A little while back one of my favorite films was finally released on DVD: George Steven’s epic Giant. I finally got around to picking it up a few days ago and gave it yet another watch. It’s a great movie, but this time around I was struck by something. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Texas, went to college and law school in Texas, and met my wife in Texas, but now am not living in Texas; I dunno. But whatever the reason, I’m watching the film and thinking this movie is a near-perfect encapsulation of what Texas, and Texans, are all about.
Or, at the very least, it captures how Texans see themselves and their state.
It comes through in the characters, for starters. Rock Hudson’s Bick Benedict is stubborn, proud, and keen on keeping things the way they are. He loves his state, his home, his family. He is unassuming and informal, as are his neighbors, regardless of their station in life. He is the consummate Texan.
James Dean’s Jett Rink is something of the opposite of Bick – reckless to the point of self-destruction. But he’s stubborn and proud, too. Indeed, the scene where Rink rejects Bick’s offer to buy his land at twice its appraised value is one of the best in the film.
The film also treats race relations in a way that I think most Texans would grudgingly admit (in private, anyway) is true. Bick has less than enlightened views on race relations, but doesn’t see himself as prejudiced for most of the movie. Indeed, it takes the humiliation of son Jordan at the hands of Jett Rink over the treatment of Jordan’s Hispanic wife for Bick to come to terms with that issue. This has modern parallels even today: the town of Jasper grappled collectively with race problems in the wake of the James Byrd dragging murder. Race is simply not something that is part of the day to day conversation in Texas – it takes an event to bring it out of the woodwork.
But more than anything, the visuals of the film reflect the state – and not just because it was shot in the town of Marfa. The lone ranch house standing alone amongst a vast swath of land – Reata land – strikes a chord because it reflects how Texans see themselves: big, proud, and self-reliant. And the scene that best encapsulates Texas in this most Texan of films contains no dialogue: it’s at Angel’s funeral. Killed in action in World War II, the Army presents Angel’s mother with the US flag. Afterwards, quietly, without a word, Bick presents Angel’s father with a Texas flag. It’s as if he’s saying “your son is more than an average war hero; he’s a Texas hero, and that means something more.”
To understand this film is to go a great distance in understanding Texas.
Anyway, I was wondering: what other films accurately define a region – not just in geographic terms, but in “feel”? It’d be best to hear from folks who are actually from the region depicted.