Johnny Guitar, Two Mules

In Two Mules for Sister Sara and Johnny Guitar, we are given views of female characters that are stronger than typical portrayals of western women. However, these females are still portrayed as the “other” in the films, and continue to provide men with problems. The first of these problems is the need for being saved. Tompkins believes that westerns portray women as the weaker sex, and that women constantly need to be saved by the alpha male. In Johnny Guitar, we see the classic version of the male saving the female. When she is about to be hung, Johnny manages to swoop in and save the day. This is the typical way of thinking that females are always the people being saved, and bringing challenges upon the alpha male. In Two Mules for Sister Sara, we see a variation on this classic method. In the beginning of the film, Hogan does save Sara from the three rapists. He then also saves her from the French army. This follows the typical damsel in distress, making extra work for the alpha male stereotype. However, this stereotype starts to change when Hogan is shot by the Indians. On the ground, injured, Hogan is in a terrible position. The Indians are in the position to kill him. However, Sara holds up her cross, and one of the Indians is convinced to let them pass. Sara then helps pull the arrow out of Hogan, something he wouldn’t have been able to do on his own. By Sara saving Hogan’s life, the story is going completely away from the stereotype. The fact that both Sara and Hogan saved the other’s life promotes more of a mutually beneficial relationship than the one shown in Johnny Guitar.
Another clear way to show female characters creating a challenge for the alpha male in Johnny Guitar is the way that Johnny is dragged into a fight that he didn’t start at all. He had nothing to do with Vienna’s decision to open the saloon, or her plans to start her own town. Instead, Johnny must wander in to save the day. Johnny plays the knight in shining armor, coming in to finish a battle that he didn’t start. In Two Mules for Sister Sara, we start off with a similar situation. Hogan saves Sara from the French, which is a battle that he had nothing to do with. However, the situation then switches from Hogan helping Sara out in her battle, to Sara helping Hogan out in his. Hogan is trying to bring down the French garrison, and is helped along the way by Sara. She gives him the layouts of the garrison, tells him about the French holiday, finds out what the French are doing at the train station, climbs up the bridge to plant the dynamite, and gets Hogan inside the garrison. All of this help is for a battle that she didn’t start. This is another way that the film promotes much more of a mutually beneficial relationship between the alpha male and the female, compared to the one way relationship in Johnny Guitar.