In this film, John Wayne plays the character of Rooster Cogburn who has just lost his badge due to his reckless behavior. He is given the opportunity to earn it back by catching the outlaws who killed an elderly preacher, Reverend Goodnight. This adventure is when Eula Goodnight comes into play. She is the daughter of the late reverend and she is also seeking revenge against the outlaws.
During the time period when this fil was created the Vietnam War was goin on and the United States was going through many changes. It was not only changing economically but the rights of the common person were changing. It was a very rebellious point in this country's history for the people of America. In particular women. Women were fighting for the rights that they long time deserved and were finally getting the chance to have those rights.
The "other" factor in this film is quite clear. Eula Goodnight is the other factor. She is a rebellious female who tags along with John Wayne on his Journey to catch the men who murdered her father. Not only is it out of the ordinary for a woman in westerns to want to seek revenge on men, but it is also extremely strange for John Wayne's Alpha Male Cowboy character to allow a woman to travel along with him on an adventure. The qualities that Goodnight possesses are also pout of the ordinary for the typical woman in a western film. She is an extremely agressive woman and is in no way afraid to speak her mind, especially to Rooster Cogburn. In most of the films we have seen the women are always left behind with the family or are given no opportunity at all to speak. Wayne's character typically considers himself a one man show and does not allow anyone else to tag along.
In this film and also in America at the time that this film was created, times were changing and the role of women was becoming more profound.
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