Rooster Cogburn is definitely a different type of western in terms of gender relationships and the alpha male cowboy. The gender relationship between Rooster and Eula Goodnight is not the typical man women relationship that past John Wayne films have had. When we first meet Eula it can really be seen immediately that she is a women who takes charge and is not afraid to stand up to men as seen when she doesn’t back down as she gets fired upon by the outlaws. We are able to get and immediate impression of a women with fortitude. But we really see how her gender differs from past films when she insists on going with Rooster when he tries to leave her behind. She without hesitation takes a rifle and a box or cartridges and orders Wolf to get on a horse and ride with her. Women typically didn’t volunteer to head out with men in the wilderness when the men are going to be moving quickly and dealing with the hardships that the land throws at them. In the past the women typically stayed in a wagon and rode along in a big group rather than to venture out with on horseback alone. Eula too is a woman who will speak her mind and is not afraid to say it to anyone. She’s tough, she can shoot, and she proved that she can stick with an alpha male moving through the wilderness. Her involvement in something that is strictly male oriented was surprising enough but then the way that she handled everything along the way with ease while staying calm was certainly different than anything we’ve seen so far.
The alpha cowboy too was different in this film. Rooster seemed to be more of a talkative cowboy who said what he thought. He was open with his sidekick who was a woman and took to showing Wolf the ropes a little when it came to tracking. Typically John Wayne in his past characters was not so gentle with the people that accompanied him on his quests. He wasn’t as hardboiled and rough as past roles. It was a cowboy that has a much softer and human side. Even with how he talked to his sidekick was strange to see. Eula was able to put Rooster in his place. He was never able to have a controlling effect on her. She actually was the one who controlled him at time with her religious preaching that seemed to tame Rooster. Even as the two came to part, Eula managed to get in the last word which was usually done by the cowboy.
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Rooster Cogburn is definitely a different type of western in terms of gender relationships and the alpha male cowboy. The gender relationship between Rooster and Eula Goodnight is not the typical man/woman relationship that past John Wayne films have had. When we first meet Eula it can really be seen immediately that she is a women who takes charge and is not afraid to stand up to men. When the outlaws fire upon her, when she doesn’t back down to give the outlaws the satisfaction of being a weaker and scared person. We are able to get an immediate impression of a woman with fortitude. But we really see how her gender differs from past films when she insists on going with Rooster when he tries to leave her behind. She without hesitation takes a rifle and a box or cartridges and orders Wolf to get on a horse and ride with her. Women typically didn’t volunteer to head out with men into the wilderness when the men are going to be moving quickly and dealing with the hardships that the land throws at them. In the past the women typically stayed in a wagon and rode along in a big group rather than to venture out with on horseback alone. Eula too is a woman who will speak her mind and is not afraid to say it to anyone. She’s tough, she can shoot, and she proved that she can stick with an alpha male moving through the wilderness. Her involvement in something that was strictly male oriented in the past was surprising enough. But then the way that she handled everything along the way with ease while staying calm was certainly different than anything we’ve seen so far.
ReplyDeleteThe alpha cowboy too was different in this film. Rooster seemed to be more of a talkative cowboy who said what he thought. He was open with his sidekick who was a woman and took to showing Wolf how to track. Typically John Wayne in his past characters was not so gentle with the people that accompanied him on his quests. He wasn’t as hardboiled and rough as his past roles. It was a cowboy that had a more human side. Even with how he talked to his sidekick was strange to see. Eula was able to put Rooster in his place. He was never able to have a controlling effect on her. She actually was the one who controlled him at times with her religious preaching that had a taming effect on Rooster. Even as the two came to part, Eula managed to get in the last word and ride off into the unknown. Typically that was the job of the alpha cowboy. Women were instead in Rooster’s position, sitting while watching someone they had developed feelings for ride away. From start to end, this film places women in a reversed role from what we are typically used to seeing in a western. And it is a clear sign that changes had occurred in society that influenced the western film.