Word: benedicts
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...generation accepts and even encourages him. But as usual, Hollywood has oversimplified, exaggerating the problem in order to come up with a strikingly optimistic conclusion. No Mexican-American would ever be ejected from any restaurant as in the movie. On the other hand, no son of a Benedict would ever marry a Mexican-American (unless she had money). Prejudice, of any kind, is much subtler, more covert, covered with glad manifestations--and is thus much more incurable than Hollywood can conceive...
Giant is undeniably a good bit like Texas. Although the lavish spending is not what the movie would lead you Easterners to believe, Giant's rendition is not entirely unjustified. Similarly its typical characters run according to the authentic mold--Texan males are much like Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson, strong and strongly ruled by Hoyle; their women, as in the movie, are in at least a 5-1 ratio of the vacant-minded to the thinking. The people do herd and smile and "honey-chile," even though not as obviously as in Giant. But after all, these characteristics...
...Giant, Texans and Americans encounter racial prejudice, individualism, and, generally, the problem of deciding exactly what kind of life they want to live. Bick Benedict, the American male-and-father image, reaches two conclusions--that he likes the simple life and that nothing in his life has gone according to plan. Hollywood, with its obvious delight in the movie's extravaganza and its faith in the ultimate triumph of American idealism, succeeds thoroughly in giving him the lie. For the Giant thesis is that everything will turn out wealthy, and all right...
...apparently is that individualists are kept poor for a good reason--they drink and they like to work off steam by hitting people. But Hollywood is not content with this--it insists on blaming the individualist for racial prejudice. Jett Rink, in his supreme poor form, calls Mrs. Bick Benedict III (a Mexican-American) a "squaw." Obviously Bick Benedict II (the standing order) would never do this, whether because of his sense of security or his fear of society. But Hollywood's idea that the individualist Jett Rink would be more racially prejudiced simply because he is not "other-directed...
...good points. Stevens' mastery of sweeping outdoor shots is as impressive as ever, even though the empty scenery of Texas lacks the grandeur of that exhibited in his Shane. The acting, too, is mostly excellent, particularly in the surprisingly effective performance of Rock Hudson as the head of the Benedict clan. His work in the past has scarcely suggested the insight and ability which he reveals in this film. Elizabeth Taylor, in the role of Benedict's wife, is at least satisfactory and still very lovely. The performance of the late James Dean as the cowhand-millionaire, while perhaps...