Was he even that great of an actor? I’ve certainly never seen anything he’s done that’s impressed me but I suppose I haven’t seen much of his work… I get the feeling most people idolize him because he represents some outdated male ideal that they think is superior. That usually involves something called “telling is like it is” even when “it” refers to your racist and/or misogynistic views.
17 Likes
Or Jimmy Stewart, whose boots Wayne was not fit to polish.
16 Likes
Bang on, I’m tipping; he only played the one guy in the half-dozen or so flicks I’ve seen him in.
3 Likes
The source material is kind of problematic to begin with. For example, every non-heteronormative character is a full-on pervved out sex maniac, child molester, prostitute or combination of the above. So John Wayne’s use of that epithet fits pretty squarely with the storyline’s portrayal of cowboy machismo.
3 Likes
Cultural appropriation really is American as apple pie, then!
11 Likes
Wayne was always playing the same role - that of John Wayne. I think he has a lot to answer for in creating the image of the male hero as uncultured, solitary, and repressed, never showing emotion or human feeling except for anger. Other tough-guy actors of the time, such as Humphrey Bogart, weren’t afraid to take on roles that showed at least some vulnerability.
7 Likes
James Arness seems like a pretty chill dude.
He was said to be a shy and sensitive man who enjoyed poetry, sailboat racing, and surfing.
4 Likes
People who lived in different times held different attitudes about different things. Fuck it, let’s burn them all at the stake.
1 Like
He actually was a good actor for bringing that presence, and had very good timing as well as emoting in my opinion. It was a narrow range of acting that he was asked for and that he delivered, but within it he did a fine job.
One can be a good artist in a particular field and also be a complete asshole. : )
5 Likes
You know, many people bag on that movie Hanging Up but besides the use of the Nixon Library, the funniest moments are the ones with Walter Matthau. He pays a former screenplay writer in Hollywood who is suffering from dementia, but always talks about the smallness of “John Wayne’s pecker.” Since it’s a semi-autobiographical story of the Ephron family, it makes me wonder if Père Ephron really did see John Wayne’s pecker? It cracks me up every time.
1 Like
Two points:
- Even if a historical figure can be forgiven for their now-outdated views, that doesn’t mean we need to honor their memory with a new holiday.
- “I believe in white supremacy” was already a pretty fucking backward and bigoted thing to say in 1971. We’re not talking about someone from the pre-civil-war era here. Martin Luther King Jr. had been dead for three years by the time that interview took place.
37 Likes
Yes, there was a lot of that. Of course there were also foul heteronormative rich kids trying to roofie women and rape them, sure they could get away with it because of their station; women oppressed to stay in households by familial violence; and men being trapped by their own machismo from expressing their feelings in ways they really need to. Also a cop we were told would someday lose both of his arms in a bizzare donut glazing accident.
Mostly though I see it as a crass adventure romp with a tone shifting from dark to absurdist and back. I enjoyed it without shame. I do wish the fun of it can be translated to the screen without the problems that you mention. I’m questioning whether it can be at all. I guess we’ll see…
“Um, can I get this in green.”
“No, I’m sorry, it only comes in the one color.”
“… he was too, you boys.”
4 Likes
A buddy of mine installed two-way mirrors at his pad in Brentwood, and he come to the door in a dress.
4 Likes
Just as a note, if you do q.v. Rand, you find that the Native Americans were simply not selfish enough; in the sense that they may have lived on the land and wanted to keep it, but they did not develop it as property, and so they had no right to it and deserved to have it all taken from them.
I will go further. Let’s suppose they were all beautifully innocent savages, which they certainly were not. What was it that they were fighting for, if they opposed white men on this continent? For their wish to continue a primitive existence, their right to keep part of the earth untouched, unused, and not even as property, but just keep everybody out so that you will live practically like an animal, or maybe a few caves about. Any white person who brings the elements of civilization had the right to take over this continent, and it is great that some people did, and discovered here what they couldn’t do anywhere else in the world and what the Indians, if there are any racist Indians today, do not believe to this day: respect for individual rights.
Just a reminder of what a truly poisonous ideology selfishness is, and how clever its prophets can be in excusing any inconsistency that benefits themselves.
15 Likes
In the afterlife, John Wayne blows donkeys to Pluto and back!
What a racist prick! I had no idea, so thanks Boing Boing!
1 Like
Even that bastard’s teeth were suspicious.
7 Likes
Don’t know about any expressed racism, but Jimmy Stewart was pretty right-wing. Worked as an informer for the FBI to clear Hollywood of communists.
1 Like
Excellent recall! I must watch this Sherman Alexie film over again, especially since it was filmed in our area (eastern Washington and northern Idaho). 
1 Like
