2. WHY IS THIS FILM IMPORTANT?

4. FROM STAGECOACH…
…TO RIO GRANDE

5. CHANGING RACE RELATIONS

6. PRODUCTION CODE

7. FORD’S FOCUS &
REPRESENTATION

9. CLIP

10. Do you think this scene depicts the Comanche
women in an insensitive or condescending
way?

11. ADOPTION, KINSHIP, AND INTEGRATION

12. CLIP

13. Do you feel as though the film treats the
adoption and integration of the other as a
viable option? Why?

14. THE INTEGRATED OTHER

15. CLIP

16. Is Martin truly the embodiment of the ideal
integrated other? How does he fit this role,
and how does he stray from it? If anything,
what has he lost in the process of integration?

17. THE QUESTION OF ETHAN

18. CLIP

19. Scar functions as the overt villain in The
Searchers, but does the underlying cultural
question of Ethan place him as the hero, or
another villain?

20. EXCLUSION, INTEGRATION, AND
RACISM

21. Why does Ford intentionally keep Ethan from
community and family at the conclusion of the
film?
If Ford was responsible for the darkening of
Ethan’s character, and the film, does that
make him a racist? What was he trying to
say/do?

22. “Black-white relations were such in 1956, and
arguably now as well, that the issues The
Searchers treats could not be treated directly”
&
“Racism is the curse of the American soul”
Discuss in relation to the reception of the film.