Review
Congratulations, if you are reading this, we have made it to the end of the semester! Dead Man has much to explore regarding our identities and the forces at play that continue to shape how we occupy space. The film is conveniently set in the backdrop of the American West at the peak of its territorialization. With fur trappers and white men abundant, the film explores not only the reterritorialization of the West but also William Blake’s identity.
The protagonist, William Blake, undergoes quite a transformation throughout the film. Initially, we meet him as a timid accountant, but as he journeys through the American West, he takes on a new identity as an outlaw. This shift in identity parallels the process of reterritorialization, where existing roles and identities are broken down (deterritorialized), and new ones are formed (reterritorialized). The scene that signifies the crux of this transformation is when Blake is involved in a gunfight where he kills a man and is wounded. He becomes a fugitive on the run from a formidable crew of bounty hunters. This moment marks the beginning of Blake's transformation. His accidental killing of a man and subsequent flight from the law symbolizes a forced deterritorialization from his previous life and identity. His subsequent journey with ‘Nobody’ becomes the space where his reterritorialization occurs, reshaping his entire personhood.
In addition, Nobody’s introduction is a pivotal scene in the film. Leaning over William to cut out the bullet lodged in his chest, we immediately are met with Nobody’s disdain towards his colonizers with the line ‘stupid fucking white man’. Nobody is the primary driver of Blake’s shifting identity by providing Blake with a new cultural and spiritual framework. The frontier, away from the structured society of Machine, allows for an overhaul of Blake's identity, guided by Nobody's beliefs and teachings.
Reaction
Honestly, I still don’t know how I feel about the movie. Dead Man was a strange and slow film that has me still thinking. It almost felt as if it got more pleasure from thinking about itself than providing a clear arc. Maybe that is the whole point? Yet, it provided an interesting jumping-off point for thinking about identity and the many ways ours are shifting.
During the lectures, the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was mentioned, which provided a helpful reframe for me. Considering that I like it much more than Dead Man, it was a useful guidepost for thinking about identity and territorialization. Mitty parallels Dead Man in its exploration of territorialization through the transformation of its protagonist. Both films depict journeys that take their characters from controlled, limiting environments into expansive, transformative spaces, leading to profound personal reinvention. Walter's journey led him to become more confident, adventurous, and connected to the world around him. His transformation was evident in his newfound courage and willingness to take risks, all to the tune of David Bowe’s Space Oddity.
All this is to say, both films made me think about the ‘midlife crisis’ that has come to haunt middle-aged men everywhere. Joking aside, both films feel like crisis movies to me and the identities we tool in their aftermath. A midlife crisis often involves re-evaluating one's life choices, achievements, and identity. This re-evaluation can be seen as deterritorialization, where previously stable territories (such as career, relationships, and personal values) are questioned and disrupted. “As Deleuze and Guattari write, "we are always afraid of losing ... the great molar organizations that [sustain] us, the arborescences we cling to, the binary machines that give us a well defined status ... the system of overcoding that dominates us” (Wallin, 2010). When you lose that, what do you have but a red Corvette and a young girlfriend?
Analysis
It is no coincidence that the film takes place in the American West as the frontier was being settled and industrialization was taking form. Vast swaths of wilderness were being transformed into towns, railroads, and industrial sites, all representing the process of territorialization. What better way to explore identity than in the backdrop of the territorialization of the American West?
The process of territorialization in Dead Man involves establishing boundaries between the wild and the civilized. The town of Machine, for instance, represents a space where rules, roles, and hierarchies are enforced. Which is telling, considering we meet a town in disarray in the first scene; however, when compared to the lawlessness we are introduced to in the frontier, the occasional sex work feels rather banal. The frontier operates on its own set of rules, where Blake is forced to adapt to a new role as he transitions from a passive character to an active one.
In addition, the film explores the clash between cultures, namely Native Americans and European settlers. Dead Man uses ‘Nobody’ to explore territorial boundaries and cultural practices, in contrast to the white settlers, often leading to conflict and resistance. The interactions reflect the dynamic nature of territorialization, where different groups contest and negotiate their spaces and identities. At its core, the film rests on “the compulsion to secure land or the ‘territorial temptation’ is grounded in the fact that territory remains a zero-sum scenario. Following the division of the entire world's land area into sovereign states, any territorial gain by one state logically means a territorial loss for some other state” (Diener &Hagen, 2009). Following this logic, the settlers' attempts to impose their norms and control over the land are met with resistance from the Native Americans, who are fighting to maintain their own ways of life. This dynamic illustrates the dual processes of deterritorialization (displacement of native peoples/practices) and reterritorialization (imposition of settler norms).
In summary, Dead Man uses its setting and characters to explore themes of territorialization, showing how spaces and identities are constantly shaped, contested, and transformed in the context of the American frontier.
References
Diener, A. C., & Hagen, J. (2009). Theorizing borders in a ‘borderless world’: Globalization, territory and identity. Geography Compass, 3(3), 1196-1216.
Wallin, J. J. (2010). Deleuzian approach to curriculum : essays on a pedagogical life. Palgrave Macmillan.
I agree with your point of the character of Nobody as being the primary influence upon Blake for his process of deterritorialization and subsequent reterritorialization. Nobody seems wise and almost to possess divine foresight, is the best way I can describe it. Do you think the wisdom and advice that he was able to bestow upon William Blake was out of his own experience of disillusionment towards his own culture? I viewed Nobody's being constantly the alien other in his own life that made him so influential and able to create such a unique bond with Blake. His deterritorialization to reterritorialization process resulting from his banishment from his culture and time spent being educated in Europe I think makes him the perfect catalyst for Blake's own journey.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your review and you bring up some examples of deterritorialization that help bring a different understanding for the concept. Your example of a midlife crisis was a unique but interesting way of thinking of deterritorialization. During times of crisis or conflict, people can begin to abandon norms and aspects of their identity that they were initially very close to, whether it is Blake becoming nomad and killing others in order to survive, or a middle aged man buying a corvette. Your mention of territorialization in a geographical sense was also interesting, because it highlights the changes and harm brought by those who displaced Native Americans and then drastically changed the land they lived on.
ReplyDelete"It almost felt as if it got more pleasure from thinking about itself than providing a clear arc." This! Have you ever had a professor who reiterated the point so many times in so many convoluted ways that it confused you? Just say it clearly and draw me a picture. I have found that this movie is similar in nature and really the job could've been done for our purposes in half hour. I'm no filmmaker, though so I probably am dead wrong here. The point of Nobody really starts right away. I can see where they are headed with his character, and I like it. He is impactful and the name held the most weight for me, because Indigenous names are so infrequently seen, as they were erased. If they do still exist, so many people make fun of them, even though they are sacred to identities. There really was not any centralized way to handle the incoming of settlers versus those that were already on the land, so your point of deterritorialization is huge, as it takes what the text is trying to explain and couples it with the western. I really enjoyed this- nicely done. Also, Dr. Austin, you're not like that as a prof so don't worry.
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