KLR-Rooster Cogburn

Throughout the decades of the twentieth century, opinions of women in relation to their equality with men have developed to a point where by law they can no longer be discriminated. However, they have always been seen as a bit inferior and not quite as tough and physical as a man. In the 1970’s, although their opinion was respected, their presence in male dealings was never expected. They still held that classic stereotype that women are fragile and feminine.
In Rooster Cogburn, Eula Goodnight represented the change in how society viewed women. Throughout the film, Rooster Cogburn presented stereotypes about women at the time, and Eula constantly broke them.
In the beginning of the film, the gang arrives at Fort Ruby causing trouble with the Goodnights. When threatening Eula to back off, one of the outlaws starts shooting at her so as to scare her off. It was expected of women to be scared and retaliate at this point. However, although the outlaw kept shooting closer and closer, Eula didn’t even flinch, showing how determined she was to trust in a higher power.
In the woods when they were trying to trap the gang, one of the outlaws escaped from Rooster’s view and crept up alongside him, ready to kill. Unknowingly, Eula followed him with her gun and at the perfect moment, shot across a distance and hit him. For someone who didn’t believe in murder and who had barely any practice with a gun, it was surprising to see her perform so well. Rooster first gave credit to Wolf for shooting the man, not knowing that the real credit belonged to the woman in the trio.
Throughout the film, the idea of women talking and language came up in both positive and negative aspects. Rooster Cogburn found it offensive that Eula spoke like a classic Yankee, making her try to speak more vulgarly. On their ride to the river, Eula pointed out that men didn’t mind if women were smarter and could outshoot men, just as long as they were quiet about it. Throughout the entire film, Eula constantly reminded Rooster of how bad it is to drink and be an alcoholic. Rooster’s main annoyance with her was her talkative manner. However, at the end of the film, it is just this trait that gets him his position as Marshal back. Eula demonstrates that a woman doesn’t have to be physically strong in order to show that she has power; merely using language wisely will do.