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Faculty Advisor

Dr. Nathaniel Cadle

Author Biographical Statement

Lucas completed his B.A. in English, with a minor in Art History, in 2023. His research focuses on intersectional and intertextual media analysis, film studies, and disability studies. He was recently accepted into FIU’s M.A. in English program with an expected graduation in 2026, where he intends to explore his preferred fields deeply, such as how we adopt cultural mythemes through the media we all consume. Outside of academics, Lucas holds and participates in creative writing workshops and has a hobby in photography, especially in the darkroom.

Abstract

The Western film genre is founded upon patriarchal and capitalist conditions embedded deeply within structuralist analyses. The portrayal of the solitary, white male cowboy—with its themes of rugged individualism and phallocentric mannerisms—has affected the depiction of women, people of color, and other marginalized groups across media. These prejudicial structures, though applied throughout the genre, has seen revision in recent productions, most notably by feminist directors of the modern era. In Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, Western narrative elements and cinematic techniques have been amended to favor genuine testimonials from affected individuals of economic collapse caused by the hubris of industrialists and the male-centered world that instigates it. Zhao’s cast offer division from gender binaries within the careless wilderness through the presentation of predominantly female and collectivist characters and her utilization of a performative documentarian approach that brings forth neorealist motivations of truthful representations of sidelined groups in this decayed West.

DOI

10.25148/URJ.020102

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