At the beginning of Red River, it is obvious that the lead character, Thomas Dunson, is an alpha male cowboy in this film. He has a strong personality that I saw right away when he argues with the wagon train leader about wanting to head south to start a ranch instead of heading west with the wagon train. He leaves the westward-bound train with his friend, Groot, and brings along his cow and bull in the hopes of building the biggest ranch Texas has ever seen. With his strong leadership, determination, and his inability to take direction from others, I thought he was definitely an alpha male cowboy. Along his way to find land for his ranch, he comes across a young boy, Matt Garth, who is daring enough to draw his gun on Dunson before Dunson takes it from him. The fact that such a young boy would do this to a strong male character let me know to watch this character throughout the film, because he could very well be a second alpha cowboy. As the film progresses and 14 years pass, Matt Garth returns to Dunson’s cattle ranch after the Civil War has ended and he has clearly become a much stronger character than the young boy we first encountered. In Matheson’s article The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns, she says “heroes…are not ‘stained, grimy, or disheveled in the style of the rough, unmannered villains’” (Matheson 892). In terms of appearance, Matt and Dunson both appear to be alpha male cowboys. She also says that “if Wayne’s student is a quick study…she or he becomes ‘masculine’” (Matheson 904). Matt is a very quick study and learns a great deal from Dunson (John Wayne’s character), and he shows strong leadership qualities when he continues on to Abilene without Dunson, but with Dunson’s cattle. The other men, who feared Dunson because he killed several men for wanting to quit the trip, look up to Matt as a strong male leader, which is a major characteristic of the alpha male cowboy.
A characteristic that is not usually found in the alpha male cowboy is the desire to talk. Though Matt does do a great deal of talking and falls in love with Tess, which shows vulnerability in his character, he redeems himself at the end of the film. In West of Everything, Tompkins says “when Matthew Garth returns to his hotel room at the end of Red River, he acts the part of silent conqueror to perfection” (Tompkins 60). Tess won’t stop talking about her concern for Matt because she knows that Dunson wants to kill him and there isn’t anything she can do to stop him. Matt stays quiet throughout the scene until she tells him to stop her from talking and he kisses her. When he goes out to fight with Dunson, he never actually draws his gun on him, showing how unaffected he is by what Dunson is doing. I think the end of the movie helps to prove that Matt is also an alpha male cowboy in this film because he earns the M (which stands for Matt) that Dunson refused to brand his cows with 14 years earlier. Though he may not have been a strong male character when we first saw him in the film, he definitely grows into one by the end of the film by observing John Wayne’s character, who is certainly an alpha male cowboy.
At the beginning of Red River, it is obvious that the lead character, Thomas Dunson, is an alpha male cowboy in this film. He has a strong personality that I saw right away when he argues with the wagon train leader about wanting to head south to start a ranch instead of heading west with the wagon train. He leaves the westward-bound train with his friend, Groot, and brings along his cow and bull in the hopes of building the biggest ranch Texas has ever seen. With his strong leadership, determination, and his inability to take direction from others, I thought he was definitely an alpha male cowboy. Along his way to find land for his ranch, he comes across a young boy, Matt Garth, who is daring enough to draw his gun on Dunson before Dunson takes it from him. The fact that such a young boy would do this to a strong male character let me know to watch this character throughout the film, because he could very well be a second alpha cowboy. As the film progresses and 14 years pass, Matt Garth returns to Dunson’s cattle ranch after the Civil War has ended and he has clearly become a much stronger character than the young boy we first encountered. In Matheson’s article The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns, she says “heroes…are not ‘stained, grimy, or disheveled in the style of the rough, unmannered villains’” (Matheson 892). In terms of appearance, Matt and Dunson both appear to be alpha male cowboys. She also says that “if Wayne’s student is a quick study…she or he becomes ‘masculine’” (Matheson 904). Matt is a very quick study and learns a great deal from Dunson (John Wayne’s character), and he shows strong leadership qualities when he continues on to Abilene without Dunson, but with Dunson’s cattle. The other men, who feared Dunson because he killed several men for wanting to quit the trip, look up to Matt as a strong male leader. Leadership is a major characteristic of the alpha male cowboy, which leads me to believe that Matt can be considered an alpha male cowboy in addition Tom Dunson.
ReplyDeleteA characteristic that is not usually found in the alpha male cowboy is the desire to talk. Though Matt does do a great deal of talking and falls in love with Tess, which shows vulnerability in his character, he redeems himself at the end of the film. In West of Everything, Tompkins says “when Matthew Garth returns to his hotel room at the end of Red River, he acts the part of silent conqueror to perfection” (Tompkins 60). Tess won’t stop talking about her concern for Matt because she knows that Dunson wants to kill him and there isn’t anything she can do to stop him. Matt stays quiet throughout the scene until she tells him to stop her from talking and he kisses her. When he goes out to fight with Dunson, he never actually draws his gun on him, showing how unaffected he is by what Dunson is doing. I think the end of the movie helps to prove that Matt is also an alpha male cowboy in this film because he earns the M (which stands for Matt) that Dunson refused to brand his cows with 14 years earlier. Though he may not have been an alpha male cowboy when we first saw him in the film, he definitely grows into one by the end of the film by observing John Wayne’s character, who is certainly an alpha male cowboy.