I know I'm too late for this post to count for this week which means most of you will read this after our discussion. But these thoughts came flooding to my head this morning (aren't you glad I wake up to thoughts of CTCS 412?!) and I wanted to write them down before class..
Reading the article about John Wayne, it is more than clear that he embodied the American myth- the old frontier, the masculine male, everything Americans thought their ideal American should be. And the article further explained that the idea of myth is useful to understand what Americans were thinking, whether or not it was true or accurate. So what does it mean in Stagecoach that Wayne (as Ringo) is the only one to accept and even love the ex-prostitute (Dallas)? (I think that's the past they kept alluding to in her former sinner's life.. )
The film was made in 1939, which means America was between World Wars and proudly isolationist, lead by Roosevelt. So this message to accept one another and forgive past faults is not likely to extend beyond country borders. Instead, perhaps Wayne as the ultra-American figure is giving Americans permission to accept the changes in society. After World War I, women's roles had changed and were establishing new places in the traditionally masculine America. And with World War II coming soon, they were about to have an even larger impact on America's home front. So perhaps Stagecoach is being used to advocate the idea that masculine men should forgive and accept the changing woman's role? This was the best explanation I could come up with, but it still doesn't fit that she was a prostitute turned marrying woman. It would make more sense if she were a docile woman turned boisterous independent.
Any ideas on what Ringo and Dallas' relationship - specifically Ringo's ability to look past her past and love her - symbolizes?
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I’m with you and waking up to thinking about class, and especially about John Wayne, it’s not my preferred way to enter the world from an amazing nights sleep. I can see how Wayne reeks of masculinity. But I guess I’m concerned with how and why the public loved him so much. Does anyone from that time look back and say “what the hell was America thinking?” Or do they just continue in their delusional world thinking that America isn’t a tyrannical elitist empire. It’s funny how we moved from our innocent “isolationist” behavior to total domination type of spreading of democracy. So, if this is real masculinity, can I opt out? How did “American virtue” translate into “taming” the west to now the world? Wayne unintentially shaped political attitudes of his time, his acting helped us to get “involved” with Vietnam, hello—every war since Vietnam has been a total sham based on deception. Was “American virtue” too busy watch John Wayne movies when Eisenhower warned about the military industrial complex.
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