Red River - RS

John Wayne is Thomas Dunson in the film Red River in which his dream of becoming the largest cattle ranch owner is destroyed when he loses the love of his life in addition to any wealth he once had obtained. Dunson's sidekick Nadine Groot is the definition of a alpha male cowboys, leading partner in crime. Not only does Groot stick by Dunson's side through the hardships, but also helps him after his adopted son Matthew, turns against him. Matheson points out that "the central relationships in the Western are conventionally those of the male hero and the intimate, and the central group is all male." This proves to be true in this film as Dunson most definitely take the role of the alpha male with his intimate, or sidekick, Groot, at his side. I would in addition not state that Matthew was an alpha male due to the fact that he is more of the "bad guy" as well as not the antisocial loner that Matheson states on page 891. Dunson takes the role of the alpha male due to Mathesons characteristics of being anti-social, relatively clean, as well as alienating most of the people in his life.