MovieChat Forums > Down in the Valley (2005) Discussion > Use of Black and White Cowboy Style

Use of Black and White Cowboy Style


Anybody else get the fact that Harlan wears a white hat, rides a white horse, and has a white shirt on while the father has a black shirt on? That's symbolic for the good guy and the bad guy in the old westerns. The hero has a white hat, etc. and the bad guy is dressed in black.

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Definitely, the father is also some sort of law man, I suspect. It fulfills the archetypal drifter bit a little better.
Unforgiven also is sort of running with a similar archetype.

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I would actually call the father the villain.

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You would be wrong. The father is the hero. Harland is the confused sociopath.

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Of course, because there's always only one interpretation to a movie and these characters are all black and white, with no grey. <--Sarcasm

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I was thinking of this too...it's an interesting juxtaposition. From Westerns we're taught the good guy wears a white hat, the bad guy wears a black hat. I think the movie was playing on this to keep us guessing who was actually the hero.

I loved the Western style shootouts too. It was cool to see something like that played out in modern times.

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I don't think there's "interpretation" required in realizing that "Harlan" was a confused sociopath...

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