Dances with Wolves (1990)

Dance with Wolves (1990) tells a story about a Lieutenant (John J. Dunbar) who assimilates into the culture of Native American. It has a beautiful title. When we see the word "wolves", we usually associate it with predators, carnivores, creatures that howl at the moon or even werewolves. It is unlikely that we will pair up "dancing" with "wolves". The beauty of this association reflects the humanity in the wolves, which serves as a symbolic core message in this movie.

This film has cleverly used the interaction between Dunbar and the wolves to mirror his interaction with the Native Americans. When Dunbar first meets Kicking Bird, both of them are afraid of each other. Ironically, although nudity always reflects vulnerability, Kicking Bird freaks out and runs away when he sees the naked Dunbar. Dunbar, on the other hand, seems strong on the outside but is extremely scared on the inside. Similarly, the wolf (named Two Socks) is afraid to interact with Dunbar at first when they meet.

During the next several interactions, Dunbar and the Native Americans start to learn more about the other cultures. They begin to exchange their languages and norms of their own culture such as drinking coffee and smoking the peace pipe. Eventually, the Native Americans even adopt some of the norms such as waving hands to greet the others. At the same time, Dunbar has the fire dance at Fort Sedgwick, makes friends with the Native Americans and eventually learns their languages, joins their rituals such as buffalo hunts, and becomes one of them, named Dances with Wolves. The rapport built between the two distinct groups with different cultures supports the contact hypothesis, which suggests that non-competitive, friendly contacts between groups breed understanding and build relationship. This is mirrored in Dunbar's interaction with Two Socks as well. Two Socks who is initially reluctant to eat the food in Dunbar's hands begins to eat the food and eventually becomes a companion that guards besides Dunbar. The "dance" between Dunbar and Two Socks show the development of friendship or family which is reflected in Dunbar's joining in the Native American as a family and a friend. 

In addition, Two Socks watches and follows Dunbar when he gets caught and it is eventually killed by the soldiers. This reflects its innocence and the close relationship between them, which mirrors Native American's relationship with Dunbar. Both Native American and the innocent wolf value more on relationship compared to the so-called civilized Caucasian army Dunbar belongs to. Both the animal who is considered a lower being compared to human and the Native Americans who are seen as uncivilized show compassion and provide help to their companions in need while the soldiers who share the same racial and occupational identities with Dunbar beat up Dunbar. This breaks the prejudice about Native Americans and reminds people that cruelty is independent of races.

Although the storyline of this movie is simple, the message to raise awareness of the misconceptions on Native Americans is strongly portrayed as it reflects the innocence and authenticity of the Native Americans in valuing relationship. Authentic contact which comes as natural and innocent as the origin of Dunbar's name (Dances with Wolves) is the best way to foster relationship and to reduce prejudice.