There is a base canard put forward by many a moron that John Wayne played the same character in every film. That he only played John Wayne. He did play a type that is true. But there were variations on the theme.
The question who do we want to be? Tom Doniphon or Quirt Evans?
Quirt Evans was the outlaw who gave up his guns for the love of a woman in "The Angel and the Badman." This is one of my favorite John Wayne movies of all time.Even thought I don't quite like the character arch for the Duke. Quirt quit his job as Wyatt Earp's deputy and sold his ranch to go and seek revenge against the men who killed rancher Walt Ennis who raised him from a pup. He was injured and nursed back to health by a Quaker family. He falls in love with the daughter and she eventually gets him to turn away from the way of the gun. To the point that he puts his life at risk by forsaking his guns and letting the law handle the problem. He gave up his right to self defense and surrender his guns like a liberal weenie Democrat. Not a good look for the Duke.
Tom Doniphon is a different kettle of fish. He loves Hallie with all of his heart. Loves her enough to let her go to Ransome Stoddard the feminized lawyer who falsely gets credit for the murder of Liberty Valance. Ramsome Stoddard was the original Pajama boy.Tom shoots Liberty down in cold blood. Without remorse. He is the cynical bitter edge of the Western hero. The hetero hero who is gone today. The world these days wants everyone to be like Ransome Stoddard. The lawyer. The politician. The liar. The fraud. The Barack Obama, John Boehner, Lindsey Graham, Hillary Clinton.
People scorn the Tom Doniphon's these days. The hard man who walks toward danger. Doing bad to do good. They want to put those guys in prison. The cop that arrests the skells who get killed trying to take their guns. The soldier directing the bombs to kill the terrorists. Even though they are out there keeping us safe. Those hard men risk their lives so the Ransome Stoddards can collect their awards and accolades. So they can sit back and mock and belittle and second guess the people who put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us.
But we know the truth. If only our politicians could speak the truth.
17 comments:
I always liked Jake Cutter and Taw Jackson myself.
Trump said he'd kick El Chapo's ass. I don't know what kind of prez he'd make, maybe a bad one, but it's still refreshing to see the Tom Doniphon spirit in action.
I haven't seen a john wayne movie.
I never liked him.
tits.
It is sad that the closet thing you have to Tom Doniphon is a freak with a toupee.
Why can't one of the Republican candidates tell the truth? That illegal immigrants are a big source of crime. That they are law breakers by virtue of their very existence. That police killing minorities is not really the problem. It is minorities killing minorities. To tell the SJW to piss up a rope and tell the truth.
There are a lot of people who are ready to hear it. If someone will say it.
The only problem with "Who shot Liberty Valance?" is not enough Lee Marvin. But then i think that about most Lee Marvin movies.
Sadly, most Republicans don't want the truth - they like guys like McCain or Romney. This isn't about hating Mexicans, its about controlling the border and not letting in crooks, thieves, idiots, bums and other public nuisances. Its also about that quaint old timey concept of the rule of law, which evidently no one even the President or Congress believes in.
But when got the Rich loving cheap labor and the Left-wing loving the new imported Democrat voters, I don't know if much will change.
Its good the Donald is speaking out. I think Cruz is better than most of them on the issue.
I started reading a book called "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S. C. Gwynne over vacation. He tells the story of the Comanche tribe and of course the story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah Parker (sorry Troop, not Kay Parker :). John Ford's "The Searchers" was loosely based on a couple of characters in that saga. The book is pretty griping and well told. Highly recommend.
The Titus version of the Tom Doniphon saga is of course "The Man Who's Hot -- Liberty Valance"
"Empire Of The Summer Moon" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; it probably would have won but for the author's unflinching look at Comanche violence which of course is very un-PC.
rcocean said...
Sadly, most Republicans don't want the truth
Depends how you define Republican.
If you go by the FDR stereotype, they're all country club types living off their debentures.
If you go by the Reagan model, they're Main Street business owners, blue collar guys, military, and farmers.
The idea a Conservative can't win has been pushed since Rocky went against Goldwater in '60 and in'64. The Whigs are always afraid those "wild" ideas will scare people - a point emphasized by the work of Bill "Mr Ethics" Moyers.
Reagan shot a lot of that to Hell, but you still have to get through the primaries and then the general and you need people who can handle the media, which seems usually to point to the middle. Walker, Cruz, Fiorina, and The Donald, with Conservative messages, seem able to do that and can hustle the money and organization, which is another key area Conservatives have had trouble.
It also takes a sense of urgency, which we had in '80 and would seem to have now (wait till we find out how much of the store ValJar really gave the crazies).
YMMV
chickelit said...
I started reading a book called "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S. C. Gwynne over vacation. He tells the story of the Comanche tribe and of course the story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah Parker (sorry Troop, not Kay Parker :). John Ford's "The Searchers" was loosely based on a couple of characters in that saga. The book is pretty griping and well told. Highly recommend.
"The Searchers" was the Cynthia Ann Parker story, although Natalie didn't get to have any kids.
Captain Sul Ross, whose Rangers rescued her, may have been the inspiration either for Ethan Edwards or Martin Pauley (my money is on Marty since he seems to be the main character) in the book, which calls Ethan Amos.
I raise the question because it's a question. Most immigrants press the reset button when they move to America, or anyway the ones that went through Ellis Island. The American Adam born anew when he was borne upon these shores. Take the Greeks--please. In their native land, they are apparently a nation of tax dodgers and welfare state chisellers. In this country, they work hard and pay their taxes. You can say similar things about the Irish and the Germans. Our Germans were for most of the twentieth century much nicer than Germany's Germans. DeValera, the Irish nationalist leader of Ireland, turned his nose up at NATO (and Marhall Aid). He didn't want to be part of the Anglosphere. The Irish in this country (and Canada, Australia, et al.) felt no qualms about fighting on the side of England. DeValera not so much. I can understand his reservations about Churchill (who at one time would have had him shot) but the plain fact is that DeValera got along far better with the German Ambassador than the American.,.....I wonder if the Mexicans in this country will give up their ancestral grudges against the USA and leave the baggage behind on the route north. I see mixed signals. El Chapo is said to have killed thousands of Mexicans in his pursuit of dominance in the drug trade. Donald Trump is no bucket of ice cream, but there is no metric in the world that makes him a worse person than El Chapo. The fact that El Chapo is some kind of folk hero among the Mexicans and that Donald Trump is, in their view, some kind of Bond super villain speaks poorly not just of their judgment but of their wish to become Americans.
If only today's politicians had the testosterone and integrity as Jimmy Stewart's character in that movie (let alone the real Jimmy Stewart).
Just to be clear. The real Jimmy Stewart was an American Hero of the type you seldom see anymore.
I know that.
And while even the character Stewart played in that movie was 1000% more of a man than the craven curs we currently have in office.
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