Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sarah

During the first half of the twentieth century, women had a very minor influence in the western genre. Although their existence often impacted the plot, the actions of the women themselves never influenced the sequence of events. However in both Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara, the female characters take the center stage, abandoning their traditional roles as ‘other’ in the western genre. In Johnny Guitar, filmed in 1954, Vienna and Emma play the roles typically filled by alpha males. They are depicted as a strong and powerful woman that take action into their own hands and have influence within the town. Two Mules for Sister Sara also portrays a similar kind of feisty female character. Sara holds her own feelings and values, and refuses to let Hogan brush them aside. In the end, the film departs from the tradition western in many ways. Sara is depicted as outsmarting the alpha male cowboy. She fooled him and took advantage of him throughout the entire movie in order to fulfill her own needs. Furthermore, she ended up winning over the stolid and tough cowboy’s heart and domesticating him, illustrated in the closing scene as they ride off together, his pack horse piled high with her womanly belongings.

The Day of the Outlaw

The film, The Day of the Outlaw, presents a new attitude towards women in western films than seen in previous films. The women characters in this film are more prominent than in others, but still have many traditional qualities. Throughout the film, the women are constantly being fought over by the men. Blaise wishes to win Helen Crane, his former lover, back when he returns to town, however he learns that she is married to a farmer, Hal. Helen stands up for herself and informs Blaise that he cannot simply walk back into town and expect to see everything left the way it was when he departed. When Blaise left, Helen moved on with her life and found love in someone else. The film was created in 1959, right before the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing. This was also after World War II where women filled the jobs of men while they were off at war. After World War II, women were forced out of the jobs they occupied during the war, and men continued to fill them. However, women had a taste of what it felt like to be independent, and would not soon forget the feeling. By the end of the fifties, the woman's movement was beginning to gain support, which eventually ended in 1964 with the Civil Rights Act. The role of women in western films can be tracked through the ideals of the time period the films were made in. This is why Helen is given a somewhat independent female role in The Day of the Outlaw. She serves as the reason Blaise returns to the town , after his trecherous journey thorugh the mountain, and stands up to Blaise on mulitple occasions, but still is dependent on her husband Hal.

The Day of the Outlaw

The role of women in the 1959 film, "The Day of the Outlaw," is somewhat unique within the western genre. Unlike the traditional western, women are certainly not excluded from the central plot. In fact, the entire movie centers around caring for and protecting the female characters. They are consistently shown voicing their opinions and do not immediately obey the orders of the men as in earlier films.

However, although the women are respected and honored, they are by no means treated as equals. In actuality, this film objectifies its female characters even more blatantly than the films of the previous decades. The women are regarded by the outlaws as mere "pleasures," repeatedly placed in the same category as whiskey. The head of the outlaws states, "my men won't molest your women unless I give them permission." In this scene he is depicted as righteous and moral for protecting the women. Yet, the statement itself insinuates that he has the right to allow his men to sexually assault the females.

In many ways, the film does show great respect for women. They are genuinely cared for and held in high regard. This aspect reflects attitudes of the late 1950s, the time the film was made, which marked the beginning stages of the women's movement. However, the mindset of the outlaws, which belittles and objectifies the females, reflects the same time period's opposition to women's rights and rejection of women as equal members of society.

Two Mules/Johnny Guitar

The films Two Mules for Sister Sara and Johnny Guitar both display the revisionist attitude of the mid-1900's, as they switch focus from the alpha male to the "alpha" female, abandoning the traditional portrayal of women. The women's movement was in full swing by the 1970's, and this translated on screen, as women were less of a backdrop and more of a key player. Prior to these two films, women were portrayed as weak and heavily dependent on the men of the town. However, Two Mules for Sister Sara and Johnny Guitar depict women in a different light. Both of the films showcased women as independent and being able to stand on their own two feet. They were much less vulnerable than women in the films that had preceded them. Sister Sara, for example, was a prostitute, who pulled the wool over Hogan's eyes in pretending she was a nun. In Johnny Guitar, the women were prominent figures, both owning land and other developments, thus having much more power and control than women before them had. Because of this, the women were no longer dependent on men. The alpha male cowboy played less of a role than ever before, truly adopting some feminine qualities. In Johnny Guitar, the alpha male falls in love and gives into his emotions. In Two Mules Sara saves Hogan twice, once from being the Indians and once after he is struck by an arrow. She also convinces him to complete his mission, eventually shooting the gun to set off the dynamite because he is too weak to do it himself. It is clear that without Sara, Hogan would have been helpless. Thus, the two films exemplify "otherness" in the sense that the women play key roles; it could be argued that, if anything, the alpha male cowboys are more of "others" than the women in these two films.

Day of the Outlaw

Day of the Outlaw, produced in 1959, depicted women in a new light. Though they still displayed some of the more traditional qualities of western women, their presence was much more prominent than in earlier films. It was clear that the women had more of a hold over the cowboys. For example, Gene falls in love with Ernine and returns to her after he is dismissed from the journey across the mountain. Also, the women in the film more readily stand up to the men. Helen Crane admits to Blaise, whom she had had a love affair with, that she no longer has feelings for him and will continue to be the wife of Hal. The traditional western women would have a much harder time doing this than Helen did. The men of their town are very protective over their women, guarding them from the sexually frustrated Tex and Pace. It is apparent that their being with the town was valued and regarded highly. Even Bruhn shows a level of respect towards the women, not allowing Tex or Pace to be alone with the women. Day of the Outlaw was filmed at the onset of the second wave of the feminist movement, which went into full swing in the early sixties. Thus, the level of respect attained by women in the westerns correlated directly towards the ongoings of the time. Even the alpha male cowboys were losing some of their defining qualities. For example, Blaise, the alpha male of the film, subjected himself to the harsh journey over the mountain, but in the end, returned to the town for the comforts of home. The men in Day of the Outlaw were arguably much more vocal and dependent on each other than the cowboys in earlier westerns. With this in mind, it became clear that the defining qualities of each gender were being altered, as a result to the movement of the late fifties.

Day of the Outlaw

“Day of the Outlaw” is a film that was released in the 1959. In this movie we see that women traditionally have the same role as that in any other Western. But we see that women have gained and now have a completely new social status and standing. Women were respected. They did all the traditional jobs, made food, washed clothes and everything. Women were respected. People cared about the honor of the women. Men did not use women as they used to do, meaning they did not treat them as sex toys.
In the movie we see at a number of times when “Tex” and “Pace” insisting “Bruhn” to give permission so that they could have sex with them. Time and again Bruhn denied their request. Also, in the movie, on the last say when they had a social night and the women were called over for dance, Tex tries to kiss one of the women and Bruhn notices that and stops him, and asks the lady for dance with all the respect.
Another thing we see in the movie is that women, respect the decisions that they made in the past. As in when “Helen” who got married to “Hal” due to situations, respected the fact that “Hal” was his husband for her entire life. She made in very clear to “Blaise” who she loved, that she would dedicatedly be “Hal” wife even though she did not love him. She also, told “Blaise” that they would have a very formal relation and “Blaise” stay out of her life. Although “Blaise” was the tough Alpha male, “Helen” was not afraid to tell her what she felt and push him out of her life.

Day of the Outlaw

As concerns women as "other," this is an odd film. From a cultural studies point of view, what women's issues does the film take up? Give examples.