political violence surrounding the Civil War

Film and theatrical representations of the Plains have long held in tension a complicated set of themes such as the relationship between nature and culture, the relationship between its Euro‐American and Native populations, and political violence surrounding the Civil War and reveal a fascinating visual record, interpretation, and reinterpretation of the Great Plains. The drama of environmental extremes is represented in the tornadoes in films from The Wizard of Oz to Twister, and the environmental and cultural pain of the Dust Bowl is revealed both in fiction and documentary films, such as The Grapes of Wrath and The Plow That Broke the Plains. Ronald Wilson argues that like regional artists, filmmakers are also drawn to the drama of the region, from the extensive and relentlessly flat landscape of Kansas in Paper Moon to the spectacular and often confusing terrain of the Dakota badlands in Badlands. Wilson explores the ways in which Plains Indians have been represented throughout the twentieth century, as well as the rich vein of migration and the concept of westward expansion. Perhaps one of the more surprising findings is that a generous number of films have focused on the proslavery/abolitionist drama surrounding the very bloody Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, Kansas, about which eight movies were made between 1914 and 1999. This chapter ranges from silent movies and cowboy features to contemporary representations of Plains life revealed in such satirical films as Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt. Wilson concludes with a discussion of the life of the theater in the region, with particular attention to William Inge.