In the film Red River the lead male roles are Tom Dunson and Matthew Garth. In the beginning, Tom Dunson shows his alpha male cowboy instincts by obeying the law of the land and abandoning the trail to go towards Texas to start a better life for his sidekick Groot and himself. Soon a young boy, Matthew Garth wanders up to the partners and Dunson adopts him like he were his own son. Dunson teaches Matt to be very skilled with the gun among other alpha male cowboy traits. However, throughout the film Matt never abuses the law of the gun like Dunson. Dunson lives by the law of the gun and even states in the film that he makes up his own laws. Dunson does not answer to anyone but himself and does not appreciate it when Matt tries to give him advice.
Matt on the other hand acts more compassionate to the other men in the film. When Dunson becomes furious that the men tried to abandon the group and steal some of there food supply, Matt stops him from hanging them. Matt also falls in love with a woman he meets on his journey to Kansas, something that most alpha male cowboys would never do. In my opinion, Tom Dunson is the only true alpha male cowboy in the film Red River.
In the film Red River the lead male roles are Tom Dunson and Matthew Garth. In the beginning, Tom Dunson shows his alpha male cowboy instincts by obeying the law of the land and abandoning the trail to go towards Texas to start a better life for his sidekick Groot and himself. Shortly after, a young boy, Matthew Garth wanders up to the partners and Dunson adopts him like he were his own son. Dunson teaches Matt to be very skilled with the gun among other alpha male cowboy traits. In a sense, Dunson is handing off his alpha male status to his "son." Dunson lives by the law of the gun and even states in the film that he makes up his own laws. Dunson does not answer to anyone but himself and does not appreciate it when Matt tries to give him advice.
ReplyDeleteMatt on the other hand acts more compassionate to the other men in the film, a trait that would often be seen as feminine by Tompkins and Matheson. Throughout the film Matt never abuses the law of the gun like Dunson. When Dunson becomes furious that the men tried to abandon the group and steal some of there food supply, Matt stops him from hanging them. Matt also falls in love with a woman he meets on his journey to Kansas, something that most alpha male cowboys would never do.
In my opinion, both men are alpha male cowboys but are ethically different. Matt gets the job done and lives by the gun but also a conceived justice of the gun. Dunson on the other hand always gets his way and is more morally ambiguous than Matt.