No Two in Red River

In the movie Red River, there are hypothetically two alpha male cowboys- the first appears right away and it is extremely obvious. The second does not appear until a few minutes in. Tom Dunson (John Wayne) is the definite alpha male from the beginning and he has his usual characteristics that seem to be present in all Westerns. He is strong, confident, masculine, and as Matheson describes him, “the fittest and the strongest” (Matheson, 891). Tom Dunson shows his confidence immediately when Matt asks him who the huge stretch of land belongs to and he responds, abruptly “to me!” and goes on to explain what he is going to do with the land. When Tom Dunson responds to Matt so matter-of-factly, to a completely viable question, it is obvious that he thinks of himself as superior. Matheson also describes “the Wayne persona is an antisocial loner” (Matheson 891). This is true from the very start of the movie when Tom’s love interest is begging to go with him and Tom simply says no but with an iron fist-- he is completely capable of being on his own.

Matt, comes into the movie as a small boy whom Tom takes into their small traveling pack. When Tom kills his first enemy in the presence of Matt, it becomes clear that Matt could potentially become another alpha male. Matt asks Tom how he knew the other man was going to draw and Tom replies that he could see it in his eyes and tells Matt to remember that and Matt says, “I will." It is obvious that Matt is taking in everything that Tom does in order to become just like him.

The alpha male cowboy is supposed to be emotionless. Fear is something that the cowboy is never supposed to show. After Matt took over the cattle drive Tom stated he would be back to kill him. When Matt’s love interest in the movie comes to see him, she notices that he is shaking. It is very clear that Matt is afraid of Tom's arrival.

Towards the end of the movie, Tom comes in with a gun, and eventually puts it down and starts hitting Matt. The whole time he is yelling at Matt to speak and to hit him back. Matt just lets Tom hit him and scream at him, not willing to fight back. Rather than trying to assert his dominance like a true AMOG (alpha male of the group) and fight back, he took the punches because he knew he would lose, and that ultimately he wronged Tom by basically starting a mutiny against him. Rather than trying and losing, he just gave up entirely.

Finally at the end of the movie it is implied that Matt will marry his love interest in the movie. Even Tom tells Matt, asserting his dominance, that he better marry her. The cowboy can have a love interest but when the movie ends the alpha male cowboy is always alone. Even though at the beginning of the movie there appears to be two alpha male cowboys, as the movie progresses the viewer realizes there is only one.