In Johnny Guitar we see two women who off challenges toward the traditional women of the western. First, there is Vienna who is a saloon owner who is not very liked by the locals. She is a hard pressed woman who will wield a gun and is unafraid of pointing it at another. She is not the typical woman who “exists only to serve the need of men” (Tompkins 40). Her saloon that she opens up will serve the needs of men when the railroad comes through since it will provide gambling and alcohol that men often need in the west. But she is not a prostitute that would typically occupy the saloon. For, her she is an entrepreneur in the west who is able to get information from men and then try to make money off of it.
The other woman is Emma who like Vienna is a strong and authoritative woman. Throughout the film she doesn’t back down in trying to get rid of Vienna. She actually has a set of virtue ethics that traditionally would apply to the men of the film. And for the most part the men fulfill of the posse are the moral ones who have to be talked into killing by Emma who insists that Vienna should be put to death for a crime she didn’t do. Ultimately, the two women appear to be the two competing alphas in the film. Just like Tom Doniphan and Liberty Valance were the competing equals in The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, these two women do the same. Even with at the end when the two women face off in a duel that is never seen in other westerns. Women settling scores with guns just aren’t a part of the traditional western where the women are watching in the background. Johnny Guitar really demonstrates a role reversal for the sexes.
Another example of women fulfilling a role that women are not traditionally accustomed to in westerns is that of Sara in Two Mules for Sister Sara. We see Sara initially as a helpless nun who is on a mission to help others. But then we get glances along the way that Sara is not a traditional nun. First we see her sneak off and have a smoke. Then she has a drink of whiskey. And finally she begins swearing. Even Clint Eastwood’s character Hogan calls her out when he see that she is dinking and swearing. His question of “what type of sister are you” is quite accurate for both him and the audience. And as we learn later she is rather a saloon girl in hiding. She was able to deceive an alpha cowboy like Hogan for the length of their journey together. It projects the woman as witty and the cowboy as a fool which doesn’t happen often in the films. The cowboy is usually the one fooling others. Again there is a role reversal between the men and women.
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In Johnny Guitar we see two women who offer challenges toward the traditional women of the western. First, there is Vienna who is a saloon owner that is not very liked by the locals. She is a hard pressed woman who will wield a gun and is unafraid of pointing it at another. She is not the typical woman who “exists only to serve the need of men” (Tompkins 40). Her saloon that she opens up will serve the needs of men when the railroad comes through since it will provide gambling and alcohol that men often crave in the west. But she is not a prostitute that would typically occupy the saloon. For, she is an entrepreneur in the west who has received information from men and then tries to make money off of it. She both looks and acts much like a man. She calls the shots for the saloon that bears her name.
ReplyDeleteThe other woman is Emma, like Vienna, is a strong and authoritative woman. Throughout the film she doesn’t back down in trying to get rid of Vienna. She actually has a set of virtue ethics that traditionally would apply to the men of the film. While the men are the moral ones who have to be talked into killing by Emma who insists that Vienna should be put to death for a crime she didn’t do. Ultimately, the two women appear to be the two competing alphas in the film. Just like Tom Doniphan and Liberty Valance who were competing equals in The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, these two women do the same. Even at the end of the film, the two women face off in a duel that is never seen in other westerns. Women settling scores with guns just aren’t a part of the traditional western where the women were watching the men duel. Johnny Guitar really demonstrates a role reversal for the sexes.
Another example of women fulfilling a role that women are not traditionally accustomed to in westerns is that of Sara in Two Mules for Sister Sara. We see Sara initially as a helpless nun who is on a mission to help others. She has to use the language that woman are typical reserved to only be able to use in order to convince Hogan to let her tag along. But then we get glances along the way that Sara is not a traditional nun. First we see her sneak off and have a smoke. Then she has a drink of whiskey. And finally she begins swearing. Even Clint Eastwood’s character Hogan calls her out when he see that she is dinking and swearing. His question of “what type of sister are you” is quite accurate for both him and the audience. And as we learn later she is rather a saloon girl in hiding. She was able to deceive an alpha cowboy like Hogan for the length of their journey together. It projects the woman as witty and the cowboy as a fool which doesn’t happen often in the films. The cowboy is usually the one fooling others. Again there is a role reversal between the men and women.