You don't look no meaner-than-hell, cold-blooded, damn killer

*Spoiler Alert*

Unforgiven is credited with being the first western to comment on the ideas and themes of the western genre itself. What happens after the gunslinging cowboy gets old and settles down with the pretty girl? Can a bad boy ever really hang up is holster?

In this 1992 Clint Eastwood film, Eastwood stars as William Munny, an older version of the character that Eastwood played in western when his career first began. When a very young assassin approaches Munny about a $1000 reward for the death of two men who mutilated a prostitute in the town on Big Whisky, the retired gunslinger is thrust back into the crime world because he needs the money. When Munny first decides to join the young man on his quest, it is obvious that Munny's cowboy days have been long over and he has problems “getting back into the saddle” of the bad boy lifestyle. The now sober farmer has to relearn his old way of life that his wife had taken him away from about ten years ago. Munny has lost his expert shooting abilities, his equestrian skills, and his love of whisky. After a rocky start, Munny Leaves his children and simple life behind and rides off to find his old partner in crime to join him for one final kill. His friend Ned Logan (played by Morgan Freeman) has also retired to a simple farming life, but has kept up with his target practice and decides to join Munny on his mission just like the good ole days. Munny and Logan discuss that neither of them have killed anyone in over eleven years and throughout the film we follow the two men who are trying to find their place back in the crime world after being away for so long.

When the hired assassins find their first victim, it is obvious that this is something very different from what it used to be. Ned Logan aims his shotgun, but is unable to fire. While Logan discovers that he can no longer kill, Munny is forced to take the rifle and shoot the man down himself. Because of his lack of training, his shots continue to miss, but finally he hits the victim right in the chest. Munny sits with his comrades as they listen to the man slowly die. The supposed bad boys are obviously affected by this kill in a different way than they used to be. Logan soon decides that his killing days are over and turns back around to head back home. Munny pushes forward with his young friend and soon assists the new gunslinger in killing their other target. After the young man kills his prey, it is revealed that he has never killed before and would like very much to never kill again. The beat men, return to town to fetch their reward and be done with the whole ordeal only to find that their friend Ned Logan has been murdered by the local law enforcement.

At this point in the film, there is a shift in William Munny. When Munny married his wife, he completely changed his life around and was forced to realize all the wrong that he had done in the past. He stopped killing and drinking but took his first drink of whisky in eleven years when he found out that his partner had been killed. With his young sidekick back at home, Munny falls back into his murderous ways with all the anger and passion that used to power him forward. Throughout the story, there are many references to Munny's very drunken and violent past. Though Munny has left this part of his life his behind him, the memories and passions still dwell inside the aging cowboy. The true gunslinger comes out in Munny when he bursts in on the law enforcement that tortured and ended his friends life. While drinking whisky, Munny quickly and easily shoots up the bar all while being shot at himself. Without hesitation, Munny skillfully murders about six men including the county's sheriff.

Through the changes in Munny, Unforgiven argues once a killer, always a killer. Even though Munny had completely disowned his immoral history, when placed back in the situations of the past Munny returned to his old ways. Our readings this week discuss fate and the rules of nature that determine our lives. No matter how much he fights against it, Munny's fate seems to the crime-ridden life of a cowboy. Is it possible for people to change, or is a persons innate personality the only thing that can truly resonate throughout one's life?

I have included a scene from the movie when William Munny and his young comrade are waiting for their reward money and talk about the man they just killed. This scene perfectly reflects the mentality of a young man who has ended a life for the first time, and Munny who recognizes the atrocity occurring around him but has become numb to the pain.