In her article, “The West Hardboiled,” Sue Matheson specifically addresses the characteristics of film noir, the hardboiled detective, and expressionism as it relates to the Western movies in which John Wayne stars. Matheson claims that throughout all of the Westerns in which Wayne plays the image of the “ideal American male” is portrayed in a unique way – an antihero in contrast to a traditional hero, who possesses dark characteristics while at the same time standing for respectable values. Tom Doniphan, in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, “exhibits a highly antisocial and disordered personality” just as the antagonist Liberty Valence does (Matheson, 896); however, the only thing that separates Tom from being a villain is his ability to balance the degree to which he commits unethical deeds, in accordance with virtue ethics. Tom shoots people when he deems it necessary, and likewise, the audience agrees with the actions that he must take, honoring him as a hero who must work outside the law to do what is right. Matheson continues with this idea in her detailed use of the term “hardboiled” when depicting the many characters Wayne has played. In Wayne’s westerns, the alpha male cowboy rarely has any room in his heart to feel emotion, for he is tough from his thick exterior to his dense core. Matheson uses this comparison to a hardboiled egg to show that the tough-guy image each Western alpha male represents is an actual “reflect[ion of] the psychological conditions of the protagonist” (Matheson, 890). Lastly, Matheson’s incorporation of existentialist ideas coincides with the theme of film noir, supporting the notion that “the world is ultimately corrupt and corrupting,” which causes “normally law-abiding citizens […] to find themselves enmeshed in situations that require them to become criminals” (Matheson, 896). Ultimately, Matheson suggests that an overlaying theme carries through all of Wayne’s westerns, which is that the typical alpha male, cowboy hero is corrupted and forced to play on the level of the villain, but still manages to be the most popular American icon for men for years past and years to come.
In her article, “The West Hardboiled,” Sue Matheson specifically addresses the characteristics of film noir, the hardboiled detective, and expressionism as it relates to the Western movies in which John Wayne stars. Matheson claims that throughout all of the Westerns in which Wayne plays, the image of the “ideal American male” is portrayed in a unique way – an antihero in contrast to a traditional hero, who possesses dark characteristics while at the same time stands for respectable values. Tom Doniphon, in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, “exhibits a highly antisocial and disordered personality” just as the antagonist Liberty Valence does (Matheson 896); however, the only thing that separates Tom from being a villain is his ability to balance the degree to which he commits unethical deeds, in accordance with virtue ethics. Tom shoots people when he deems it necessary, and likewise, the audience agrees with the actions that he must take, honoring him as a hero who must work outside the law to do what is right. Matheson continues with this idea in her detailed use of the term “hardboiled” when depicting the many characters Wayne has played. In Wayne’s westerns, the alpha male cowboy rarely has any room in his heart to feel emotion, for he is tough from his thick exterior to his dense core. Matheson uses this comparison to a hardboiled egg to show that the tough-guy image each Western alpha male represents is an actual “reflect[ion of] the psychological conditions of the protagonist” (Matheson 890). Lastly, Matheson’s incorporation of existentialist ideas coincides with the theme of film noir, supporting the notion that “the world is ultimately corrupt and corrupting,” which causes “normally law-abiding citizens […] to find themselves enmeshed in situations that require them to become criminals” (Matheson 896). Ultimately, Matheson suggests that an overlaying theme carries through all of Wayne’s westerns, which is that the typical alpha male cowboy is corrupted and forced to play on the level of the villain, but still manages to be the most popular American icon for men for years past and years to come.
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