Posted by Gayle on July 14, 1998 at 12:08:42:
In Reply to: Re: American Heros posted by Elaine on July 14, 1998 at 10:50:50:
: : Gayle
: >>>>>>>
: Gayle, you knew it was as Nathaniel said ... "One day you and I were bound to have a serious disagreement" !!!!!!! Goodie!
: Yes, he improved the man Hawkeye. Made him more sociable, likeable, aggreable, and interesting. But ..... though that served the needs of the romantic woodsman hero, I still don't agree that the change in his character actually improved the story. Mann's version necessitated a complete write out of the Cora/Uncas romance ... and very beautifully depicted (if not worded) death and burial scenes. By creating the new man Hawkeye, Mann also somewhat lessened the "Uncas factor". Not better, by my mind .... just different.
: And though Cora was, as you say, nothing more than a guide assignment in the eyes of Le Longue Carabine, she was much, much more in the eyes of Uncas. And though Cooper's Cora was certainly presented as well bred, she was more woodsy and less elite. She showed this side of her very early on in Cooper's version.
Elaine,
There is no question that we agree on the virtues of the Cooper rendition and the excellent depiction of Uncas's love for Cora. Actually, there was no romance there, since Cora was in love with Duncan who was in love with Alice, and I'm not sure Cora even recognized that Uncas was throwing himself at her feet throughout the whole book. It was really the Delaware maidens who envisioned the two of them so magnificently meeting in heaven, while Hawkeye sat there and tsk-tsked over the race implications and was thankful that Munro couldn't understand the Delaware language.
AND ELAINE CONTINUED - -
: And, Gayle! How the heck is a woman-bound Hawkeye (a la Mann) going to carry on the roaming life and exploits of the ultimate natural loner man (a la Cooper)?????? We either have to have our romanticized Hawkeye stop his wild living and settle down and start a family .... OR we will have our loner continue on, free to be in all those places necessary for the Leatherstocking Tales!
AND GAYLE WHIPS RIGHT BACK WITH - -
Why couldn't he? Daniel Boone certainly made a name for himself with wife Rebecca at his side. Tarzan married Jane, and Boy became the center of most of the capture and save adventures. You never saw either one of them with a dish towel in his hand or sitting through a PTA meeting. In fact, in the Tarzan series, Boy served much the same role as Uncas - he became the center of various adventures and thus expanded the character of the father to an even wider audience - people who could relate to raising a child under difficult (does that word cover it?) circumstances.
AND ELAINE ADDED . .
: But .... to your question of the Ching/Hawkeye/Cora combo being great material for a sequel .... Yes, I think so.
SO WE THINK WE HAVE AGREEMENT, BUT WE'RE NOT SURE, BECAUSE GAYLE SAYS . .
I could see Cooper's Hawkeye and Cora carving out a great set of sequels as a frontier couple, but I question whether Mann's Hawkeye and Cora had enough substance to them to carry the imagination any further than the one movie.