Unforgiven Ashley

Revisionist films are unique in the fact that they question previously, commonly held beliefs in society. In 1992, when the film was made, the second wave feminist movement was over. Women were considered equal to men; and in fact, other races were gaining respect. Unforgiven has revisionist undertones in respect to women, in the reluctant hero, in emotions, and in the sidekick. William Munny was a cold blooded killer and outlaw. He gave all that up and became a sober, family man when he married his wife. He often talked about how she changed him for the better. Only a strong women who reflected ideas of American Society could have made a cow boy change his ways. Other strong women in the film include the prostitutes. They have the daringness to throw poop at the cowboys riding into town. The importance of family, power of women and power of Munny’s wife to so drastically change him show the revisionist ideas in this western. Years after his wife’s death, the Shofield Kid asks for Munny’s help to kill a couple of cowboys who cut up a prostitute. He is reluctant to kill again but desperately needs the money for his family. When he does kill one of the wanted men, he feels bad about it. A cowboy in previous westerns is not as reluctant to kill. His initial reluctance to kill is a revisionist idea. Munny is also more open to his feelings. He talks to his partner Ned Logan about how he feels and what he would have done had his wife had been alive. Their openness is hardly seen in other westerns. Also, his emotions of love and consideration are shown in his treatment of his family and the treatment of the prostitutes. The sense of emotion is a revisionist idea that many westerns lacked at a previous time. Lastly, Ned Logan is a black man who is treated as a complete equal and Munny cares for him so much so that he avenges his death in the later part of the movie. Unforgiven truly breaks old ideas of masculinity and introversion and evolves the western film making it a accurate representation of society.