3:10 to Yuma- AM

In comparing the two different versions of 3:10 to Yuma, there is certainly an element of revisionism in the later version when compared to the original. The fifty years of separation has caused different issues to surface within the films. Due to the new advances within the film and the technology sectors have provided, along with the culture, there is an increase in violence from the first to the second film. But there are also elements of revisionism in the details of the story that play out in the remake. For instance, the alpha cowboy, Dan Evan, is shown as a much weaker man in the remake. His and his family’s struggles are really illustrated in the remake as opposed to the original. His son is sick, deep in debt, and stuck dealing with his one legged disadvantage. The original film shows Evan, financially distressed, but still has to be coaxed into escorting Wade to Contention City. There is a greater sense of urgency for the money in the remake. This change from the original shows the change in mentality of money. There is a greater sense of urgency for monetary status, due to the housing collapse and the mortgage bubble. This again can be seen later in the film with how the people of Contention City mobilized against Evan when offered $200 to shoot a member of the gang that was trying to get Wade to the train station. People within the town are shown somewhat desperately looking for money and a job.

Revision is also seen where the members of the Chinese community are shown working in the west. They have the opportunity to work and develop the railroad. In the scene where Wade comes into the railroad tunnel site, the Chinese are shown working on the infrastructure. The white men are depicted in a totally different way than the Chinese men are. The Chinese are all dirty and the whites are cleaner; the Chinese are living in a tent city and appear to be physically and emotionally drained. The original 3:10 to Yuma did not mention the other. In this scene, it shows another revisionist point and a hind-sight perspective. The film showed the injustice that was put upon the immigrants that built the rails. It showed the American people taking advantage of a group of people and forcing them to do gritty and brute work that no one else wanted to do. Because of the values that existed in the 1950s, society didn’t feel the need to display how racism existed in the west. Hindsight is 20/20, and seeing the mistreatment of the Chinese provided a new medium to look into with regards to the western.