In this week's film, Rooster Cogburn, there are two main characters: John Wayne's alpha male character, Rooster Cogburn, and then there is "the other", Eula Goodnight. Eula is very unlike all the other female characters we have seen so far in Westerns. Unlike the other Western women who are quiet and reserved, Eula is outspoken and not afraid to voice her own opinion. She always has to get the last word in throughout the whole movie, which was odd for an alpha male such as Rooster to accept. There is a scene in the beginning of the movie which makes it easy to draw a distinct difference between Eula in Rooster Cogburn and the women in the earlier Westerns. When John Wayne begins to leave on his hunt for Hawk and his gang of thieves, Eula demands to come in order to bring justice to her father's death. Much like in The Searchers, Wayne declines her request. Though this time Eula remains persistent in her wishes and convinces Wayne, the alpha cowboy who shouldn't ever have his mind changed, to let her go. Wayne rarely ever argues with Eula, defying another alpha male characteristic.
Eula does not slow Rooster down on his hunt either like some women might have. Instead, she stands up to Hawk and never shows fear. She proves she can use a rifle and hunt better than the men could. Without Eula's assistance I believe Rooster would not have had anywhere near the success he had.
Rooster even goes so far to frequently voice his feelings, presenting him as a vulnerable alpha male. All of a sudden there is quite the new breed of alpha male in addition to the new breed of woman. He admits that he is intimidated by Eula, stating "she's frightening." Eula frequently reprimands Rooster for his actions, such as for shooting his food, talking to Hawk's men for too long in the stand off, and drinking. The weird part is that Rooster never argues with her. He obeys her and respects her. Rooster shows his soft side often, such as when he tucks Eula in and begins to reference the lord to impress Eula. He even tells her right out, "Being around you pleases me." The old alpha male John Wayne in this film is dead. Eula, the woman who never needed a man and Wayne needed by his side in court represents "the other" in Rooster Cogburn.
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In this week's film, Rooster Cogburn, there are two main characters: John Wayne's alpha male character, Rooster Cogburn, and then there is "the other", Eula Goodnight. Eula is very unlike all the other female characters we have seen so far in Westerns. Unlike the other western women who are quiet and reserved, Eula is outspoken and not afraid to voice her own opinion. She always has to get the last word in throughout the entire movie, which was odd for an alpha male such as Rooster to accept. Normally the alpha male will finish the discussion between him and a woman in a traditional western. There is a scene in the beginning of the movie which makes it easy to draw a distinct difference between Eula in Rooster Cogburn and the women in the earlier Westerns. When John Wayne begins to leave on his hunt for Hawk and his gang of thieves, Eula demands to join him in order to bring justice to her father's death. Much like in The Searchers, Wayne declines her request. Though this time Eula remains persistent in her wishes and convinces Wayne, the alpha cowboy who normally would never have his mind changed, to let her go. Wayne rarely ever argues with Eula, instead accepting whatever she has to say, defying another alpha male characteristic.
ReplyDeleteEula does not slow Rooster down on his hunt either, like some women might have done. Instead, she stands up to Hawk when he confronts her and never shows fear. She proves she can use a rifle and use it to hunt better than the men could, surprising them when they come back empty handed and she already has dinner cooking. Without Eula's assistance I believe Rooster would not have had anywhere near the success he had in staying alive and bringing justice to the bandits.
Rooster even goes so far to frequently voice his feelings, presenting him as a vulnerable alpha male (which is sort of an oxymoron). All of a sudden there is quite the new breed of alpha male in addition to the new breed of woman. He admits that he is intimidated by Eula, stating "she's frightening." Eula frequently reprimands Rooster for his actions, such as for shooting his food, talking to Hawk's men for too long in the stand off, and frequently drinking. Whats even more peculiar than the fact that she gives him a hard time so often is that Rooster never argues with her. He obeys her and respects her authority. Rooster shows his soft side often, such as when he tucks Eula in and begins to reference the lord to impress Eula. He even tells her right out, "Being around you pleases me." Even if an alpha male felt this way before he would have kept such a statement to himself. The old alpha male John Wayne in this film is dead. Eula, the woman who never needed a man was needed by Wayne in court to come to his defense. The "others" role and the alpha male's role are somewhat reversed in this film.