My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946)

 The film is directed by John Ford and it opens with four brothers who walk in California with a herd of cattle. On their way, Wyatt meets the  family of Clantons  and the family asks to but the  herd of cattle  since they will be stole  as they arrives in California (Eyman & Duncan, 2004). Wyatt and his brothers feel discouraged by being threatened. During the evening, Wyatt and his brothers moves in Tombstone and as they returns back they finds that cattle are stolen and young brother is killed. Wyatt and his brothers decide to wait for the town’s Marshall to deal with the case. However, in Tombstone, civilization is less valued as the town Marshall fails to take the case seriously (Eyman & Duncan, 2004).Wyatt acts against the law and punishes the Marshal for violating the law.  Wyatt demonstrates that he is courage’s, brave and law-abiding when he fights. The film portrays binary opposition between the two families.

 

 

Wyatt was an outlaw hero as he was willing to take the public duties. He was interested with doing the right things with respect to the law and expecting everybody to follow the law (Ray, 1985). He noticed that the government was not reinforcing peace, respect and civil order when the law representatives in Tombstone failed take the matter seriously. The incident led to the Gunfight and it symbolizes that the violence as a confrontation between the law and society. Wyatt viewed the law as an oppressor and that is the reason why he used the federal badges to fight for individualism (Ray, 1985). The point shows that he was an outlaw hero because by fighting and being brave, he wanted to find justice and to maintain civil order. Wyatt’s actions benefit the society and his reactions are interconnected with a revenge to maintain justice. Following that Clanton had decided to kill the Earp brothers, they participating in the game at the Occidental Saloon (Ray, 1985). The town Marshall warned them not to cause trouble but Earp’s brothers were courageous in that they looked for Ike and hit him on the head. According to Ford, Earp faces tension but he demonstrates his heroic character and precarious balance in the community. He is a person who was controlled by the inner dignity to demonstrate the value system and to create reconciliation in the community.

 

The film has contradictory values between Wyatt and Virgil Earp, and the former tries to eliminate the contradiction and maintain peace in the community. Virgil, who is the town Marshal confronts the outlaw brothers and kills Clanton and Mc Laury. In this episode, Wyatt is portrayed as the outlaw hero and a central lawman. The film shows that the People in Western community experiences violence from their rivals and the war fight rises due to lack of socio order. The timeline of the film portrays the Western fate during the World War II (Eyman & Duncan, 2004). It shows that Western is pitiless to outlaw heroes who knows the right things and struggles to maintain justice. Wyatt is a character who struggles to maintain the moral but there is an official hero who focuses on traditional beliefs and violates the law. The difference between the heroic nature leads to racial variance in racial hierarchy. Wyatt seeks justice for individual sacrifice though the town Marshall fails to take the matter seriously. His violence acts play a key role in the Western culture as it creates the new American order (Eyman & Duncan, 2004). It is important to note that the classical Western is not against femininity but rather it tries to maintain justice.  

 

 

 

Reference

 

Ray, R. B. (1985). A certain tendency of the Hollywood cinema, 1930-1980. Princeton,

 

N.J: Princeton University Press.

 

 

Eyman, S., & Duncan, P. (2004). John Ford: The searcher 1894-1973. Köln [etc.:

 

Taschen.