Of Wolves and Verses

Too often, writers--even good writers--ignore the subtle intricacies of the landscape, time period and human interactions in favor of producing heavy-handed blockbusters. In 1990, Dances With Wolves came along with a totally different depiction of a typical blockbuster genre--the frontier drama. Thanks to the novel's author and the film's screenwriter...

By S. Anne Durham

November 19, 2009

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Too often, writers--even good writers--ignore the subtle intricacies of the landscape, time period and human interactions in favor of producing heavy-handed blockbusters. In 1990, Dances With Wolves came along with a totally different depiction of a typical blockbuster genre--the frontier drama. Thanks to the novel's author and the film's screenwriter Michael Blake, it surpassed the "Us vs. Them" shoot-'em-up stereotype and portrayed indigenous Indian characters as multidimensional people with more in common with the American frontiersman than meets the eye. Viewers would become attached to these 1860-era characters, despite knowing from history class how the story would end. It's a rare writer who can embed all of that into one story at all, much less one story that was nearly universally well-regarded. Likewise, Slovenian poet Tomaz Salamun writes his poems with words that move easily between different languages and cultures without sacrificing depth and complexity. He has published more than 30 poetry books in Slovenia and is one of the most recognized poets of Central Europe. Blake and Salamun speak at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC), 3120 McKinney Ave. Tickets are $5 to $8, sold through the Writer's Garret. Call 214-828-1715 or visit writersgarret.org.
Fri., Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m., 2009

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.