The film, Rooster Cogburn, was released in 1975. The 60's through the 80's was a very influental time for women. Women were trying to gain equal rights as men both legally and socially. This desire for equality was reflected through film. In Rooster Cogburn, we see a shift in the role of women and people of different cultures. In this film, the role of 'the other' changes.
One of the main characters is a woman. Traditionally in Westerns, women didn't have a good role and weren't respected by men. At the start of this movie, the alpha male cowboy, Rooster Cogburn, doesn't like the woman. He doesn't want her and her Indian friend, Wolf, to travel with him. She refuses to take no for an answer and travels along side the alpha male cowboy. At one point, she even saves his life. The woman in this film, ends up helping the alpha male cowboy fulfill his duty, which is very rare in Western films.
We also see a change in the role of 'the other' through Wolf, a young Indian boy who travels with the alpha male cowboy as well. When Wolf expresses his desire to be a martial just like Cogburn is, he teaches Wolf a lot and encourges him to be a martial. In most western films, Native Americans also weren't respected and their roles in the films were very limited. However, in this film, Wolf was a sort of sidekick to the alpha male cowboy. We also see a change in 'the other' when Cogburn has an oriental man as his sort of servant. However, we still see the alpha male cowboy's rejection of people from different cultures when we see him interacting with this man. At one point Cogburn yells at him for not learning English.
This film really portrayed a change of the role of 'the others'. It provided a leading role for women right along side the alpha male cowboy. It showed the alpha male teaching the young Indian boy and encouraging him to be a martial. We also see people of different cultures start to enter into western films.
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