racism?

I love the irony in how Arabs always cry racism when the western media portrays the Arab world accurately. It shows a deep cultural inferiority complex.

As for the movie, I can't recall. I don't remember any racism, though.

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised."

(Spoiler) Well lets see. The Bedouin (Arab) came and challenged Frank Hopkins and his horse and insulting him by saying they claimed Hidalgo was unbeaten. Well he was unbeaten, whether in america or anywhere else, he was unbeaten. So I would say that the Bedouin (Arab)delt the first insult. When Frank returned the insult the Bedouin pulled a knife for which Buffalo Bill had to draw his gun to back off the Bedouin. The Bedouin already drew a picture on the mind of Frank Hopkins as the bad guy.

America was still young and naive. Look at what they did at wounded knee. The american history paints the Indians as the bad guys, when in relaity we were the bad guys. I think Racism is all about the way we paint a person of another color. BTW---I still like this movie.

There is one more thing I'd like to point out about the 2 dimentional thinking of some of you. You talk against the movie saying it's racist saying there is not one kind of arab,and they don't all think the same way. By saying americans need to hate people, you are generaizing us which is a contradiction of what you posted about Arab's. To put it simply, not all American's hate people.Just the same as not all arab's hate people.

This may be of interest.

HIDALGO
"You survived the sandstorm! Allah must have a more severe judgement awaiting you."

Okay, guys, look here. For the last time: I don’t care for political correctness, or about it. If you ask me, filmmakers should be able to offend anyone they want, as much as they want. Everything is fair game. But I don’t much care for stupidity either, and though “offensive” isn’t in itself a pejorative, when a movie is dumb and offensive, it is somehow worse than simply being dumb. To put it another way, if you’re going to piss people off, there had better be a point behind it — make it funny, or incisive, or insightful, or something. If you don’t, I still don’t care, but I don’t like you, either.

Hidalgo, Viggo Mortensen’s first movie since his legendary turn as Aragorn, son of Arathorn, isn’t without redeeming elements, but it is also thoughtless and hideously imperialist. Much of the proceedings take place in the Middle East, and the manner in which the film persistently and pointlessly insults its Arab characters, doing everything possible to stomp on their culture and identity, is offputting. Not to mention the fact that at one point, I swear it makes a joke out of slave children. Funny ha-ha.

Then, of course, there is the matter of this particular “true story” most likely being a hoax — a fact that Disney knows but refuses to acknowledge. Frank T. Hopkins, our intrepid protagonist, did in fact write a series of “autobiographical” manuscripts detailing his adventures in endurance horse racing, serious questions have been raised about their validity; indeed, the Great Horse Race of the Bedouin, which is the subject of this film, seems to never have existed.

As disingenuous as it is of Disney to persist in their “based on a true story” assertion, a movie is a movie, and we must go from there. Hidalgo is the name of Hopkins’ horse, an impure mustang that nevertheless manages to win every long-distance race on American soil, leading Hopkins and the carnival show that employs him to claim that he is the greatest endurance-racing horse in the world. This is perceived as a challenge by the Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), who holds an annual 3000 mile race across the treacherous Arabian Desert. He sends a couple of henchmen to America to tell Hopkins to either surrender the title or enter the race against their champion, a purebred, beautiful, and very valuable animal.

Everyone scoffs at a white man attempting to compete in the great race, and it would seem to be a certainty that he will be one of the first to collapse and die — no prizes for guessing whether or not he actually is. There are others who have a great financial interest in winning the race — among them the Lady Davenport (Louise Lombard), who mostly just sits in her tent and looks on nefariously — and others still with personal stakes, familial issues and aims of vengeance, so a simple test of physical endurance this will not be. And can an Arabian adventure ever not have an exotic princess to rescue?

I like horses, and I liked most of the horse-related business here. Interesting that the filmmakers make somewhat of an effort not to anthropomorphize Hidalgo, making him an actual horse rather than a human being that looks like one. There is a simple, stunning moment late in the film when you see Hidalgo simply get up off the ground, a perfect moment in what is — or should have been — after all, a movie about a man and his horse.

Unfortunately, there is also heaps of extraneous nonsense — all the business with the princess, for example, or the fact that the Sheikh may be an Arab, but he’s an American at heart, wanting nothing more than to read pulp westerns and receive a Colt firearm for his collection, because of course revolvers are the coolest thing ever. He must be a good guy, you see, because he likes the same things we like. Wait, what? You don’t like guns? What kind of American are you?!

Does Hopkins win the Big Race? I’ll say this: if there’s one thing I learned from Hidalgo, it’s that Americans are undeniably better than Arabs.

-- Eugene Novikov

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complaining about racism is useless. the only way to get rid of it will be to attack the base causes of it by doing the following;-

1. abolish poverty to the point where all countries have a similar level of wealth / standard of living.

2. abolish religion world wide. we are not cavemen anymore about time we got rid of it.

3. make everyone on the planet speak English as all other languages are messed up!!

4. abolish all war

5. create standard education all over the world to same level.

6. abolish corrupt governments / politicians who seem to have their own agenda rather than to serve the general population / follow the wishes of the people

7. single rule / admin over the whole planet with stated goals, at the moment life seems very circular - lots of us wonder whats the point (it seems we are here to make companies and rich people richer while the majority struggle to get by). we need leadership & a sense of purpose.

8. standard health care available to all no matter what there circumstances are.

9. reduce the population to more manageable levels.

10. even the poorest of people should have a good standard of living with hope and opportunities - this will help reduce crime and violence.

11. once all the above is in place make punishment for any crime very harsh. including forced labor to pay for prisons and death to murderers / rapists & pedos. how can these people ever play a role in society?

12. free trade through all borders - free movement between borders if your working.

13. as in teamwork you are only as strong as your weakest player. Countries must look after those who cant look after themselves

13. as long as one group of people has no respect for another, envies what another group has or is fearful of another group, feels the need to protect what they have over what others do not have and want there will always be racism.


ok i went on a bit there, im bored stuck at home off work sick for a couple of months i dont normally rant that much off topic....... i think i'll cut down on the pain killers tomorrow....

Sheeeesh...
I have the solution to the problem of racism in movies and absolutely everyone, everywhere will love it because of it's utter simplicity: From this day forward it shall be decreed worldwide law that EVERY character in EVERY movie made will stand completely still on one spot, stare straight ahead and not say a single word for two hours.
All movies made previous to this law shall be re-edited and/or re-shot as necessary to achieve compliance.

Problem solved.





Thank you and have a day.
Cant put the word "nice" in there, lest my closing be considered racist against un-niceness

It is only racist if you don't know history or culture or view the world thru an insane Western Liberals eyes. That is what the world was at that time. Liberals take time, location and culture and view it thru today's eyes. It is like judging a five year old on behaving like a fifty year old person.

In the mind of a Democrat, EVERYTHING is racist (or sexist or homophobic or Islamaphobic or...). In reality, the film is not the slightest bit racist.