MB "Rooster Cogburn"

The role of "the other" within western film increases as the time period when the Western film was made inches closer to present day. The role of "the other" in the 1975 film Rooster Cogburn was highlighted in their supporting role to the alpha male cowboy. However unlike most sidekicks who receive little attention Eula, a female, and Wolf, an Indian boy, gain the respect of the alpha male cowboy.

Eula and Wolf respect was gained through their loyalty to Rooster when nobody else came to help and by their ability to save Roosters life in battle. As an Indian in a western film, Wolf's classical role is to be relatively unintelligent and follow the whites aimlessly to all ends of the earth. However Wolf is none of this he is intelligent, and he shows his individual skills while he attempts to take the nitroglycerin from the bandits. 1968, the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed, giving Indians basic rights. In early Western film the classical viewpoint of the female is that they are characteristically weaker than the men and require their strength to survive. However in Rooster Cogbrun, Eula appears to the audience as a powerful and physically inclined women. She holds her own within battle and knows how to handle a gun. Eula's strength reflects the early 1970s and the rise of women's rights through the second women's movement. 1973 saw the passing of Roe vs Wade which gave abortion rights to women. 1975 also saw the first women's bank open up in New York City.