Dear People of the World (formerly Dear Americans)

I watched these films to understand the essence of America on the election day.

"She Wore A Yellow Ribbon " is a drama set in the Western frontier era, depicting the process of cavalry protecting moving people from Native Americans. It's a film that regards Native Americans as enemies and cavalry as heroes like the old-time notion, but since it was made after the second world war, in the final scene, the cavalry commander negotiated with a Native chief to try to prevent conflict.

What surprisingly attracted me was the equestrian skills of the cast. Even today, such a powerful horseback scene to the point where the moves that humans and horses became one, could never be filmed.

The film explains that Native American raids are an obstacle to westward expansion, but naturally, this theory does not hold true today. Since the invaders were European immigrants, such claims might not exist, but we must realize that America was pioneered and developed with such selfish thinking.

 

"Lincoln" is a drama about a president during the Civil War era, who amended the Constitution to ban slavery to achieve the liberation of Black slaves and the process of ending the Civil War.

 

Southern lawmakers and leaders claim slavery is their own tradition, but the film argues that such tradition cannot be granted as it was considered the right to oppress others.

The current president's thinking is the exact opposite, with an attitude that tends to tolerate discrimination. However, thanks to his missteps, the midterm elections resulted in candidates representing diversity in race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity from opposing parties winning.

Ironically, the current president's party, the Republican Party, was Lincoln's party that had been pushing for the abolition of slavery. Since the Democrats themselves were the ones defending slavery, the situation today has reversed.

While the elimination of discrimination is a given, America was a society where indigenous land was seized and developed, and clear discrimination like slavery existed. This is the very society where such injustice and the justice that counter it coexist — this is what America is.