In the film Red River, by Howard Hawks we are introduced with two alpha male cowboys. Like in the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, I believe there are two types of alpha male cowboys, the hero and the antihero. In Red River, Tom Dunson is the antihero, where his adopted son Matthew is the hero.
When the movie first begins Tom appears to be a true heroic cowboy. He finds Matthew and ends up taking him in. Tom appearance wise is very clean shaven and clean cut and is an expert shooter. “Heroes…are not ‘stained, grimy, or disheveled.’” Tom, according to Matheson looks like an alpha male; she describes a villain as looking dirty and not caring about their appearance. Tom moves to build up his business and leaves his woman behind and says he will send for her. When Tom arrives in the area he likes best for his ranch he shoots and kills one of the two men who come to tell him this land is taken, and then tells the other man to tell his boss that this land is his now. Tom does not try and negotiate with the men instead he acts violently and use force to show this is his land now. The true antihero sides of Tom appear once he has to move his 10,000 cattle to Missouri because business is slow. He goes on a long and strenuous journey where he lashes out and becomes violent towards everyone. Matheson states, antiheros “are manipulative, callous, remorseless, parasitic, pathological liars with poor behavioral controls.” Tom shows all of these characteristics while on his journey that way he can get what he wants and keeps the journey rolling. Tom does show some heroic characteristics when he bravely leads the men on the trip to Missouri. One of these are seen when he uses his leadership skills when trying to regain control of the stampeding cattle. Tom though becomes very violent when a group of men want to leave the journey which would violate their contract. Tom ends up shooting the men and kills them for wanting to abandon him and the mission. “The distaste with which John Wayne says, ‘The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away,’ as he buries a man…not only challenges the authority of the Christian God, but also expresses disgust at all the trappings of belief: liturgies, litanies, forms, representations, all of which are betrayals of reality itself.” Tompkins states in her book West of Everything that Tom lacks respect for people and that is not something seen by a hero. Tom then tries to kill another man for trying to run off from the mission, once again, another very violent virtue. Tom loses control of his cattle to Matthew and to get back at Matthew he decides he is going to kill him. Tom does not see what he has caused to deserve him to lose his cattle. Tom does not kill Matthew after being influenced by Tess, a woman ironically, not to. A similar case where the cowboy listens to a woman is in the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Donphion listens to Ellie and protects Stoddard from being killed by Liberty Valance even though he truly does not want to. Clearly women have an effect on the different types of heroes. Though Tom and Matthew settle their differences at the end of the movie, we now know Tom is a very violent character that when mad and stressed can over react and harm anyone who crosses him the wrong way, thus making him the perfect antihero.
Matthew in my eyes is the true cowboy hero. He learns how to become a cowboy straight from Tom who teaches him how to shoot and even how to look like one. Matthew wants to be just like Tom, but realizes many of Tom’s negative antihero characteristics. Matthew will react violently, but not to the same extent as Tom. Matthew was right beside Tom and shot the men who tried to violate their contract and leave the journey. Matthew however very much had a right to shoot the men for wanting to leave as they violated their contract which said they would stay throughout. Matthew however cares about the other men and tries to get Tom to let them rest. Though Matthew backs Tom with everything he realizes Tom does not care about the others just himself. A true hero looks out for others. One of the tired men tries to leave the journey and Matthew shoots him just so he was wounded that way Tom could not kill the man. Matthew like Tom is an expert shooter and knows Tom would have killed the man with one shot if he had not beat Tom to pulling the trigger. “Only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless…draw a gun faster than anyone else.” Matheson states in her article “The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns” that the best hero needs to be able to draw his gun the fastest and be the best shooter around, even if that means being better than your teacher. Matthew heroically takes over the cattle drive once he sees Tom is incompetent to do so. Matthew instead of taking the cattle to Missouri takes them to Kansas where money can be made right away. This can be compared to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance where Matheson states, “The final irony, of course, is that without Doniphon’s help, Stoddard would never have been the man,” or in other words Matthew would not be the alpha male without Tom. In the final leg of the journey Matthew leads the men through a battle with Indians and falls in love, but leaves the woman behind. Love can hinder the cowboy, but Matthew does come back to her because love conquers all and he truly cares about her. Matheson says, “every individual pursues ‘the good,’ which is not necessarily a pleasurable experience, by fulfilling one’s human potential and by being the best that one can be.” Matthew had to go against his mentor and the person he believed in, but this led him to be stronger and a better man.
There are two alpha male cowboys found in this film. Matthew and Tom truly are heroes just in different ways. Matthew is the typical hero that is looked up to and everyone aspires to be. Tom is a type of antihero who can have good moments, but can lose his cool and become very violent wanting things his way. Much can be learned from both these heroes.
PS "Red River"
ReplyDeleteIn the film Red River, by Howard Hawks we are introduced with two alpha male cowboys. Like in the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, I believe there are two types of alpha male cowboys, the hero and the antihero. In Red River, Tom Dunson is the antihero, where his adopted son Matthew is the hero.
When the film first begins Tom appears to be a true heroic cowboy. He finds Matthew and ends up taking him in. Tom appearance wise is very clean shaven and clean cut and is an expert shooter. “Heroes…are not ‘stained, grimy, or disheveled.’” Tom, according to Matheson looks like an alpha male. Tom moves to build up his business and leaves his woman behind and says he will send for her. When Tom arrives in the area he likes best for his ranch he shoots and kills one of the two men who come to tell him this land is taken, and then tells the other man to tell his boss that this land is his now. Tom acts violently and use force to show the land is his now. The true antihero sides of Tom appear once he has to move his cattle to Missouri. He goes on a long and strenuous journey where he lashes out and becomes violent towards everyone. Matheson states, antiheros “are manipulative, callous, remorseless, parasitic, pathological liars with poor behavioral controls.” Tom shows all of these characteristics while on his journey that way he can get what he wants and keeps the journey rolling. Tom becomes very violent when a group of men want to leave the journey which would violate their contract. Tom ends up shooting the men and kills them for wanting to abandon him and the mission. “The distaste with which John Wayne says, ‘The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away,’ as he buries a man…not only challenges the authority of the Christian God, but also expresses disgust at all the trappings of belief: liturgies, litanies, forms, representations, all of which are betrayals of reality itself.” Tompkins states that Tom lacks respect for people and that is not something seen by a hero. Tom then tries to kill another man for trying to go against him. Tom loses control of his cattle to Matthew and to get back at Matthew he decides he is going to kill him. Tom does not see what he has caused to deserve him to lose his cattle. Tom does not kill Matthew after being influenced by Tess, a woman ironically, not to. A similar case where the cowboy listens to a woman is in the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Donphion listens to Ellie and protects Stoddard from being killed by Liberty Valance even though he truly does not want to. Clearly women have an effect on the different types of heroes. Though Tom and Matthew settle their differences at the end of the movie, we now know Tom is a very violent character that when mad and stressed can over react and harm anyone who crosses him the wrong way, thus making him the perfect antihero.
Matthew in my eyes is the true cowboy hero. He learns how to become a cowboy straight from Tom who teaches him how to shoot and even how to look like one. Matthew wants to be just like Tom, but realizes many of Tom’s negative antihero characteristics. Matthew will react violently, but not to the same extent as Tom. Matthew was right beside Tom and shoots the men who tried to violate their contract and leave the journey. Matthew however cares about the other men and tries to get Tom to let them rest. Though Matthew backs Tom with everything he realizes Tom does not care about the others just himself. A true hero looks out for others. One man tries to go against Tom and Matthew shoots him just so he was wounded that way Tom could not kill the man. Matthew like Tom is an expert shooter and knows Tom would have killed the man with one shot if he had not beat Tom to pulling the trigger. “Only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless…draw a gun faster than anyone else.” Matheson states that the best hero needs to be able to draw his gun the fastest and be the best shooter around, even if that means being better than your teacher. Matthew heroically takes over the cattle drive once he sees Tom is incompetent to do so. Matthew instead of taking the cattle to Missouri takes them to Kansas where money can be made right away. This can be compared to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance where Matheson states, “The final irony, of course, is that without Doniphon’s help, Stoddard would never have been the man,” or in other words Matthew would not be the alpha male without Tom. In the final leg of the journey Matthew leads the men through a battle with Indians and falls in love, but leaves the woman behind. Love can hinder the cowboy, but Matthew does come back to her because love conquers all and he truly cares about her. Matheson says, “every individual pursues ‘the good,’ which is not necessarily a pleasurable experience, by fulfilling one’s human potential and by being the best that one can be.” Matthew had to go against his mentor and the person he believed in, but this led him to be stronger and a better man.
ReplyDeleteThere are two alpha male cowboys found in this film. Matthew and Tom truly are heroes just in different ways. Matthew is the typical hero that is looked up to and everyone aspires to be. Tom is a type of antihero who can have good moments, but can lose his cool and become very violent wanting things his way. Much can be learned from both these heroes.