The Wild Bunch: Negotiating Technology

I found the most interesting aspect of the film to be how the characters interacted with the presence of technology. During the train hijacking scene, the bunch showed some serious expertise at sneaking up and clandestinely disabling the train. Their ability to do that shows a tactical manipulation of new industrial tools. Their hijacking could not have worked the same way if it was working against a wagon and horses. They used the train's blind spots against it and took off before anyone knew what was happening. The bunch probably didn't start their careers robbing trains but discovered what about the new technology was weak, then learned to exploit it.

A different sort of interaction occurred with the machine gun. While all of the characters in the movie seemed comfortable and well-adjusted to rifles, the advent of the machine gun was a huge development. While the bunch had learned to manipulate the train, it seemed like no one had learned to manipulate the machine gun. The bunch first presented it to the Mexicans as a kind of exotic gem. It was wondrous and interesting. It became obvious after acquiring the gun that no one in the camp could effectively operate it. The first group to try went mad blowing everything apart. The gun was too powerful. Eventually, in the final fight scene, the Mexican camp learned to clumsily implement it. The death it caused was significant though haphazard.

The gun and the train exemplify technologies in different stages of understanding. Industry's influence on the culture of the West was very important. The viewer can tell how important by examining the difference between how the bunch had come to exploit the train and how the Mexican army attempted to exploit the gun.