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For me, the moment I knew that the infamous Will Munny had returned was when he was riding into town to avenge Ned's death. There is a shot of the empty whisky bottle as Will throws it down into the muddy ground (in the rain, no less). For me, this is the moment when Will returns. He is no longer playing Mr. Nice Guy. Will is bloodthirsty, out for revenge, out to settle a few scores. Within minutes of the empty whisky bottle, Will Munny has hit his stride. He absolutely annihilates the men in the bar and is showing no remorse whatsoever. Even though this is where Will Munny clearly emerges as a bit of a "bad guy," the audience doesn't begrudge him for it. In their eyes, his actions are fairly justified. In a typical western mindset, Will is doing his duty. His best friend Ned was murdered which leaves Will no choice but to avenge his death in the only way he knows how. Everyone tries to deny it, and they really may hate themselves for it, but they are secretly elated that Will exacted his revenge. This is what movies can do to people. Little Bill got what he had coming to him. And whether we like it or not, we agree.
1 comment:
Kate: I agree and also think that as weird as it may sound, we as an audience applaud Will Munny's return to shootouts and drinking and other things that shouldn't normally be looked upon so well. I hesitate to use the word return, because even though he did "change" his ways for a while, I don't think any man with his past ever really changes. He may say that his wife cured him and all of that, but it seems like it was all talk.
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