The main points Sue Matheson makes in her article "The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialsim, and Ethics in John Wayne's Westerns" include the impact John Wayne has made on American men through his movies. John Wayne was seen as the ideal father because of his depiction of his "devotion to duty" (889). Many of the movies John Wayne starred in gave American men a hero to look up to and model their lives after through Wayne's portrayal of masculinity. Sue Matheson then goes on to explain how film noir must be understood in order to comprehend the roles John Wayne plays in Western films. Matheson states, "the connection between characters and milieu is extremely important because states of the inner world, the mind and emotions, are transmitted by expressionist techniques of exaggerated or distored representations of the outer world" (890). This means that Wayne's emotional and moral feelings are also represented through the landscape and scenery in the films. Another aspect of film noirs is the appearance and attitude of the characters. According to John Pierre Chartier, "all the characters are more or less corrupt" (891). Matheson also states that, "only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive in the noir frontier" (891). The common character that John Wayne plays throughout all his films "is an antisocial loner who functions in a world peopled with sociopaths, a Hobbesian wilderness where life is generally nasty, brutish, and short" (891). In addition, Wayne can usually be seen clean shaven, "dusty but not dirty," and seldomly sweating (892). Matheson argues that "in Wayne's movies, cleanliness and dirt register how normal or abnormal a character's psychology is" (892). Another main point Matheson makes in her article is the idea of Existentialism. She talks about how many film noir's focus on "the negative side of existential thought [emphasizing] 'life's meaninglessness and man's alienation'" (896). In Wayne's westerns, "moral individualism and pervasive corruption are closely linked" (896). The main idea behind most of John Wayne's films is that a man settles his own problems. This causes many characters to be faced with an existential double bind, meaning "to retrieve what is his, he must break the law" (898). The final idea presented in Matheson's article is the ethics behind John Wayne's motives. She states "in spite of the cynicism and disillusionment reflected in Wayne's movies...men are men because their behavior is fundamentally ethical" (899). She goes on to talk about Plato's ideas behind "good faith" and how every individual strives to be the best that they can be. The virtues used when acting in "good faith" are traits such as "courage, wisdom, self-control, and fairness" (900).
The main points Sue Matheson makes in her article "The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialsim, and Ethics in John Wayne's Westerns" include the impact John Wayne has made on American men through his movies. Many of the movies John Wayne starred in gave American men a hero to look up to and model their lives after through Wayne's portrayal of masculinity. Sue Matheson then goes on to explain how film noir must be understood in order to comprehend the roles John Wayne plays in Western films. Film noir is a term used to describe films from the early 1940s to the late 1950s that emphasized characters cynical attitudes and sexual motivation. The western films portrayed alpha male cowboys as ruthless men striving to survive the unforgiving landscape. The alpha male cowboys emotional and moral feelings are represented through the landscape and scenery in the films. The common characteristics of the alpha male cowboy are antisocial loners living among common townspeople and sociopath outlaws. Another main point Matheson makes in her article is the idea of Existentialism. Existentialism is a belief system that is totally godless, and revolves around an individualistic mentality. This is true for many of the alpha male cowboys in western films, because the men are more focused on being rather than essence. The main idea behind most of John Wayne's films is that a man settles his own problems. This causes many characters to be faced with an existential double bind, meaning in order to get what is his, he must go against the laws. The final idea presented in Matheson's article is the ethics behind John Wayne's motives. For all alpha male cowboys, their ethics is their moral code. Moral code is the main reason behind many of the cowboys actions and behavior.
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