In terms of gender Rooster Cogburn is almost opposite from what we have seen in the other films we have watched. The main difference in gender is that there is an alpha woman cowgirl who can keep up with the late and great Rooster Cogburn, John Wayne’s character. Eula Goodnight, Katharine Hepburn’s character, plays a strong minded woman who is a teacher/ preacher of a church that her father owned. Goodnight is a woman of strong faith too. Her character alone destroys the image of an alpha male cowboy. She is able to speak uninterrupted for days on end and the cowboy does not tell her to stop. Her language doesn’t anger the cowboy, as women in the past who have tried to reason with the alpha male cowboy. She can shoot really well, which saves Cogburn’s life. She can ride a horse just as well as Cogburn. She includes herself in the alpha male cowboy’s actions, with or without his consent. That is also a big difference; she is not subservient to the alpha male cowboy. She is very independent, opposite to the way in which women were portrayed in the other westerns we have seen. Cogburn treats her like an equal whom she deserves, but it is not what we have seen in other movies. This is the first woman to be equal to a man in any of the films we have watched
The alpha male cowboy is also a different than the other western’s we have watched. First thing that I noticed is that he interacts with the law. He works for the United States. In the movies that we have watched the cowboy was a loner he did not have time to be a part of something because he wanted everything his way. Though Cogburn carries the gun, the voice, and the walk he doesn’t resemble the same cowboy that was in early films. He is compassionate, he cares for others, and he travels and fights with a group. The cowboy is no longer a silent loner either. Cogburn does talk a lot in this film compared to the alpha male cowboys in previous films. Frequently during the movie there are long conversations that he shares with Goodnight. Cogburn even uses language to trick his enemies which is not something that we have seen the cowboy do in the past. “Wolf” the Indian boy asks Cogburn to teach him how to be a man like Cogburn. With feeling Cogburn promises the boy that he would teach him. This is different from the antisocial, silent, dominant male that parades around with his chest up high.
The alpha male cowboy is also a different than the other western’s we have watched. First thing that I noticed is that he interacts with the law. He works for the United States. In the movies that we have watched the cowboy was a loner he did not have time to be a part of something because he wanted everything his way. Though Cogburn carries the gun, the voice, and the walk he doesn’t resemble the same cowboy that was in early films. He is compassionate, he cares for others, and he travels and fights with a group. The cowboy is no longer a silent loner either. Cogburn does talk a lot in this film compared to the alpha male cowboys in previous films. Frequently during the movie there are long conversations that he shares with Goodnight. Cogburn even uses language to trick his enemies which is not something that we have seen the cowboy do in the past. “Wolf” the Indian boy asks Cogburn to teach him how to be a man like Cogburn. With feeling Cogburn promises the boy that he would teach him. This is different from the antisocial, silent, dominant male that parades around with his chest up high.
In terms of gender Rooster Cogburn is almost opposite from what we have seen in the other films we have watched. The main difference in gender is that Eula Goodnight, Katharine Hepburn’s character, can keep up with the late and great Rooster Cogburn, John Wayne’s character. Eula Goodnight plays a strong minded woman who is a teacher and preacher for church that her father owned. Goodnight is a woman of strong faith too. Her character alone destroys the image of an alpha male cowboy. She is able to speak uninterrupted for days on end and the cowboy does not tell her to stop. Her language is uninterrupted by the cowboy, as women in the past who have tried to reason with the alpha male cowboy. She can shoot really well, which saves Cogburn’s life. She can ride a horse just as well as Cogburn. She includes herself in the alpha male cowboy’s actions, with or without his consent. That is also a big difference; she is not subservient to the alpha male cowboy. She is very independent, opposite to the way in which women were portrayed in the other westerns we have seen. Cogburn treats her like an equal whom she deserves, but it is not what we have seen in other movies. This is the first woman to be equal to a man in any of the films we have watched
ReplyDeleteThe alpha male cowboy is also a different than in other westerns. First thing noticeable is that he interacts with the law and works for the United States. In the movies that we have watched the cowboy was a loner he did not have time to be a part of something because he wanted everything his way. Though Cogburn carries the gun, the voice, and the walk he doesn’t resemble the same cowboy that was in early films. He is compassionate, he cares for others, and he travels and fights with a group. The cowboy is no longer a silent either. Cogburn talks a lot in this film compared to the alpha male cowboys in previous films. Frequently during the movie there are long conversations that he shares with Goodnight. Cogburn even uses language to trick his enemies which is not something that we have seen the cowboy do in the past. “Wolf” the Indian boy asks Cogburn to teach him how to be a man like Cogburn. With feeling Cogburn promises the boy that he would teach him. This is different from the antisocial, silent, dominant male that parades around with his chest up high.