In the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, there are two distinct alpha male cowboys. One of these cowboys was Tom Doniphon, who was played by John Wayne. Doniphon was the quintessential hardboiled cowboy as described by Sue Matheson, “an antisocial loner who functions in a world populated by sociopaths, a Hobbesian wilderness where life is brutish, nasty and short” (891). Doniphon lives a lonesome life in a home outside of town with only his sidekick Pompey and acts by the philosophy of “western law”, which is essentially the lack of any law and order, where men solve their own problems. His ambiguous morality also demonstrates characteristics of an alpha male. In the film, he tells Stoddard that he can do what Stoddard can’t, which is to kill a man in cold blood and live with it, which allows the audience to assume that murder is something that he has done before in his life. Doniphon’s physical appearance, which is not “stained or grimey, disheveled in the style of the rough unmannered villains…dusty but not dirty… [his] clothes worn but not greasy”, also follows suit with Matheson’s description of the cowboy (892). Doniphon constantly looked tough and worn with work, but he would never look unkempt.
The other alpha male in the film, Liberty Valance, would be described as the “disheveled, unmannered villain” and sociopath, that appears to be the opposite from Tom Doniphon. Valance is a “manipulative, remorseless, parasitic, pathological liar with poor behavioral control” (892). Unlike Doniphon, who shows depth of character in his love for Hallie and kills Valance in an act of good faith, Valance is a static villain. He does not show any sense of morality or emotion. Much like his lack of vibrancy and emotion internally, Valance’s external appearance is just the same. He is shown wearing the same costume the entire film, his face is constantly filthy and his actions and manners are considered “beastly”. Although Valance and Doniphon have their differences, they both settle their problems in the same way. Both men live by the law of the gun, where men are the law and solve their own problems.
Besides the two alpha male cowboys, there is a third important character in the film, Ransom Stoddard. Stoddard arrives in Shinbone as an educated young lawyer from the East, and has a firm belief in living by the written law. After he is brutally attacked by Liberty Valance, the only advice he is given is to start carrying a gun, which to him sounds barbaric. Stoddard is often portrayed as feminine in the film, as he is seen washing dishes, serving food and wearing an apron over his perfectly manicured clothes, all characteristics of a woman. But later in the film, Stoddard finds that he has to leave behind his law-by-the books philosophy and begins carrying a gun, exemplifying that “in noir films…decent, normally law abiding citizens tend to find themselves enmeshed in situations that require them to become criminals” (896). He found that the only way to defeat Valance was to beat him in his own game, which is what Doniphon had been telling him the whole film. Ironically, Stoddard receives the fame and recognition as the one to kill Valance, even though it was Doniphon who actually did the glorious deed.
In the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, there are two distinct alpha male cowboys. The first of these two cowboys is Tom Doniphon, played by John Wayne. Doniphon is the quintessential hardboiled cowboy as described by Sue Matheson. She explains a cowboy as “an antisocial loner who functions in a world populated by sociopaths, a Hobbesian wilderness where life is brutish, nasty and short” (891). Doniphon lives a lonesome life in a home on the outskirts of town with only the companionship of his sidekick Pompey. He lives his life according to the philosophy of “western law”, which is essentially the lack of any law and order, where men solve their own problems. His ambiguous morality also demonstrates characteristics of an alpha male. In the film, he tells Stoddard that he can do what Stoddard can’t, which is to kill a man in cold blood and be able to live with it. This allows the audience to assume murder as something he has done before in his life. Doniphon’s physical appearance, which is not “stained or grimey, disheveled in the style of the rough unmannered villains…dusty but not dirty… [his] clothes worn but not greasy”, also follows suit with Matheson’s description of the cowboy (892). Doniphon constantly looked tough and worn with hard work, but he would never look unkempt or dirty.
ReplyDeleteThe second alpha male in the film, Liberty Valance, follows the description the “disheveled, unmannered villain” and sociopath, who at first glance appears to be the opposite from Tom Doniphon. Valance is a “manipulative, remorseless, parasitic, pathological liar with poor behavioral control” (892). Unlike Doniphon, who shows depth of character in his love for Hallie and kills Valance in an act of good faith, Valance is a static villain. He does not show any sense of morality or emotion. Much like his lack of vibrancy and emotion internally, Valance’s external appearance is just the same. He wears the same costume the entire film, his face is constantly filthy and his actions and manners are considered “beastly”. Although Valance and Doniphon have their differences, they both settle their problems in the same way. Both men live by the law of the gun, where men are the law and solve their own problems the best way they see fit. Doniphon defeats Valance with the same actions that Valance had been condemned for in society, which is murder.
Besides the two alpha male cowboys, there is a third important character in the film, being Ransom Stoddard. Stoddard arrives in Shinbone as an educated young lawyer from the East, and has a firm belief in living by the written law. After he is brutally attacked by Liberty Valance, the only advice he is given is to start carrying a gun, which to him sounds barbaric and savage. Stoddard is portrayed as feminine in the film, because he washes dishes, serves food and wears an apron over his perfectly manicured clothes, all characteristics of a woman. But later in the film, Stoddard discovers that he has to leave behind his law-by-the books philosophy. He begins carrying a gun, exemplifying that “in noir films…decent, normally law abiding citizens tend to find themselves enmeshed in situations that require them to become criminals” (896). He finds that the only way to defeat Valance is to beat him in his own game, which is what Doniphon had been telling him the entire film. He is forced to leave behind his justice-seeking Eastern law philosophy and adopt the Western law of the gun philosophy in order to survive. Ironically, Stoddard receives the fame and recognition as the one to kill Valance, even though it was Doniphon who actually did the glorious deed.
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