How Monument Valley became a symbol of the West
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2019
- That stereotypical Western backdrop isn’t typical of the West.
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Towering red rock formations and big blue sky make up the classic backdrop of the American West. But the rocks we see in so many movies aren't typical of the area at all. In fact, they are unique to one place: Monument Valley.
Monument Valley is on the Utah-Arizona border inside the Navajo Nation Reservation, and until the 20th century, it had barely been visited by non-indigenous people. But when John Ford made Stagecoach - the 1939 blockbuster that mainstreamed Western movies and the actor John Wayne - that all changed. More filmmakers followed suit and used the location as their movie backdrop, creating a deep association between Monument Valley’s iconic landscape and the mythic American West.
To read more on the myth of the American West and Western movies, check out Richard Slotkin’s “Gunfighter Nation,” a thorough history of the genre: oupress.com/books/9780611/gun...
Note: The headline for this video has been updated since publishing.
Previous headline: How these rocks became a Western movie cliché
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How do yall always find those weird but fascinating ideas for videos ?
i would guess suggestions or vox video lab but idk
Probably Wikipedia:Unusual_articles on Wikipedia
@@TheWindowsPCVidsOfficial that wikepedia list
There is a movie called How the West Was Won that is basically the long form of this article. There is also a book called Celluloid Indians that talks about many of the topics they discuss in this article. It would be my guess that a combination of those were the source material for this article.
producers and writers rooms mostly
source: i work for another digital media company
A rock... the pioneers used to ride these babes for miles.
SPONGEBOB REFERENCE !!
Spongebob is boss
Its not a boulder, its a rock. A big, beautiful, rock.
....(about to cry) It's a rock ..
@@corbyere You don't say!
Can you make a video about the iconic cactus that is included in every mexican scene
Could be a legit interesting video given how much of the terrain and plants of Westerns are actually Italian.
They're called saguaros and mostly they grow only in southern Arizona and Sonora, so they're misplaced in pop culture just as much as Monument Valley...
Right? It's the same shape over and over again. 🌵🏜️
Yeah most "Western" scenery and icons actually come from Arizona or Northern Mexico (aka, the Sonoran Desert)
OR INCLUDED IN *EVERY* MEXICAN HOME
It's a fascinating place. A Navajo guy pointed out that it wasn't always 'Navajo land.' They were hounded out of their indigenous land further east. I was asking about the names of the formations. "It's kind of an elephant," he said. They didn't have old names. He was still angry about being dumped there: the land is not much use for anything beyond tourism. "It was hit by the great depression," - Yeah, countless Navajo starved.
Alot of the "native" tribes settled in their tribal lands relevtively recently. in some cases they ironically displaced other tribes due to being pushed west by the europeans, or migrated on their own. Some evidence such as pottery, spear designs, and skeletons show that the original inhabitants of the americas were actually Australoid (from Australia or possibly the south Pacific) and not Mongoloid, like the current "native" americans. There's also evidence that Polynesians may have sailed to South America and gotten potatoes from there as evidence by current crops and by legends/myths of some Polynesian peoples.
Both in North and South America, Indigenous populations live in hard to access territories because during the colonization process drove them there, unwillingly. They used to live in the good, well irrigated, easily accessible lands until they got usurped.
Oh god... everyone's a victim....
Also good to point out that John Ford came back multiple times because he wanted to give the indians living there a job. It was very important for him to help them.
Yeah as soon as he said it’s in the Navaho reservation I was prepared to be angry at treatment of the people living there and while the stereotypes aren’t great the fact that the film industry and John ford in particular were able to collaborate with and even help the Navaho people definitely put my feelings in a more positive light
S.H. K. Umm..?
I never really thought of them as a cliche, just as part of the landscape
as a kid i always assumed most of the south west was like this. there are similar formations in Idaho, Utah, and South Dakota.
I was born, raised and reside in Arizona. This state is alot more diverse than monument valley. We have such a diverse landscape, its amazing.
Sedona is great! Love our state.
S.H. K. That’s because it was once Mexico
I live in California. The state is more diverse than Hollywood. But I don't care if people make a video about it.
I’d love to go to Sedona
Time for my daily dose of information I didn't think I needed but needed!
I lived in monument Valley for 20 years growing up. It is a beautiful place each sunset is different from the last. How about a story of the Navajo people?
"Alabama's in the other direction"
*I'VE BEEN LIED TO!* 😭
Now I know why the people following Forest looked so confused when he said "I'm going home" and started walking the other way.
The West is also where you can catch Lumbago. Very serious.
Yes and it's terminal
Its a slow and painful death
Instructions not clear, I caught tuberculosis instead
It's very serious
Aidan Rogers LOL, particularly after attempting to move said ‘rocks’ 😆
Finally a video about rocks, next bricks.
David Dima ... such s negative personality to make a statement like that .
Wrong channel m8
@@sandycrawford2602 I think he just joking
No, Half as Interesting needs to make it first!
@@sandycrawford2602 🤦♀️🤦♀️it was a joke m8
Man, this comment section is gonna feel old in a few years.
Morro Cause so many of them are about the Area 51 raid. Something that will be in the Internet Historybooks.
1959: We'll have flying cars and moon bases by the year 2000
2019: Weebs try to storm Area 51...and there aren't any flying cars or moon bases
Yacob Gugsa a weeb watches anime, doesnt storm army bases
Red dead redemption reminds always these types of rocks red and tall
chetan costa LENNEHH
@@darkless60 GOOD MORNING.. MR
darkless60 LUMBAGO
Yeah, it is great to bring outlaws to Chuparosa jail
Thanks, I really enjoy your vids. I had not realized just how many movies that one vista inhabits. Growing up on the east coast I had never seen “The Old West”, only some major cities. I now live in Oklahoma and have a better appreciation for wide open spaces... I do miss the sea though. I genuinely appreciate your efforts in research and thoroughness in your work, the entertainment value doesn’t go unnoticed either. So, thank you again. Cheers
Oh god, don't tell us your entire life
Jesús Moreno starting a YT channel dedicated just to you my friend, thanks for the idea. I am sure you will love it.
The one obvious omission from the classic Italian spaghetti westerns.
Which have a very "mean" (cruel AND small), focused point of view.
axnyslie funny story, a lot of sergio leone’s movies were inspired by a japanese director, Kurosawa. Kurosawa’s movies were inspired by John Ford, so by extension they kinda mentioned the building blocks for Leone’s movies
Unless you watch Once Upon A Time In The West, then it shows up near the end.
You guys have some of the best revelations ive never thought about. Keep it up.
Thanks for this Vox. I’ve really been wondering for a while
I went to Monumet Valley this summer and it was one of the best places ive ever been in my life so i would definately recommend it
It looks amazing, I'm from Mexico so I think I'll go when I'm 18+ and have my own money for buying my visa, passport, plane, etc.
@@SimonKanner-si3it Please, don't be racist. Remember that America is not our continent we stole it from Native Americans and you are a combination of cultures as well and your family had to migrate in some moment of history and maybe they were also illegal. I'm not illegal since I will pay for my visa with my own money. I don't know why some Americans feel superior when they can't speak more than two languages. I hope you understood and please if you have complaints, tell them to your boyfriend (Donald Trump). GREETINGS FROM 💚MEXICO❤️ (A PLACE WITH MORE CULTURE THAN WHERE YOU LIVE) 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
@@SimonKanner-si3it racist
Alex same
@@SimonKanner-si3it
Ummmmm, no. There is no such thing as 'too many indians'. And when i was there the Native American people were absolutely lovely. And people from india are lovely too. So maybe dont be racist and be more concerned about actual problems.
What a coincidence! When i opened my computer windows showed me a nice picture of the rock in 0:20
Windows 10 auto wallpapers...I've got the wallpaper few months ago...
Didnt windows 95 have it too?
When I lived in Chicago, movies were always filming in doorways and alleys. I worked in a private club that regularly has movies and TV shows filming in it. My Best Friend's Wedding filmed a scene in the lobby when I worked there.
You guys answer questions i never knew i had
I've been to Monument Valley - very picturesque and a lot of history to boot.
Ballad of Buster Scruggs is very good.
One of the best. However I did not like the story about the magical man with no limbs.
It's amazing and the best thing on Netflix.
“You’ve got to be a man before you can be a gentleman” John Wayne
These are some seriously Westernized rocks 😀😀😀
I don’t know why I needed this information but thanx
I’ve been there unfortunately it was snowing during covid and wifi connection is slow or sometimes no signal, be prepared when you visit guys, stay safe!
This is one of the best channels I subscribed to
I loved this video. Thank you for sharing it.
Went to Monument Valley last year. It's an incredible place. Take a back country jeep tour too
ive been there and its a beautiful place. every american should drive through there at least once if they get the chance.
A jsut about any non-north american would probably have a heart attaack if you asked them to drive to a place as remote as Monument valley. It's 1100-1200 miles from population centers in the Pacific Northwest, 650 miles from LA/San Diego, 1200 miles from most of Texas, and about 2200+ miles from most of New England.
I’ve been there, it makes the video som much more satisfying when you recognise the rocks and have walked around some
@@arthas640 there is more to the US than mega cities lol. there are plenty of 100k population cities all around the US which offer almost everything a mega city does. the US is massive though which most foreigners dont understand. there is no 2-4 hour train ride across the country like in some small European or Asian countries.
0:25 I've always wanted to work in places like this for some reason, wide open places in the middle of nowhere with spectacular view
Is it possible to use stills from these movies to monitor the erosion of the formations over the last several decades?
This is are so so so classic to feel ..
The Searchers is not only the best westerns ever made, it may very well be one of top 10 films in the history of cinema.
Glad it actually helped the local navajo community. Surprisingly wholesome.
I went there last year!! IT WAS SOO SICK!!!
Vox vídeos are always so elegant, good and i luv them
I went there last summer. Beautifull place and really nice people.
I have the Road Runner lunchbox. Always wondered where they filmed the Road Runner cartoons. ;)
I wish this story had included some more of the Navajo perspective.
Literally any trivia:
Vox: *adds effervescent orchestrated score for dramatic effect*
As an Arizonan, I haven't been to Monument Valley, although I've been to other beautiful (and famous) places in the Navajo Nation, such as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, and Grand (Chocolate) Falls.
You need to do one on Vasquez rock.
I really love that place, hope I'll being there one day!
When monument valley appears in Back to the Future, its supposed to be a joke. The Delorean drives straight at a movie screen with artwork of charging Indians at monument valley and is transported into that exact scene. Its like Marty and the time machine symbolically went through the screen into a stereotypical Western film.
But there were no stereotypes in history, only real people, living real, human lives. So the movie elevated its opinion of the relative value of the generation it was marketing to, and its shared, Hollywood and audience point of view, compared to all others, by demoting and dismissing the real past to a cliche that can be visited as a cliche. And a Hollywood cliche, at that. That way, it flatters its audience, who are assumed to not bother to think about life beyond what Hollywood presents them.
From Paris, thanks it's an eyeopener, seen it many times in the movies now at least I know where it is and how large an area in encompasses
My family lives in monument valley. The tourism helps a lot financially but its slowing degrading the land and the community that lives there. Tons of businesses come in and tour and don't listen to the locals, the navajo nation government gets a cut so they tend to wish we weren't there. Our families were relocated there when the government took other lands. They built that new hotel there regardless of the community not wanting it there. If you do go, please ask the tour businesses what they contribute to the locals.
Sorry to ask this so long after your original comment - but as someone going to visit soon, do you happen to know of any specific business that are best to avoid or alternatively to patronize, in order to make sure our money is going to enrolled members of Navajo nation?
@Just Wandering it is hard to say. If you ask any of the people who sell jewelry in the valley, they can tell u better. They are usually residents and have direct interactions with the tours. I do not currently live there due to life circumstances but my cousins still sell there regularly. All I remember from spending my summers there that the Crawly tour people are sketchy but I'm not sure if they still have business there. The horse tours are not great, their horses poop up our waters and have changed the ecosystem drastically. I have no issue with the people so jus try to avoid the ones that walk into sand springs. No one should be taking roads marked private. I'm sorry I could not be more specific. Tip your tour guides and make sure to not deface the rocks with carvings nor collect/touch anything from ancestral sites, aka Anasazi. Touching them is taboo. They are not the people's ancestral sites but are other tribes ancestors. DO NOT COLLECT ANYTHING FROM THE AREA. We get thousands of visitors so people taking arrow heads or ancestral artifacts or rocks etc are incredibly harmful.
@@lioncub360 Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to respond! We will absolutely keep all of this in mind and will also do our best to spread the word if any of these circumstances arise when we’re there.
Brilliant! Thank you.
How did I predict that An American Tail: Fievel Goes West would be featured in this video, even before watching it?! 😂 This movie is one of my favorites ever! ❤️
Watching western movies you would believe that the entire old west was a desert waist land.. This is because of John Fords love of filming with Monument Valley for a back drop he set the standard for westerns. Even my favorite TV western" Gunsmoke" has Doge city Kansas and its surroundings looking like a desert instead of a prairie. So many western movies and shows have been filmed in the studio back lot out their in the Mojave desert that I can recognize the same rocks used in a hundred western chase scenes with only the occasional stand of California Eucalyptus trees to give away where they really are.
I was stationed on the Navajo Reservation for 6 years in Chinle, AZ.
Home of Canyon du Chelle .
Thanks for introducing a non-American, non Western-watcher to a beautiful piece of natural Americana. I would love to visit one day.
I will now go to work and yell out "It's the same rocks in every movie!"
Great video
0:07, Nice to see you, Dr. Phil.
Fascinating.👏🏿
I loved it how Horizon Zero Dawn also featured this landscape
I was expecting a little more on the formation of the geological phenomenon. Aren't those ancient volcanos whose shafts remained after the exterior of the volcano eroded away?
Please do a video about the "Storm Area 51" phenomenon, it's hilarious
It's always funny at the beginning of The Searchers when they are talking about numbers of cattle. There's no way that many cattle could survive in that kind of land without a tanker truck full of water every day and almost all the feed would have to be trucked in. The actual place in Texas where the events that inspired The Searchers happened is rich farmland, which is why settlers wanted it, and the Comanche fought so hard to keep it.
But you know, it seems to have some resemblance to the film in this way: the Red River flows from Palo Duro Canyon red rocks, doesn't it? So Monument Valley is a more dramatic, even more awe-inspiring representation of the location. The pioneers living there, emphasizes their vulnerability, at the expense of a little realism. It isn't about the richness of the land they were competing for, but about something else, and being set against a sparer, minimal, though awe-inspiring landscape, helps us not to lose focus.
Monument Valley, with Yosemite nat. Park and California Highway 1 south of Monterey, CA one of my 3 favorite places in the US... (only been to the west coast, listing is not representative, might be subject to changes, all rights reserved)
that alabama indication was epic.
The fact that Forrest Gump walks in the opposite direction to Alabama just makes it even funnier, I’m sure they realised that when they considered it as well as the great backdrop
I'm a travel vlogger.
definitely going there next year !!
세계를 여행하는 '오늘, 우리' It’s really nothing impressive. The far west is overrated
Ruth Cuadrado If you're never been tho it's cool to see! have fun!
I’ve been there this spring and it was breathtaking !
@@chiaraconti8133 omg!! My heart beats fast after seeing your comments.
@@RuthCuadrado There's a difference of opinion.
I thought this was about the game Monument Valley for a second lol
Home Sweet Home 😍
My favourite place
The silhouettes of those Buttes in Monument Valley are also reminiscent of 3 prominent landmarks on the Oregon Trail, in Nebraska.
(Courthouse Rock & Jail Rock, Scott’s Bluff, and Chimney Rock)
Monument Valley in Arizona was much closer to Hollywood, and so made for a better filming location than Nebraska.
the red sand tho. Nebraska doesn’t have the deep red sand like MV
Not clear to me how a pretty parched looking landscape is emblematic of a fresh start. I could understand, for example, a wagon train in the hills looking down into a lush valley with trees (for construction), meadows teeming with wild-life and clean rivers full of fish. But an inhospitable place like Monument Valley? I mean, there was a reason why tourists wouldn't go there until Hollywood told them to go.
Thanks for changing the title to Monument Valley, the original title was vague and clickbaity.
What's the music at the start of the video?
Interesting video, alexa play old town road.
Can you make a video about the popularity of the plastic garden flamingo and why they were invented
Man does an Epic Naruto run infront of Reporter (13 Action News)
que lugar para espectacular..... visitarlo es casi obligatorio
Tnx
Thelma and Louise was shot near Moab UT. While near Monument Valley, NOT in Monument Valley.
It wasn’t just the men, the great and stunning brilliant actress Maureen O’Hara John Ford used again and again.
It might be cliche. But man it's beautiful
Alabama is in the other direction Forest😆
Thing is that actually works for Forest being who he is.
Do a video on why you're changing the title of every video after uploading it
I hope the Navajo benefited a little more over time off the growing film and tourism industry.
Thank you very gently for allowing myself to See what the height of These Monuments is.
Meter instead of feet.
I wasnt aware that most people knew monument valley from westerns, as opposed to just another famous landmark/park
Is one of my favorite places I have ever visit is totally alien 👽 to me there is something magical about it
I'm pretty sure there was a level like this in Mechwarrior 2000
I live out in southern Utah, and I haven’t had a chance to visit yet :(
The Alex
I’ve been there and it’s amazing in person. Kind of surreal.
MR. BIG I hope I can make a trip out there this summer
The video ends rather abruptly
"Alabama is in the other direction... but it doesn't matter..." hahaha epic...
3:16 is the courthouse towers in Arches NP not monument valley
Why is Uluru always in the background
You need the new recent photos and videos of the tour vehicles and the area of monument valley. Did you just google the area?
Could never figure out what there was for the cowpokes to do out there.
0:51 Thanks for metric
So which of ya'll just finished the Red Dead Redemption games and got a brilliant idea for a video?
"Wicki-wild wild, Wicki-wicki-wild" - Will Smith
I’ve always wonder why movies that are shot here say they take place in Texas, Texas looks NOTHING like this!
Before watching this video I want to say this; What does "the West" have to do with a very successful puzzle adventure app game?