dead Man shows contrasting existences of sedentary and nomadic people which is illustrated through the character of William Blake. These contrasting values or perspectives can best be described as a schizo, especially when they reside in a single person such as William Blake. There is a progression through the movie of Blake shedding his sedentary belief system and adopting a nomadic one. This progression, or the schizo, isn't necessarily apparent as it is happening, but is ultimately revealed in the scene at the trading outpost.  The interaction between Blake, Nobody, and the missionary trading post clerk depicts the collision of both realms that Blake resides in. Nobody embodies the rhizomatic nomad, while the clerk represents the arborescent sedentary person. The dialogue that begins this scene in the trading post starts to reveal schizo dynamic when the clerk exclaims "through vision of Christ, dost see" followed up by way of retort by Nobody that says "is my visions greatest enemy." The dichotomy has been created leading to Nobody's otherness to become clear. The clerks hostile way of answering Nobody's requests further compliments this otherness especially when Nobody inquires about Tobacco. The clerk without pause after the denial of Nobody's request, sells Bill the tobacco after he asks about it. This interaction is illustrative of the perception of stability of the western white settler and Christianity to the perceived instability of the others existence. This creates volatility as the two in this particular case are not compatible. 

Bill is almost portrayed at this moment as a neutral force, for whom we are viewing the scene through his perspective between the dynamic of the nomadic and the sedentary. Abruptly, in the midst of the intense exchange between the clerk and Nobody, the clerk recognizes Bill from the wanted posters and asks for an autograph. This was a ploy to attempt to apprehend him and turn him into the authorities to cash in on a sizable bounty.  Bill suspected it and ends up killing the clerk, but not before the clerk yelled "goddamn your soul to the fire of hell" leaving Bill to remark "it already has." This scene illuminated the contrast between the two dynamics and concluded with Bill choosing, or being forced to choose the nomadic existence, over the sedentary, thus solidifying his fate.  He had killed before, but it was reluctant. The killing of the clerk was William Blake fully accepting his new existence as he did not seem reluctant or scared throughout the interaction with the clerk. 

Reaction

I have often enjoyed the mind-bending nature of reframing of a classic genre. The concept of using all the same components of a traditional western movie, just assembled differently was captivating. The time, place, and actors within the plot were the same, but the traditional narrative that plays out in most westerns of a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) centric view was challenged by a different perspective. I do not like traditional western movies as they conveniently leave out atrocities committed as they often whitewash the whole time period with glamorization of the capitalist success of conquering the West. Despite a lot of the very unsettling scenarios that William Blake found himself in, I enjoyed the perspective favoring the indigenous experience in the West rather than the WASP one.  Through the unsettling imagery, I believe it was to critique the dominant narrative of the WASP experience with a lot of overtones of death and depravity. While in contrast the indigenous experience depicted through Nobody was still grim but it was not as fixated with death or material goods. In an odd way, almost more comforting. 

Interpretation

In Dead Man, the journey of William Blake to shed his normative sedentary and reluctant self depicts the process of deterritorialization. Coinciding with the shedding comes with the adoption of new perspective and values brought on by his repeated encounters with Nobody. This adoption process depicts Blakes reterritorialization as he becomes aware of this otherness and eventually fully adopts it after killing the trade post clerk (Wallin, 2011). Through his unique process of deterritorialization, Blake begins to navigate outside the known cartography of the white settler's molar existence of categorization and governability. This cartography takes the form of both spatial and intellectual, as William Blake leaves both the confines of both the town of Machine and the dominant belief system that its residents hold true (Holland, 2011). 

The normative values represent an arborescent existence as there are distinct directions of authority and apparent categories people reside in. In Dead Man it appears these categories are the boss (John Dickinson), the law (the Marshals and bounty hunters), and then the workers (the various people in the town of Machine). William Blake's journey to reterritorialization with his acceptance of nomadism is guided by Nobody who already resides in that space as he was rejected by his culture for being "mixed blood" because his parents were from two opposing tribes. His journey to becoming nomadic is similar to Blake's but not identical is illustrative of the rhizomatic nature of their relationship. Their shared experience, despite being experienced separately from one another, fosters a unity between two unlikely people (Pershing & Austin, 2015). Throughout the movie, the paths become more similar culminating at their ultimate shared fate. This fate is arguably solidified at the trade post when Blake, caught between two realms, or the schizo, takes the final step from residing in the sedentary to fully accepting the nomadic.