H.N. & L.J.- AM

These two movies present new ideas that are opposite to the westerns that we have previously watched. In High Noon the women take on what are considered to be manly roles. Ramirez owns the saloon, and after hearing of the pending arrival of Miller and his men, she decides to leave town and her lover, the former deputy. Her presence demands power, and respect. She does not allow men to, “dominate or simply ignore” (72 Tompkins) her. Her character is equal to all of the characters that interact with her, especially the men. This is unlike women in previous westerns we have watched. In these westerns there is also another woman, Amy Kane that plays a manly role. Because of her religious beliefs, she is opposed to the thought of her husband killing another man, which results in her decision to leave her husband in order to save her soul. Women having their own opinions and agenda, is a revisionist idea that is presented in High Noon. After hearing the sound of gunfire, Amy runs to the side of her alpha male cowboy to protect him from harm. She ends up killing one of Miller’s men. This is the total opposite of what we have seen in the previous westerns. She doesn’t use words, usually “women must use words as their chief weapon.”(66 Tompkins)

In The Ballad of Little Jo the main character, Josephine cuts her hair and "becomes a man" because of the troubles she encounters on her way westward. In this film, Jo a women literally plays the part of a man. She becomes an AFMCB. Everyone in the film gives her respect and listens to what she says. They think that she is a man, which is part of the reason that they follow her, but nevertheless, she still dominates the characters in the film. She doesn’t back down from any conflict when men come to her and threaten her with death, She rejects their offer and battles with them for her land. She not only, “use[s] words as their [her] chief weapon,” but also uses the gun. (66 Tompkins) These two movies present different attitudes of and toward women and cut out the alpha Male cowboy, to become the alpha Female cowboy.

These movies have examples of the alpha male cowboy we have seen played by John Wayne but they also show the roles of women unlike the traditional western. The roles of the women in these movies show many different qualities than in traditional Westerns. The ability to wield a gun, and aid other men are examples of the differences. This affects the character of the alpha male cowboy, and how he never needed anyone: he was a loner. Neither characters in High Noon, or The Ballad of Little Jo demonstrate the qualities that an alpha male cowboy expresses: a silent, hardboiled loner, resourcefulness in his use of the terrain, his ruthless personality as rough as the terrain, it’s His-way or it’s the highway, never following even if that means facing abysmal odds. By not meeting these qualifications the males in these two films do not represent the alpha male cowboy.

This is a rather fast progression from the films that we have seen. JW played a very cookie-cutter AMCB, and in these two films, there is no distinct AMCB. However, the women in the movie have taken on a much stronger roll than ever seen before.