In Red River Dunson is the one true alpha male cowboy. At the beginning of the movie he shows all the qualities that are set out for an alpha male cowboy. But as the movie goes on Dunson begins to wear down and seems to lose his alpha male cowboy status. As he begins to lose this his protégé Matt Garth takes over the reins but in my eyes never becomes a true alpha male cowboy.
Dunson begins this movie, as all alpha male cowboys do, being the obvious leader. He tells people what to do and won’t except no for an answer. When he first arrives on his new land two of Diego’s men come to tell him this is Diego’s land and he ends up killing one and telling the other one off. He shows no remorse when killing any man that stands against him and shows little emotion through the whole movie even when he finds out the woman he loves has been killed by Indians. Dunson doesn’t let anyone or anything get in the way of his goal. He is set to his task like a true alpha male cowboy. When Matt takes over Dunson’s cattle his task changes from getting his cattle to Missouri to killing Matt and will stop at nothing to accomplish this (although at the end of the movie he can’t bring himself to kill Matt). To accomplish these tasks Dunson uses his mastery of the gun another characteristic of the alpha male cowboy. Matheson says “Only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive in the noir frontier, those who… draw a gun faster than anyone else” (Matheson 891). At the beginning of the movie Dunson was the fittest strongest and fastest with a gun but as the movie wore on Dunson began to lose control and Matt Garth became stronger and faster than Dunson and eventually takes over the cattle.
Matt Garth on the other hand is not a true alpha male cowboy although he shows many characteristics of one. Garth is a great leader like Dunson and has mastered the skills of the gun better than Dunson but the one characteristic that separates him from Dunson is the fact that he is “soft.” Both Dunson and Cherry tell him his heart is too soft. He worries too much about how the men feel rather than concentrating on getting the men and cattle to Missouri/Kansas. While a true alpha male cowboy is concentrated on the goal Matt compromises getting the cattle to Kansas because he feels he should help a group of “gamblers and women.” Matt follows a duty-based system of ethics which as Matheson says, “On the frontier where vices become virtues, however, it is not surprising that proponents of a duty-based system often find that their virtues have turned into liabilities” (Matheson 902).
In Red River Dunson is the one true alpha male cowboy. At the beginning of the movie he shows all the qualities that are set out for an alpha male cowboy. But as the movie goes on Dunson begins to wear down and seems to lose his alpha male cowboy status. As he begins to lose this his protégé Matt Garth takes over the reins but in my eyes never becomes a true alpha male cowboy.
ReplyDeleteDunson begins this movie, as all alpha male cowboys do, being the obvious leader. He tells people what to do and won’t except no for an answer. When he first arrives on his new land two of Diego’s men come to tell him this is Diego’s land and he ends up killing one and telling the other one off. He shows no remorse when killing any man that stands against him and shows little emotion through the whole movie even when he finds out the woman he loves has been killed by Indians. Dunson doesn’t let anyone or anything get in the way of his goal. He is set to his task like a true alpha male cowboy. When Matt takes over Dunson’s cattle his task changes from getting his cattle to Missouri to killing Matt and will stop at nothing to accomplish this (although at the end of the movie he can’t bring himself to kill Matt). To accomplish these tasks Dunson uses his mastery of the gun another characteristic of the alpha male cowboy. Matheson says “Only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive in the noir frontier, those who… draw a gun faster than anyone else” (Matheson 891). At the beginning of the movie Dunson was the fittest strongest and fastest with a gun but as the movie wore on Dunson began to lose control and Matt Garth became stronger and faster than Dunson and eventually takes over the cattle.
Matt Garth on the other hand is not a true alpha male cowboy although he shows many characteristics of one. Garth is a great leader like Dunson and has mastered the skills of the gun better than Dunson but the one characteristic that separates him from Dunson is the fact that he is “soft.” Both Dunson and Cherry tell him his heart is too soft. He worries too much about how the men feel rather than concentrating on getting the men and cattle to Missouri/Kansas. While a true alpha male cowboy is concentrated on the goal Matt compromises getting the cattle to Kansas because he feels he should help a group of “gamblers and women.” Matt follows a duty-based system of ethics which as Matheson says, “On the frontier where vices become virtues, however, it is not surprising that proponents of a duty-based system often find that their virtues have turned into liabilities” (Matheson 902). For Matt Garth helping the caravan of women and gamblers has cause a liability to his task and the lives of his men. Tompkins says that alpha male cowboys are so committed to their task that they often has to leave their families and love interests behind. So for Matt Garth to help a group of complete strangers is not what an alpha male cowboy would do.