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

Contrary to typical Western films, both Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara place a female character as the dominant force in the film. Westerns, as Tomkins states, "[e]ither push women out of the picture completely or assign them roles in which they exist only to serve the needs of men" (40). Three main characters of the films: Vienna, Emma, and Sara do not, in any way at all, fit this description Tompkins gives to women in Westerns. In fact, they play the opposite role; these women lead the films and are the main focus of the majority of the films' actions.

It is easy to uncover the reason why Sara is not given a role as a male servant. The film, unlike many other traditional Westerns, is filmed in 1970: when tide on the issue of women's rights was already well turned in favor of women. Many other films were shot in the 1930s to 1960s; by 1970, major steps had been taken to support women's rights. Through the 1960s, there were a series of court rulings, executive orders, and bills passed to protect women in the United States (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline2.html); prior to this social movement of mainly the 1960s, little actually happened to give women rights. Therefore, by the time the film was made in 1970, Sara could be the star. She could be smoking, shooting, drinking, alpha character she was: it had, over the previous decade, been made acceptable for her to be. She, after the women's movements of the 1960s, could play the important role she played in the fight against the French; the main fighter no longer was required to be an alpha male.

In Johnny Guitar, there is more of a role of the Red Scare that takes place between Emma and the community versus Vienna. The film was shot in 1954; this was right in the middle of Senator Joseph McCarthy's hearings in the House Un-American Activities Committee where accusations of communists infiltrating the nation were highlighted (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/mccarthyism/484). The accusations and paranoia can be seen in Emma's manipulation and finger pointing at her enemy: Vienna. Both main women, who dominate the film with their very strong personalities and actions, are constantly portrayed to have this aversion to one another. In the end, they even have a duel, something reserved in the Western for the alpha male cowboy and his villain counterpart.