Young Mr. Ideology

What I found most interesting with this week's readings and film is the idea that people can be constructs, icons, and/or ideologies. John Ford's "Young Mr. Lincoln," while based on an actual figure, seems to use the character of Abraham Lincoln in an iconic as opposed to strictly historic manner. This is emphasized by the fact that, as pointed out by Cahiers du Cinema, the film is based on a mixture of true stories as opposed to one actual event.

Similar in vein to the semiotic ideas of last week, Abe Lincoln in the film is more of a concept than a historical figure. Certainly true aspects of Lincoln are present, such as his early law career, his hometown, and his relationship with Mary Todd. But it seems that in this film, Lincoln serves more as the embodiment of the honest everyman, the do-gooder who will always find justice even when it means going against the masses - in short, the literal representation of the "Honest Abe" archetype. By using Abe Lincoln ideologically in a fiction story, the film serves to reinforce ideologies typically represented by Abe Lincoln - honesty, justice, and everyman qualities - with the actual "source" of these various concepts.

However, Abe Lincoln is not the actual source of these concepts; rather, as Althusser would suggest, they have been created by history. Sure, they are likely rooted in actual traits possessed by Lincoln himself. But Lincoln as a concept ("Honest Abe," for example) is the result of which of Lincoln's traits history chose to emphasize, with these traits manifesting themselves into an ideological as opposed to historical character in Ford's film. These ideologies are also careful to stay in line with ones that emphasize other ideologies of the system, such as working for the greater good and taking the lead when it's in the parameters of the current system (ie, Lincoln taking command of his town, but leading them in the direction of justice and not the previous states of vigiliantism and anarchy).

What is most interesting about this construct is that, in the film's end, you can somewhat see the conflict between staying within the constructed ideologies of Lincoln and the tendency of John Ford to emphasize the lonesome hero, the man who stays outside of parameters. I saw some notable similarities between Young Mr. Lincoln and another John Ford film, The Searchers. Both end with the heroes of the film standing separate from the people they just rescued. However, while Ethan of The Searchers wanders away, Lincoln wanders away and into the government system, next shown permanently enclosed as the Lincoln Memorial. While Lincoln may have wandered from his town, he did not wander from society or the system in the long run. Yes, this is based on historical facts about Lincoln. However, since Lincoln is used ideologically moreso than historically, the ending can also be seen as ideological, encouraging the "lonesome heroes" to make sure they still stay within the parameters of society in order to be true heroes, heroes with statues and a long-standing historical and ideological status.

Films such as Young Mr. Lincoln perfectly demonstrate how even actual figures can be turned into concepts and ideologies. By presenting Abraham Lincoln as a character in a fictional situation, the film represents Lincoln the idea moreso than Lincoln the man. As such, the film serves not as a biographical account of Lincoln's life, but as an ideological message with the Lincoln concept serving as an example to all.



Searchers image from http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/flickgrrl/2007/10/, Young Mr. Lincoln image from http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/?p=8619