The West Hardboiled - SJC

The West-Hardboiled was written by Sue Matheson and it explains the relation Western films had to American society when they were produced. Sue explains that western film while they portray an era of 19^th century America they do not serve as historical references. In fact the main purpose of a western film according to Sue is to depict the aspects of the American male most favored by society. Sue Matheson endorses the idea of an alpha-male cowboy existing in every western film and that these alpha-male cowboys represent a specific set of traits that America favors. All alpha-male cowboys are strong, isolated and live by a moral code. Matheson expresses the idea that the western landscape is so harsh and deadly that “only the fittest, the strongest and the most ruthless survive” (891). To be the alpha-male cowboy one must be mentally strong, able to endure little water and food, and naturally must be physically strong both in strength and fighting ability. Matheson explains that western films are more “concerned with man’s savage nature rather than mankind’s ability to domesticate nature” (891).

Being isolated is another characteristic alpha-male cowboys must exhibit. The alpha-male cowboy cannot be a part of a town or society as his independence is what makes his strong and savage. The alpha-male cowboy always lives outside of town or has no home or family to go back to this isolation keeps him as being one with the land not the town. The final concern of Sue Matheson is the alpha-male’s morality. The alpha-male cowboy must kill people as that is what the land demands so he cannot be morally perfect, but he must abide by a moral rightness that is inherent in all people. Sue Matheson explains that the Alpha-male cowboy can be only as moral as the land allows but still must do what is right when the time comes.