KLR Johnny Guitar/Two Mules for Sister Sara

Laurel Thatcher once said, “Well-behaved women rarely make history,” and looking at America’s history in the 20th century, that seems true. In 1954, Rosa Parks wouldn’t give up her seat for a white person, rebelling against the norms of the time. This rebellious spirit is also evident in movies of the time. In Johnny Guitar, the main character is Vienna, a woman who owns her own land. If one looks at a list of cast members for the film, the star, or the most important character is listed first. And in this film, it’s not the character that appears in the title. It’s Vienna.

In the past films we have analyzed, most women were seen to constantly babble, at times about nothing. Vienna even admits this in the film, saying that she knows she’s talking a lot, but Johnny would have to listen to her story and how she suffered when he left. But despite this characteristic often attributed to women, Vienna seems like the female version of a cowboy. Alpha male cowboys do not follow; they are the leader of the pack, if any. Vienna definitely doesn’t follow anyone and she even has men working for her. Movies like this one challenge the idea of Americans as to whom the hero was in a film. Because women in the 1950’s were supposed to be submissive to men, the fight between Vienna and Emma small probably seemed out of place for viewers since at home, they were expected to be the housewife who had dinner ready and the house clean by the time her husband came home.

During the maturity of the women’s movement, Two Mules for Sister Sara was released in 1970. In the 1970’s, women became more involved in politics and affirmative action was gaining popularity as they tried to voice their rights to equal opportunities for education and jobs. As a nun, viewers expect Sara to be conservative and very pure. However, throughout the film, she smokes cigars and drinks Hogan’s whiskey, putting her on the same level as Hogan. Because Hogan is injured at the end of the film, he needs Sara’s help in order to shoot the train, doing it together. And at the end, she finally reveals that’s she’s been lying the whole time, revealing that she’s not a nun.
Both of these films demonstrate how women had a recurring desire to prove to society and even men that they were capable of performing at their level. Consistent with the events at the time, their actions helped demonstrate how times were changing and their influence was just beginning to surface.