JP "Johnny Guitar" and "Two Mules for Sister Sara"

The alpha male is always highlighted throughout Western films as the leading role. However as portrayed in the two films, Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara, the audience observes “the others” stepping into the spotlight. This role reversal depicts the advances in women and equal rights during the time of production for both of these films individually.

Johnny Guitar was produced in 1954; this is during the era of the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, more people, including women and African-Americans, were standing up and making awareness of everyone deserving equalrights. There are many unusual scenes in this Western film, where the women are holding the leading role, and even portraying similar characteristics of the alpha male cowboy. The audience watches the feud between the characters of Vienna and Emma. The specific scene, where they are in the classic Western gunfight is a prime example of how the film portrays the reality of the world surrounding its production. The tension and energy given off in the country during the era of equal rights, is the exact attitude that was factored into the scene.

Two Mules for Sister Sara was produced in 1970, in a time where the feminist movement was making its way through our country. In this film, there is the alpha male cowboy, Hogan, who rescues a so-called “nun” named Sara, as she's about to be attacked by a trio of rapists. As the film progresses, we find out that Sara is actually a prostitute. She smokes and drinks, has confidence in herself, and shows many similar qualities of the alpha male cowboy. It is times like these and character like Sara, in which we see the true power within women. With the help of cultural studies, Western films effectively expose what is happening in the real world through simple characteristics and actions taken by specific characters.