10 Secret Subplots Hidden In Movies

John Ford's masterful western The Searchers stars John Wayne as Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards, who spends years looking for his young niece Debbie (Natalie Wood), who was abducted by a gang of murderous Comanches.

Far beyond the niece's kidnap, though, Ethan is demonstrably shown to be a virulently racist individual with a deep-seated hatred for the Native Americans.

And while it's easy enough to pawn this off as Ethan being a garden variety degenerate, a minor visual detail in the film lends more context to his vitriol.

Just before the Edwards estate is attacked by the Native Americans, we see a brief shot of a tombstone which Debbie hides next to. Upon closer inspection, the tombstone reads, "Here lies Mary Jane Edwards, killed by Comanches, May 12, 1852. A good wife and mother in her 41st year."

And so, it turns out that Ethan's mother was killed at a relatively young age by the Comanches, in turn explaining - though certainly not condoning - Ethan's hateful attitude towards their entire people.

Given that Ethan ultimately plots to kill Debbie rather than rescue her - now seeing her as "the leavin's of a Comanche buck" - it's quite probable that Ethan saw first-hand what the Comanches did to his mother beyond mere murder, and this informed his desire to put Debbie down also.