The 1948 Western film, "Red River", contains two characters who are Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift), who are shown to be alpha male cowboys. Tom Dunson is a man who owns a herd of cattles and carries out a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. Matt Garth is Dunson's adopted son who was the only survivor of the train raid done by the Indians. While watching the film, the elements of the alpha male cowboy were evident within the movie.
"In the West, a man 'who settles his own problems' is indeed the sum of his actions" (Matheson 897). Tom Dunson is represented by this quote. The film later on shows that Tom Dunson, Groot, and Matthew Garth comes into contact with two men who tell them that they cannot develop a ranch full of cattles because someone already owns the land. This triggered Dunson to "draw a gun faster than anyone else" (Matheson 891), killing one of the strangers right away. Tom dnson is one of those typical John Wayne characters that fits the alpha male cowboy image, being "only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive" (Matheson 891). To add on to the ruthless nature of Dunson, he kills men who initially accompanied him through the cattle drive but then who later leaves because of hopelessness. Tom Dunson also tells himself that he will kill his own son for taking away his cattle.
Another alpha male cowboy, Matthew Garth is represented as an orphan in his twenties until Tom Dunson adopts him. He is also a man who takes away life, but only when his life or another persons life is in danger. Basically, he kills because it is necessary. He is somewhat different than dunson in that he doesn't commit murder based on vengeance. However, they do appear similiar with the fact taht they leave their loved ones rather than talking to them. Jane Tompkin's book mentions that "words... cannot express the truth about things" (Tompkins 53) and so both Tom Dunson and Matthew Garth "distrust language" (Tompkins 49). Furthermore, to show their masculinity as alpha male cowboys, they remain silent because "not talking is a demonstration of masculine control over emotion" (Tompkins 56). Then again, Matthew Garth does show a little bit of expression as he tells his love Tess Milay about the cattle drive.
The 1948 Western film, "Red River", contains two characters who are Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift), who are both shown to be alpha male cowboys. Tom Dunson is a man who owns a herd of cattle and carries out a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. Matt Garth is Dunson's adopted son who was the only survivor of the train raid done by the Indians. While watching the film, the elements of the alpha male cowboy were evident within the movie.
ReplyDelete"In the West, a man 'who settles his own problems' is indeed the sum of his actions" (Matheson 897). Tom Dunson is represented by this quote. The film later on shows that Tom Dunson, Groot, and Matthew Garth comes into contact with two men who tell them that they cannot develop a ranch full of cattle because someone already owns the land. This triggered Dunson to "draw a gun faster than anyone else" (Matheson 891), killing one of the strangers right away. Tom Dunson is one of those typical John Wayne characters that fit the alpha male cowboy image, showing how "only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive" (Matheson 891). To add on to the ruthless nature of Dunson, he kills men who initially accompanied him through the cattle drive but then who later leaves because of hopelessness. Tom Dunson also tells himself that he will kill his own son for taking away his cattle.
Another alpha male cowboy, Matthew Garth is represented as an orphan in his twenties until Tom Dunson adopts him. He is also a man who takes away life, but only when his life or another person’s life is in danger. He kills because it is necessary for him to do so. He is somewhat different than Dunson in that he doesn't commit murder based on vengeance. However, they do appear similar with the fact that they leave their loved ones rather than talking to them. Jane Tompkin's book mentions that "words... cannot express the truth about things" (Tompkins 53) and so both Tom Dunson and Matthew Garth "distrust language" (Tompkins 49). This shows their masculinity as alpha male cowboys. They remain silent because "not talking is a demonstration of masculine control over emotion" (Tompkins 56). Then again, Matthew Garth does show a little bit of expression as he tells Tess Milay about the cattle drive, showing that he is a little different than Dunson.