The West- Hardboiled- VC

Sue Matheson describes life in the Western films in her article through an in depth look at John Wayne and the many characters that he plays. She also analyzes other characters in Western films and uses them to depict what life was like in the West and the life of the cowboy.
Matheson quotes in her article "Wayne had become 'the almost perfect father figure ' of his culture: 'one of the great defenders of of the American nuclear family'" (888). Matheson then describes that this statement is ironic because the cowboy typically lives alone and away from his family. He leaves society to be one with the land. John Wayne embodies this characteristic in The Searchers. In the beginning of the movie, Wayne is returning to his family after being away from them. Matheson says "Wayne's characters demonstrate their love of wife and children and regard the law with a respect that is 'deeper than the written word'" (889). Matheson is describing how the cowboy (John Wayne's characters) show their devotion to family through fulfilling their duty for them. For Wayne in The Searchers, he did this by looking for his niece for five years.
Waynes appears in several Westerns which Matheson says are "generally considered to be reactionary narratives that reinforce the conservative status quo, furnish their audiences with a revised vision of the American west, one that reflects the postwar disillusionment and realism characteristic of the twentieth century" (891). Matheson describes how after Hiroshima, America lost its innocence. This loss is portrayed in Wayne's western films. The cowboy is a sort of loner who wants to be away from society. The villians per say are portrayed as social and are always dressed neatly and clean, as opposed to the rustic look of the cowboy.
Matheson also uses the film noir to describe Western life and what was referred to as the law of the gun. She says "As is film noir, moral individualism and pervasive corruption are cloesly linked in Wayne's westerns" (896). These characters would carry a gun and settle their disputes themselves, which is now viewed as corrupt and against the law. However, in this time, that was the law.