The West Hardboiled

Dr. Matheson talks about her unique perspective on the Western. She uses several cases from movies starring John Wayne to talk about the hero and villain aspects of the movies and how there has been a change in the depictions of such characters. She also talks about the ideological role-model John Wayne's characters actually were, and continue to be.

As we saw in the first movie, the clear villain was depicted as a raw, mangy, dirty, man; a man with missing teeth and a gross beard. But Matheson described a change, a change from the traditional villain to a more clean cut villain; one that looked like a hero. Matheson stated "Men that appear to be civilized men might actually be savages" (895).

From his time on screen to the time after his death, John Wayne acted and portrayed the man that every boy wanted to be, and every woman wanted to marry. He was solid, he always had a mission and his objective was that he was going to conquer any task he set out to do.