Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara both show women in a more prominent light. This is due to the progressive feminist movements were taking place. Women were beginning to have a bigger role in society, other than being in the center of domesticity.
In Johnny Guitar, the two women characters Vienna and Emma become focal points throughout the film. Kid is in love with Vienna, which is not an emotion the alpha male cowboy often displays. Vienna and Emma are very different characters, and are almost opposites. Vienna is more relaxed and calm while Emma is more uneasy and outspoken. Women are still portrayed as emotional and use language to express themselves. For example, Vienna tells Johnny that she loves him, letting her emotions get the best of her. As Tompkins states, “It is by putting words to an emotion that it becomes feminized” (56).
In Two Mules for Sister Sara, the other, Sara, is a prostitute who lies to Hogan telling him that she is a nun. Tompkins claims “It is precisely words that cannot express truth about things” (53); cowboys distrust language for this reason. Sara is still somewhat similar to the typical “other” role in westerns since she uses men to get what she wants; she depends on men. Tompkins goes on to explain how women are categorized with language to express their emotions, while men are categorized with action. Sara, however, does not use language to express her emotions but to lie. When Sara tries to tell Hogan the truth, he doesn’t listen, which is typical of the alpha male cowboy. Sara also does tasks outside of the “other” role by placing dynamite on the train tracks. Sara is different from the “other” characters, and uses language in a completely different way. “Language is gratuitous at best,” Tompkins says “at worst it is deceptive” (52).
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Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara both show women in a more prominent light. This is due to the progressive feminist movements were taking place. Women were beginning to have a bigger role in society, other than being in the center of domesticity. Although things were beginning to progress, women were still not as accepted as men were by society.
ReplyDeleteIn Johnny Guitar, made in 1954, the two women characters Vienna and Emma become focal points throughout the film. Kid is in love with Vienna, which is not an emotion the alpha male cowboy often displays. Vienna and Emma are very different characters, and are almost opposites. Vienna is more relaxed and calm while Emma is more uneasy and outspoken. Women are still portrayed as emotional and use language to express themselves. For example, Vienna tells Johnny that she loves him, letting her emotions get the best of her. As Tompkins states, “It is by putting words to an emotion that it becomes feminized” (56). Vienna is still portrayed as a strong character, since she's living on her own. During the 1950s and 1960s, women were beginning to provide for themselves and get jobs in the labor force. Yet, women still did not receive the same respect as men and they were paid less.
In Two Mules for Sister Sara, the other, Sara, is a prostitute who uses language to her advantage. Sara lies to Hogan, the alpha male cowboy, telling him that she is a nun. Tompkins claims “It is precisely words that cannot express truth about things” (53); cowboys distrust language for this reason. Sara is still somewhat similar to the typical “other” role in westerns since she uses men to get what she wants; she depends on men. Tompkins goes on to explain how women are categorized with language to express their emotions, while men are categorized with action. Sara, however, does not use language to express her emotions but to lie. When Sara tries to tell Hogan the truth, he doesn’t listen, which is typical of the alpha male cowboy. Sara also does tasks outside of the “other” role by placing dynamite on the train tracks. Sara is different from the “other” characters, and uses language in a completely different way. “Language is gratuitous at best,” Tompkins says “at worst it is deceptive” (52).
Although Sara plays a bigger role than the typical "other" character, she is still not accepted by society. Sara lied to Hogan because she needed his help, and without him she was defenseless. If Sara would have told Hogan the truth about her being a prostitute, he would not have helped her. Prostitutes were not accepted by society, yet the men who used prostitutes were not scrutinized. This simply shows how discrimination, during this period, was still at the root of all things.