By Kayla Williams
Hell or High Water is about two brothers, Toby and Tanner, who devise a plan to rob multiple branches of Texas Midlands Bank in order to steal enough money to pay off the mortgage on their deceased mother’s property and place it in a trust for Toby’s two sons. The plot follows the two brothers and the two Texas Rangers that are assigned their criminal case.
This movie had very little diversity. There was only one man of color in the entire movie, and that was the half Native American and half Mexican Texas Ranger. Along with that, there were only two women of color, one of Asian descent, and one of Latin descent. In other movies, I would view this as a larger issue within the film, but I feel this is representative of the community that this story takes place in. Small Northern Texas communities are predominantly white, with only small areas of the towns inhabited by people of color. However, the problem that this lack of diversity represents is the lack of diversity in Hollywood in general. This poses the question of why certain scripts are selected to be made into movies.
In addition to the lack of diversity, there are also overwhelming amounts of racial slurs in this movie. In the beginning of the movie the first racial slur is said by an elderly Caucasian man when the two brothers are robbing their second bank and asks why they are robbing a bank if they aren’t Mexicans. Shortly following that, the brothers are yelling in the car about being Comanches and raiding whatever they want. This is not unique to these scenes, in almost every scene there are slurs being said. One film critic wrote, “Racially the film has a bit of a blind spot, particularly during a cringe-inducing scene in which a Texas Ranger compares the banks stealing land to European settlers committing genocide against Native Americans. The analogy, though made with the best intentions, is far too glib in conflating economic exploitation with the mass murder of millions of people (Rozsa, 2016).” Often they are passed off as being jokes and backhanded compliments. It is very apparent that racism runs through this community like a vein.
Lastly, the token man of color is one of two main characters that dies in this movie. The other character is the oldest brother Tanner, who in all rights deserves to based on his actions throughout the film. The Texas Ranger, however, did not. He was good at his job, put up with racist remarks when he shouldn’t have, and was well liked. However, he was shot by Tanner in the final shootout. On top of that, the white Texas Ranger takes it upon himself to avenge him and shoots Tanner. It is easy to recognize the savior complex that is depicted by having the white man avenge the man of color.
Along with the issues surrounding race in this film, there are negative connotations about women throughout the film, and the idea of what a good man is was questioned. In Hell or High Water there a substantially fewer women than men. All but two of these work in a service industry. There are two female waitresses, six female bank tellers, one prostitute, and multiple receptionists. The only two anomalies are the Texas Ranger that filled the position of the retiree, and then Toby’s ex-wife, who is not described as having a specific occupation. This mimics the mobility of small disadvantaged communities. There are few jobs available that are not in the service industry, and in this movie, those are all held by white men. So although this is reflective of how a community like the one that is portrayed in this movie would be, it is blatantly apparent the economic equality between the members.
Along with that, almost all of the women in this film are sexualized or degraded by the male characters. The waitress is called a “big sassy girl” when she is unwilling to give up her tip money to the Rangers because she needs it for her rent. So being independent and strong willed about her financial needs became a negative characteristic of her. The receptionist at the hotel that the brothers stay at is vulgarly hit on by the oldest brother. Instead of standing up for herself and her sexuality she simply laughs and giggles at him. In this movie, women are shown as passive actors in their own lives. Finally, the prostitute that is trying to gain a client out of Toby, is raped by his older brother. He justifies it by the fact that she was trying to get it from his brother anyways. The entire movie is filled with the older brother sexualizing women, and the younger one quietly observing it even though it can be inferred that the actions make him uncomfortable. Overall women in this movie are not depicted in a positive way.
The concept of white heterosexual masculinity and manhood is also upheld in this movie. The two brothers represent the “good” and “bad” sides of being a man. The oldest brother Tanner is reckless and wild. He spent ten years in jail, abandoned his family, and lives a reckless life once he was released. He takes advantage of women and makes his brother feel uncomfortable if he questions his actions, which he does only a small number of times and without real strength or purpose. Along with that, he uses derogatory queer slurs towards his brother often as a way to encourage him to “man up”. He is hyper-masculine and wild. On the other hand, Toby is shown as more valiant and good natured. The only reason he proposes this idea to his brother is so that he can provide for his two sons. Along with that, he is never shown as having sex with a woman on camera unlike his brother and leaves a large tip for the waitress that he does flirt with. He is portrayed as being gracious and kind spirited. In the end, it is the wide reckless side of masculinity that is literally shot down, and the hard working faithful man is rewarded therefore reinforcing what is expected of white heterosexual men in our society.
Finally, class is a major theme of this film. It is apparent from the setting of the movie that these men are from an extremely poor community. The cars that they steal are “piece of shit cars”, the houses are run-down, and they wear the same dirty clothes for almost the entire movie regardless of the fact that it is set over the span of multiple weeks. Along with that, Toby is divorced and is paying child support to his ex-wife. It is mentioned that he hasn’t had the money for some time and is struggling to make ends meet. Overall it is clear they are economically disadvantaged.
In contrast to the brothers, the Texas Rangers seem to be of a different class. They do not work a service job, and their office is extremely well maintained and nice. They drive a nice new Ram truck, and it shows the neighborhood that the Caucasian Texas Ranger lives in as being safe and well groomed. It is clear that they are of a higher social class than the brothers are.
By putting the four main characters at two contrasting social classes it creates a winner and loser dichotomy in the story. The Rangers can only succeed if they incarcerate or kill the two lower class citizens, and the brothers can only prosper if they steal from the wealthy. The two classes are pitted against each other. In this case, both classes lose something important which I perceive as being fairly accurate. One of the Texas Rangers was killed, but one of the brothers was too. It goes to show that instead of one class prospering above the other, both parties actually lose.
Works Cited
Rozsa, Matt. “Review for “Hell or High Water”.” N.p., 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
2016 Oscar Analysis 