Andrew Lutzke
The Cowboys
Synopsis: Rancher Wil Anderson (John Wayne) loses his hired help due to their thirst for gold, leading to him having to hire new help for a cattle drive. After proving their worth, eleven children (tweeners, really) are added to Anderson’s crew, which only includes a few other adults. The cattle drive is met with danger as a band of miscreants set their sights on taking the herd.
The Death: The leader of the rogues, Asa Watts (Bruce Dern) has the advantage in guns and numbers of able-bodied men, which puts Anderson in a position of weakness. Anderson convinces Watts to fight him in hand-to-hand combat, despite giving up thirty years of age to the villain. Anderson proceeds to bloody Watts up and win the fight, but as Anderson tries to walk away and continue his crew’s mission, Watts has the gall to shoot him in the back – mortally wounding Anderson and leaving him to die as Watts’ men plunder all of Anderson’s possessions.
Why it stuck with us: John Wayne rose to fame during the Great Depression. A time where millions of men and their families had to strive to survive through dust bowls, poverty, hunger and eventually war. A generation had to choose to work that much harder, that much longer in order to feed their kin. It is through these perils that rose an American icon.
The action heroes of the modern era sport chemically enhanced biceps, comically big guns and can perform wild stunts with the aid of computer graphics. The action stars of the John Wayne era demanded a different breed of man – one who was hardened through suffering. One whose muscles only grew through the ache of labor. One who drank hard and maintained a deadeye shot when trouble rang out. The lanky Wayne fit the bill and then some. Slipping into a cowboy hat and boots proved to be second nature to a man who was the personification of true grit.
Millions of fans headed to the theater to watch Wayne age over four decades of movies. This only lent further endearment to the man and the characters he embodied. So when this father figure stood up once again on the side of righteousness in “The Cowboys”, we knew Wayne would out duel the bad men, either with wits, fists or bullets. The ultimate act of cowardice executed by Asa Watts – shooting a good man in the back- was a galling display that presented moviegoers with a rare on screen death of a John Wayne character. It also left us fearful of what may become of the children left behind in the wake of this tragedy as well as an feeling of emptiness knowing that revenge may be impossible to fathom. Even as the boys redeem the death of Anderson in the end, we know his body will remain buried in the desert, as the boys use his fighting spirit to grow into men in the face of tribulation.
Deliverance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntC0xJo2bSU
Synopsis: Four Atlanta businessmen bypass their usual weekend of golfing to challenge the fictional Cahulawasee river’s notorious rapids. Along the way the men experience battles with nature, with the locals, with themselves and from within.
The Death: The film’s most infamous scene sees one of the men sodomized by gunpoint by a pair of mountain men. His canoe mate is tied helplessly to a nearby tree. Their fellow rafters float by the scene and come to the rescue, with Lewis (Burt Reynolds) killing one of the rapists with a bow and arrow shot through the chest.
Why it stuck with us: Movies like Commando and Rambo create a huge body count, with the hardened soldiers mowing through dozens of nameless generic evildoers without batting an eye. Deliverance takes the opposite approach, where four men find themselves looking at permanent interment for murdering one of the locals.
It is established earlier in the film that most of the men aren’t apt in hunting and survival, without ever experiencing killing even an animal. The reality of the men realizing they have a hand in the loss of a human life is played out on screen, and the death creates a polarizing effect on the men as they try and determine what steps to take in the wake of the incident. The mountain man’s passing lulls over the men for the remainder of the movie as they try and escape the whitewater rapids and the human horrors that may lie in the forest around the next bend.
My Dog Skip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjX7QJwzp-U
Synopsis: The plot of My Dog Skip follows the true story of author Willie Morris’ childhood while growing up in the 1940’s. His life is one of bullies and shyness before Skip the dog enters his life and opens him up to a whole new world of adventure. The bond between a boy and his dog are explored as we see Willie grow up and Skip grow old.
The Death: The death of Skip the dog takes place off screen, but not before we see the aging canine struggling through his last days. What was once was a routine leap unto the bed is now a nearly impossible effort as arthritis has robbed a once frisky animal of it’s free will. A strong willed pooch that once ran through a gamut of daily activities must now face an ending of pain and inactivity.
Why it stuck with us: Narrator Kevin Bacon delivered a final goodbye to his beloved dog at the end of the movie, and one line in particular stuck out for its prose: “They said they buried him by the old elm tree, but he really laid buried in my heart.”
The last goodbye of faithful pet is an experience that almost all of us can relate to, and seeing it unfold on screen, in such a delightful-yet heartbreaking manner tugs on the heart strings of even the most brawny soul. The one being that would never think to leave your side has now been laid to rest. The most faithful friend ever taken in by man will now be but a happy memory.
Casualties of War
Synopsis: Based on actual events that took place in 1966 where Sgt. Tony Meserve (Sean Penn) alerts his squad of soldiers entrenched in the Vietnam War that he plans on kidnapping a local villager for the purpose of raping her – for the good of the groups “morale”. One dissenting soldier, Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) refuses to participate and ultimately sees that the other men are put on trial for their crime.
The Death: After being brutally gang raped, Than Thi Oanh (Thuy Thu Le) becomes an inconvenience to the squad and Meserve orders her killed. Eriksson’s attempts to save her are futile and she ends up stabbed three times. Her will to live gives her one last gasp of might and she attempts to flee. The squad fire upon her and she falls off a bridge unto rocks far below.
Why it stuck with us: In a number of Vietnam War films, the Americans are portrayed raping villagers, a fact that no doubt happened. In other more glorified wars such as World War 2, thousands of rapes were reported as being committed by American GI’s across Japan and Europe, but nary a hint of that ever makes mainstream movies.
The Vietnam War was the first conflict that America “lost”, fought during a time of societal unrest and ever increasing journalistic reach. With millions of people hearing of bloody battles and body counts a nightly part of the news, many Americans turned their back on the War, and unfortunately the soldiers who were enlisted to fight in it. It is these men who were denied the dignity of victory, which may have provided a protective veil over how the vets were later portrayed in film.
In this film in particular, the increasing dehumanization of the victim haunts us, as her hopeless plight plays across the screen. The horror we see in Fox’s eyes as he tries to contemplate what he’s entwined in helps us lose ourselves into the film.
