Hold It Real Still This page intentionally left blank 349-99188_Rothfels_ch01_3P.indd 6 Hold It Real Still Clint Eastwood, Race, and the Cinema of the American West Lawrence P. Jackson Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2022 Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2022 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Jackson, Lawrence Patrick, author. Title: Hold it real still : Clint Eastwood, race, and the cinema of the American West / Lawrence P. Jackson. Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021045395 | ISBN 9781421444130 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781421444123 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Eastwood, Clint, 1930– —Criticism and interpretation. | Western films—History and criticism. | Race in motion pictures. | Black people in motion pictures. Classification: LCC PN1995.9.W4 J33 2022 | DDC 791.43/6278—dc23/eng/20220318 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021045395 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at [email protected]. To my Mom and Dad, my sons Nathaniel and Mitchell, my friend Christian Allen, and the Saponi, wherever they may be This page intentionally left blank 349-99188_Rothfels_ch01_3P.indd 6 Contents Introduction 1 1 Black Representations in the Western 10 2 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Critique of the Colonial Aftermath 41 3 “That Damn War”: The Outlaw Josey Wales and Reframing the Civil War 79 4 “Hold It Real Still”: Black Containment and Structures of Inequality in The Outlaw Josey Wales 106 5 “Their Slaves, If Any They Have, Are Hereby Declared Free Men”: Ride with the Devil and the Contraband as Decorative Adjunct 130 6 “I Am That One in Ten Thousand”: Django Unchained and the Black Exceptional State 175 7 “Why Don’t They Kill Us?” Django Unchained and the Politics of Deadly Force 207 Conclusion The Return of the Native 227 Acknowledgments 245 Notes 249 Index 289 This page intentionally left blank 349-99188_Rothfels_ch01_3P.indd 6 Hold It Real Still