Westerns aren’t typically considered the most inspiring genre.  Guns, horses, cowboy hats, and impressively manly one liners tend to rule the day, along with sometimes very unfortunate racism.  Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves aimed to give western movies a new name, and he was wildly successful.  Former civil war lieutenant John Dunbar relocates to the frontier, where he finds an abandoned post to man.  He isn’t alone long, as the neighboring Indian tribe finds him and tries to get away with his horse.  Rather than make an enemy, John becomes attracted to the life of the tribe and seeks to learn more from his neighbors.  The movie ultimately tells a sad tale, but it’s message is positive – it is always better to seek to break barriers rather than to create them.  Those sacrifices will always be worthwhile.

~ Stephen Russ