#hidalgo

After I cooled off, I asked him what he thought of Frank Hopkins from Hidalgo. His answer? "He went off to enter a big race, and it wasn't for money. At the end he bought all the horses and saved them."

I had to walk away from the conversation entirely because I was so angry. That's the sexism so many women are talking about. Even the men who say they enjoyed the movie are still saying sexist things about it.

When Frank delivered the military orders to the soldier base camp at Wounded Knee, one of the older villagers begged Frank to help them, but he turned his back on the indigenous. He literally turned his back on his people, and while he's not directly responsible for the massacre, if he'd stayed, he could have perhaps prevented any casualties. Knowing that he could have done something if he'd actually listened instead of riding off leads to Frank drinking himself senseless and more or less self-destructing from the immense weight of guilt he feels. He feels guilty because he abandoned them, and we as the audience witness him drowning his guilt in alcohol.

Now Kara? She witnessed the death of her planet. She watched her people die around her, and no matter how much she tried to help, her world was poisoned from within. Her father only had the energy, resources, and strength to build a craft that could save her life alone. She didn't want to go. She wanted to die with her people. But her father urged her to take everything her parents had given her, and help other people in ways she was unable to help her own world. By the events of Supergirl, she is one of the last two survivors of Krypton. The person she should be able to connect with knows nothing of her culture and customs. We meet Kara while she's in the process of celebrating her 23rd birthday, which she celebrates across the span of a week. She goes to appropriate locations to party. Based on a newspaper clipping, we're given insight into the fact she does help people. The moment someone needs Kara's help, especially when they're at a clear disadvantage, she steps in immediately and berates the perpetrator. She will probably beat the shit out of them, too, if they don't back off. She doesn't stand for bullying, and she cares so deeply for the safety of others. And her refusal to help Rutheye came purely from the fact she doesn't want to lead a thirteen year old girl on a path to commit murder. I feel like saying, "not my circus, not my monkeys," is a perfectly reasonable response to that scenario.

My point is that Kara isn't necessarily an alcoholic, and when she has to step up to the plate, she does. We can even safely assume in Superman 2025 that maybe Kara was off celebrating her 22nd birthday.