Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, The Ballad of Little Jo

Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, and The Ballad of Little Jo all showcase the entrance of women into a more prominent role in the western genre.

Rooster Cogburn tells the story of a deputy who has been recently demoted. However, he finds himself on the hunt for another criminal once again, with the hope of being given his badge back. Along the way he meets Eula Goodnight, who witnesses her father's murder after their missionary is overrun by Hawk and his companions. She is desperate to avenge her father's death and decides to make the trip with Cogburn. She abandons the traditional view of women in that she is somewhat confrontational and is not as passive as others during her time. Rooster becomes much less independent by the end of the movie, as he opens up to Eula, and the language barrier associated with alpha-male cowboys is ultimately broken. Eula also becomes more like Rooster, as she suppresses her feelings for him until the very end.

In High Noon, a newly married couple is forced to cut their wedding celebration short when they learn of Frank Miller's expected arrival on the noon train. Amy, a Quaker, urges her husband to leave the town with her as they had planned. Kane, however, feels that he cannot abandon his duty to the town, as he was the former deputy. As she gets on the train to leave by herself, she hears gunshots and hurries back to save her husband. In doing so, she kills one of the men in Miller's gang who had been shooting at Kane. Frank, however, finds her, but she scrambles lose and leads her husband to victory. Amy abandoned her values as a Quaker in order to fulfill what she considered her duty, and truthfully, her strength and courage led to her husband's success.

In The Ballad of Little Jo, Jocelyn feels compelled to leave her hometown after sullying her family's reputation. She becomes a man in every sense of the word, proving that she can live on her own and provide for herself. She gains the respect of the people in town, and shows that she, too, can draw her gun quickly. This film showcases how women were emerging in the western genre as being able to stand tall against the alpha male cowboys of their time.

In each of these movies, the three women abandon the traditional view of women. They are strong, and have clear influences on the men that they accompany. Tompkins tells of how the alpha male cowboy closes himself up in an effort to control the situation; "not speaking demonstrates control not only over feelings but over one's physical boundaries as well" (56). However, it is clear in each movie, that the women exhibit a great amount of control through the use of their language. Jo especially abandons Tompkin's view of women, as she states that "women's talk evokes a whole network of familial and social relationships and their corollaries in the emotional circuitry." Though she does have relationships, she abandons them, feeling as though it is her duty to do so.

Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, and The Ballad of Little Jo

Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, and The Ballad of Little Jo have all share the more dominant role of strong women. Although they have some similarities, the different time periods in which the movies were made reveal the changing roles of women.

High Noon, made in 1952, starts the journey to the alteration of women’s roles. Amy Kane just got married to Marshall Will Kane. When Amy discovers that her husband decided to stay in town to permanently get rid of the town tyrant, she leaves. Will thought it was best for her to not be there when anything happens; he states "I know it’s against your religion and all." Amy knows that there is a chance that her husband could die and she doesn’t want to wait around until she becomes a widow. Amy runs into woman named Helen Ramirez. It is apparent that Helen is a strong woman when she decides to leave town after her secret relationship is revealed. Helen runs into Amy, and Amy tells her the reason why she is leaving town. Helen tells Amy that she should be there for her husband, even if she doesn’t agree with his tactics. Amy takes Helen’s advice and goes back to her husband. Ironically, Amy ends up saving Will’s life by killing the town tyrant. Both Amy and Helen’s roles show how it is important to be there for your husband even if you don’t agree with him. But, in a way, it also shows that what a woman says or thinks is not as important as what a man says or thinks; men and women are not equal in that aspect. Tompkins argues this is because “For a man to speak of his inner feelings not only admits parity with the person he is talking to, but it jeopardizes his status as potent being…” (p. 60).

Rooster Cogburn, made in 1975, portrays women in a stronger light. Eula Goodnight is a very outspoken woman. When the dandy’s were trying to scare Goodnight and her father, she continued to say a Bible verse aloud, even though the villain told her to be quiet. Goodnight constantly stood up for what she believed in. Goodnight’s character shows how women have changed since the Civil Rights Movement. Tompkins says that “women feel ashamed of their need to talk” (p. 61) which is no longer the case in this movie. Women, in the past, were not allowed to go with the men on their journeys. Goodnight, however sets a new standard. Goodnight stays by Rooster Cogburn through his dangerous journey to the West. Goodnight also uses a gun and helps Cogburn trick the criminals at the end of the movie by telling them Cogburn was dead, when he wasn’t. Lastly, Goodnight speaks up for Cogburn in court, allowing him to be reinstated. It is clear that this movie was made after the Civil Rights Movement because of this sudden change in women’s roles in the West.

The Ballad of Little Jo, made in 1993, demonstrates the most change in the role of women in the West. Josephine is the strongest woman character out of all three movies. Josephine takes care of the livestock, learns how to use a gun, and minds for gold; these tasks are usually associated with men. Usually men are viewed as loners who live on their own. Tompkins quotes Octavio Paz “…definition of macho as a ‘hermetic being, closed up in himself’” (p. 56). Tompkins goes on to say “The male, by remaining ‘hermetic,’ ‘closed up,’ maintains the integrity of the boundary that divides him from the world” (p. 56). In this film, however Tinman moves in with Josephine. Tinman tends to household activities such as cooking and cleaning, which is typically the woman’s job. During this period, women were able to have the same jobs as men and were not only viewed as domestic beings. This film showed this dramatic change in women’s roles in not only the West, but also in society.

3 Peat

The films The Ballad of Little Jo, High Noon, and Rooster Cogburn are all westerns where the roles of women make giant leaps in their statures and standing in the western film genre. Women show in these films that they are stronger and more prominent in their roles.
In the film The Ballad of Little Jo, the main character, Jocelyn, is forced to dress like a man in order to escape her past after a moment of weakness in the face of her family by sleeping with the photographer. In the new town she becomes completely self dependent and even able to use a gun to prove that she had made the transition and could take on the same tasks as a man. Thompkins contests that women are constantly the secondary characters and that they are there for dialogue and to spur on the men in the story. However, Jo goes against these beliefs and is able to provide for herself and establish herself on an even plain.
In Rooster Cogburn, Rooster is a local sheriff who has been stripped of his badge and is forced to chase down the outlaw, Breed, in order to attain the status of sheriff again. During his travels he meets a young woman, Eula Goodnight, and begins to foster a relationship with her. During the film, Eula is able to breakdown Rooster and, through conversation and language, has him let his guard down and express his beliefs and feelings. Thompkins states that women’s use of language is weak and that it only serves to make them inferior and that “opening up” only worsens their position. However, seeing when this film was made, the second coming of the feminist movement, shows that woman can have an impact and that her use of language and words is something that is valued and worthwhile. Not something that is inferior.
High Noon, Will Kane is the local sheriff who has to stand up to the local bad guy, Miller, and his gang. Throughout the film, we are introduced to the character Amy who is against violence and favors peaceful results instead of violence as an answer. However, in the end, she joins Kane in the fight to help him not only defend the town, but to support him in protecting his own self. Thompkins states that in the face of adversity and hardship, women put aside differences and support their man in their time of need. Something Amy did with full commitment.

Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, The Ballad of Little Jo

In The Ballad of Little Jo, High Noon, and Rooster Cogburn, there appear to be strong women who play important roles. Although they appear strong, they have moments where they are dependent and show weakness, which sets them apart of the alpha male cowboy and other males in general.

In The Ballad of Little Jo, women are disrespected. As an “other”, Jo will never truly fit into the west the way males did. Even though Jo helps a salesman when she is traveling out west, he then tries to pimp her to others they pass on their journey. When there is an actual prostitute in the movie, she disobeys the wishes of Percy and as a result gets her face slashed. When Percy discovers her secret, he feels disrespected and tries to win dominance over her by attempting to rape her. The person she connects with is Tinman, a Chinese railroad worker and another “other”. Although she connects with him since they are both outsiders who do not belong, the end reveals the truth about feelings towards women in the west. When Jo dies, her secret is revealed to the town. The men respond in disrespectful ways, destroying her home and tying her body to her horse to take pictures. Jo reveals her weaknesses when he saves Tinan from being hanged and when she has trouble killing another person.

In High Noon, Amy appears to be weak at first, telling Kane that she will leave even if he will not. Once the fighting starts, she cannot let Kane die and shoots one of the rebels. Even as a hostage she realizes she must help in order for her husband and herself to survive. She ends up attacking Miller, resulting in her escape and Kane shooting him. Although her actions are strong, her weakness is revealed in that she could not leave Kane and is dependent on him. As a woman, she let her feelings get in the way of her intended actions.

In Rooster Cogburn, Eula goodnight is a proper woman, having worked with her father at his missionary. She wants revenge on Hawk and his gang since they killed her father. She journeys with Cogburn, telling him he needs to change his ways and that he is not proper, drinking all the time and being so violent. She ends up becoming a little more like him while he becomes a little more like her; the two extremes move more towards the middle ground as a result of the feelings they develop for each other. Eula tries to hold back her feelings but gives them away at the end, although not quite confessing either. Her weakness is revealed in that she could not seek revenge on her own, but needs Marshal Cogburn’s help to hunt down Hawk.

Progressive Steps to Egalitarianism

“Kansas is all right for men and dogs but it’s pretty hard on women and horses. ”(The Santa Fe Trail) a quote chosen by Tompkins to elucidate the meaning of women in westerns. This is to say that the west was made for men and dogs, men being aggressive and dogs being their loyal best friends. While women and horses find it hard living in such a harsh climate due to their beauty and elegance. But throughout the major women rights suffarage campaigns in the world this quote is proven wrong and wrong again. In High Noon (1952), Rooster Cogburn(1975), and The Ballod of Little Jo(1993) the transition of women to equality with men is evident as the times pass and as women make small yet progressive steps to egalitarianism.
In High Noon, the audience is introduced to a women of religion a Quaker who believes in peace and is against violence, in every aspect. She becomes the yin to the yang of her husband (Kane) as the cliché prescribes opposites attract. In the film Kane faces an obstruction by his nemesis Miller who is set out to kill him in sights of revenge. Already Amy has gone through numerous heart drenching losses due to guns, the deaths of her father and her brother. She decides to leave Hadleyville, as she can’t take any more violence. Thinking it’s the last of it, Amy then decides to stay and protect Kane, joining him in the gun brawl. The key word is protect, usually in westerns men protect the women playing the cliché damsel in distress but rather here the woman has taken the hard way out and joined the men in combat to fight for the man she loves, and this is the beginning of strong women.
“When your back is to the wall you find out that what you want most is not to save your eternal soul-if it exists-but to live, in the body.” In Rooster Cogburn, John Wayne finds a woman and an Indian native boy, when he learns the Eula is the daughter of a reverend killed in attack he decides to take them home to safety. Eula and Wolf (the Indian native) decide to buy supplies and help Cogburn find Breed. “The loneliness comes from knowing you can’t contact another person’s feelings or actions, no matter how hard you try.” But in the case of Eula she tried and broke the language barrier between woman and cowboy earning the respect of Cogburn, and earning the respect to be viewed as a substantial character in Rooster Cogburn.
The Ballad of Little Jo is a story of a woman who dresses up as a man in escape of the prejudice issued with women. She is respected in the town as a male sheep herder, and it is truly evident that she is only respected because of her self-proclaimed gender. When she is faced with aggression brought on by another cattle company opting to buy all the land, she does not take the easy way out even though its obvious death makes her queasy, she instead fights and kills two men, so she can have her right and her land. Things only men in westerns would do if the film was made in the 1930’s or the 1940’s. For once in a western the women is established as the hero of the movie, and she proclaims the role of alpha male. In the 1990’s many women became super powers, Rikki Lake, Oprah Winfrey and this was transcribed to them.

High Noon, Rooster Cogburn, and Little Jo

The three films High Noon, Rooster Cogburn, and The Ballad of Little Jo all depict a changing attitude towards women, both in the western genre and in American culture. In earlier films, women were among the 'others,' playing only minor supporting roles in the shadow of the main focus, the alpha male cowboy. However with the ongoing Women's Movement of the 20th century, a distinct change also becomes evident in the film's of period. These three films depict strong-willed women, for the first time, assuming lead roles and dramatically affecting the films' sequence of events. In High Noon, it is Amy who emerges as the film's ultimate hero. She is portrayed as feminine and ethical, yet still courageous and competent, taking action to shoot the villain and save her husband's life. In a similar scene, in Rooster Cogburn, Eula also saves alpha male cowboy, Rooster's, life by shooting a man about to kill the cowboy. Both instances portray women breaking out of the traditional womanly role and into the direct action of the story."They may seem strong and resilient, fiery and resourceful at first," states Tompkins evaluating the role of women in earlier westerns, "but when push comes to shove, as it always does, they crumble." Clearly the tides have begun to turn as female characters like Amy and Eula emerge on the western scene and prove themselves increasingly more competent as the story progresses. However, the ultimate liberation from the traditional role of the suppressed female comes in the form of Josephine in The Ballad of Little Jo. The completely self-sufficient woman takes center stage, completely contradicting the female 'other' position. In many ways, she takes on the role of alpha male cowboy herself. She is independent and competent in both male and female duties. Like Amy and Eula, Jo also ends up ultimately saving the day by shooting two villains. Clearly, when push comes to shove, the women of High Noon, Rooster Cogburn, and The Ballad of Little Jo far from crumble. They exemplify the evolving mind-set towards women both in the western genre and in the 20th century United States.

The Rise of Women in the West

In the films Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, and Little Jo, the women in these films move away from the role of the defenseless housewife and took over some of the couragous actions that are often associated with the men of the West. In these films the women are not the motivation of the alpha male cowboy. The women are self-motivated and act out of a sense of duty for the good of the men in these films. This is a reflection of the progressive movement that the women took while their husbands were at war. They had a sense of duty to take over these roles because no one else would.
In High Noon, Amy is originally portrayed as someone who would rather avoid conflict. She wants to leave town and let Kane fight his own battle, but picks up the sense of duty and decides to stay and fight. In this film, she moves out of her shell and makes the transformation from seeing no use in fighting to staying and fighting.
In Rooster Cogburn, Eula shows undoubtedly shows couragous qualities by joining Cogburn to find Breed. This shows that she wants to seek revenge on Breed for killing her father. Her actions show that even women have the power to help catch criminals and kill. Eula is able to break down Cogburn's character and form a close bond that she learns from. This close bond is what enables her to fulfill the duties that the male character typicall have. This close bond was formed through their verbal communication. Tompkins states on page 66 that "Women, like language, remind men of their own interiority; women's talk evokes a whole network of familial and social relationships and their corollaries in teh emotional circuitry." This quote shows the relationship between Eula and Cogburn. Their talking really enhanced their bond and helped them become as close as they are.
The Ballad of Jo shows another strong woman who fulfills the roles typically associated with the alpha male. The lead woman in this role actually poses as a man and acts like one. Jo eventually is faced with a conflict and is forced to resolve this conflict the way the men do. Jo however, isn't comfortable taking another person's life. She eventually kills out of duty but has trouble overcoming the fact that she killed someone. Her role can be compared to the women in our society that dressed as men in order to get work and support their families. Once these women's true identities were revealed, they would be fired. This is similar to the consequences that Jo faced when her town learned her true identity.