Sue Matheson has some very opinionated views concerning the connection between the alpha male cowboy and the western, and the film noir genre. While I do not necessarily agree with all of her conclusions, she does bring up some very interesting points regarding the role of the alpha male cowboy in film, and in our lives as viewers. For her, John Wayne, the epitome of the alpha male cowboy, still lives on, relevant even today, perhaps larger than life in some ways. And in some ways, she is correct. The ideals that were held by his characters are ideals we wish to have today. Although some have no place in our society, such as the concept of might is right, and the idea of living outside of and above the law, she is right in saying that the world, whether experienced through our own eyes or those of the characters on screen, is not an easy place to live. The setting of the western shows us the inner workings of the alpha male cowboy. He is placed in the harshest of environments because that is where he is most suited, much like the dark alleys of the film noir genre suit the grizzled detective. Likewise, the cowboy often finds himself in the double bind which is so characteristic of film noir.
Matheson makes the alpha male cowboy into something more than just a settler, or a cowboy. He is our expectations for ourselves, to be wild without losing that which attracts others to us. He can turn his vices into virtues, allowing things like abandoning family or lying to become something which is somehow not only acceptable, but good. He has a sense of purpose, one that cannot be held back by those things that the viewer has to go back to at the end of the film.
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