Both the film High Noon and the film The Ballad of Little Jo present revisionist ideas in relation to classic western ideas. In High Noon, while the alpha male cowboy, Marshall Will Kane, is the center of the main action of the film, the two main women, Amy Kane and Helen Ramirez, also play a major role. Amy Kane, Will’s wife, shows that she has valid opinions, and the film even has some scenes with only her and Helen, who is an independent saloon owner who must be strong in order to run her business. In her critique of the Western genre, author Jane Tompkins writes, “When the crunch comes, women shatter into words” (Tompkins 62). However, this is not true when it comes to Amy. She actually kills one of the men trying to kill Will. Amy uses action, not talk. This is similar to Jo in The Ballad of Little Jo. Josephine Monaghan loses everything and ends up masquerading as a man in order to live her life and to try to find some success. Tompkins writes that normal women in westerns, “may seem strong and resilient, fiery and resourceful at first, but when push comes to shove, as it always does, they crumble” (Tompkins 61). Jo changes the idea about this as well. Jo Monaghan works hard, learns how to use a gun, and learns how to live in the west. She survives and succeeds, not crumbles, when push comes to shove.
These changed views also have an effect on the alpha male cowboy. The alpha male cowboy in High Noon respects women, and all the other cowboys respect Jo in The Ballad of Little Jo. Even when the cowboys find out that Jo is really a woman, they still respect her for all that she has done. They are angry that she fooled them, but they nonetheless respect her. This is the main change in the world of the alpha male cowboy. While strong women may still use language to express themselves, something highly against the alpha male cowboy’s person, they also have the capacity to survive just as well as men do. Author Sue Matheson argues that the alpha male cowboy, “is an antisocial loner who functions in a world peopled with sociopaths, a Hobbesian wilderness where life is generally nasty, brutish, and short” (Matheson 891), but Jo also acts just as Matheson describes. In effect, she has become an alpha male cowboy, and this is frightening to other alpha male cowboys. If women can take on their role, then what else can women do? Amy in High Noon and Jo in The ballad of Little Jo show alpha male cowboys that women are to be respected as well.
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Both the film High Noon and the film The Ballad of Little Jo present revisionist ideas in relation to classic western ideas. In High Noon, while the alpha male cowboy, Marshall Will Kane, is the center of the main action of the film, the two main women, Amy Kane and Helen Ramirez, also play a major role. Amy Kane, Will’s wife, shows that she has valid opinions, and the film even has some scenes with only her and Helen, who is a strong, powerful, independent saloon owner. In her critique of the Western genre, author Jane Tompkins writes, “When the crunch comes, women shatter into words” (Tompkins 62). However, this is not true in Amy’s case. Amy actually kills one of the men who tries to kill Will. Amy uses action, not talk. This is similar to Jo in The Ballad of Little Jo. Josephine Monaghan loses everything and ends up masquerading as a man in order to live her life and to try to find some success. Tompkins writes that normal women in westerns, “may seem strong and resilient, fiery and resourceful at first, but when push comes to shove, as it always does, they crumble” (Tompkins 61). Jo changes the idea about this as well. Jo Monaghan works hard, learns how to use a gun, and learns how to live in the west. She survives and succeeds, not crumbles, when push comes to shove. The Ballad of Little Jo and High Noon argue that women are every bit as capable as men are.
ReplyDeleteThese changed views also have an effect on the alpha male cowboy. The alpha male cowboy in High Noon respects women, and all the other cowboys respect Jo in The Ballad of Little Jo. Even when the cowboys find out that Jo is really a woman, they still respect her for all that she has done. They are angry that she fooled them, but they nonetheless respect her. This is the main change in the world of the alpha male cowboy. While strong women may still use language to express themselves, something highly against the alpha male cowboy’s personality, they also have the capacity to survive just as well as men do. Author Sue Matheson argues that the alpha male cowboy, “is an antisocial loner who functions in a world peopled with sociopaths, a Hobbesian wilderness where life is generally nasty, brutish, and short” (Matheson 891), but Jo also acts just as Matheson describes. In effect, she has become an alpha male cowboy. The Ballad of Little Jo and High Noon seem to argue that if women can take on the role of alpha male cowboy or other responsibilities, then they can also take on more responsibilities in society.