The True Grit of Mattie Ross and the Western Male Hero Archetype
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, in his review of the Coen Brothers’ 2010 film True Grit, comments on the manner debuting actress Hailee Steinfeld plays the role of Mattie Ross by observing that “she sidesteps the opportunity to make Mattie adorable…few people would get a crush on Hailee Steinfeld. Maybe in another movie. But the way she plays it with the Coens, she’s more the kind of person you’d want guarding your back”. Unlike most protagonists in the Western tradition — the lone-wolf, masculine ideal of vigilante justice answering the call to purge society of some lawless ruffian — a young girl is the narrator and center of this story. Throwing in a very quick-witted, capable female character in the midst of two Western males archetypes could be considered a female-empowering juxtaposition, making True Grit an appropriate choice for a postmodern audience. The irony lies, however, in that the very stereotypical masculine attributes the film pokes fun of in Cogburn and LaBoeuf are the same traits that audiences love in this spitfire adolescent girl. In attempting to make a revisionist Western film, at least from the feminist perspective, the Coen brothers actually reinforce the culturally accepted virtues of this archetype through the masculinization of Mattie Ross, deepening the disturbing quality of the harsh violence of the West.
The Coens bring the classical western into the 21st century with an unsympathetic realism, made more poignant by Mattie’s insensibility and active participation in the violence. We first are introduced to her unique character in her matter-of-fact handling of the price of her late father’s coffin and the mortician's work. Though a young girl, her hard-bargaining tone and level gaze single her out as unusual and more like an adult negotiating the price of some necessary home good rather than her father’s corpse. She requests permission to stay the night in the morgue while being informed of the arrival of three more corpses who were to be hanged that day, whose hanging she later attends with the rest of the town. Her unflinching coolness in the midst of the death and violence that surrounds her is a bit disturbing, yet audiences find these attributes likable in a young girl more so than in the classic male Western hero. Her admirable street smarts are displayed in the very popular scene in which Mattie bargains with a horse-trader, beating him at his own game. The fast dialogue in their amusing regional dialect combined with the quick cut shots between characters make it even more difficult for the audience to follow the logic of the negotiation. Afterwards, the trader flustered and beaten, Mattie is established as being able to hold her own and as having a sure sense for her world; more common to see in a Cogburn-like character rather than in a 14 year old girl. Mattie’s reactions to moments of intense violence, such as a man’s fingers being sliced off right before being stabbed in the chest and Cogburn shooting a man in the face from point blank range, also tell of steady nerves and acceptance of its necessity. Her expression, though shocked, shows no fear nor repulsion; she doesn’t make a sound. She doesn’t hesitate to shoot Tom Chaney — twice. The toughness and ‘grit’ she displays, in sharp contrast to the very feminine 1969 version of Mattie, sets her up to become even more the Western hero archetype.
Especially as seen through Mattie’s female perspective as the central character, the Western male archetype’s need to establish their alpha-male status as portrayed by Rooster Cogburn and Ranger LaBoeuf’s childish rivalry is depicted as ridiculous and laughable, suggesting a revisionist interpretation of classic gender roles. Roger Ebert commented in his review of True Grit that “Wayne played [Cogburn] wearing a hairpiece and a corset. Jeff Bridges occupies the character like a homeless squatter. I found myself wondering how young Miss Hattie Ross could endure his body odor”. Leboeuf is first seen as suspiciously appearing in Mattie’s bedroom (how did he get in there?). As he walks toward her, the camera reflects Mattie’s perspective and cuts to a close-up of what catches her attention: the fact that he wears his spurs, a sign of the Texan machísmo that characterizes him. Her confident and disdainful way of addressing him immediately transforms his first instinct to kiss her into a criticism of her femininity and attractiveness. Cogburn and Laboeuf competitively compare war stories and tales of bravery throughout the film, a comedic way of highlighting their need to assert masculine dominance. In another instance they attempt to prove their superior gunmanship by doing an improvised target practice with cornbread tossed in the air. All the while, in this revisionist-style mockery of the classic Western man, Mattie embodies the morally ambiguous acceptance of violence, independence, and drive for revenge that generally characterizes men in this genre. Postmodern audiences find it easier to take it seriously in its female manifestation.
True Grit attempts to redefine the female character by putting her in the lead role. However, the masculine vigilante justice figure seems to have absorbing pull in this genre and it envelops Mattie Ross, intentionally or unintentionally. Is feminism in film merely a grafting of the male archetype onto a female character? What could make True Grit a revisionist film in gender studies is what actually makes it a revival of the Western hero archetype. Audiences perhaps are able to see through the more corny, John Wayne-style masculinity crisis of the American West adapted 50 years ago but they love the female embodiment of those same attributes, moral or not.
