True Grit, Mattie Ross and Feminism?
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0:08 - 0:12Mattie Ross is the star of the award winning film True Grit made by the Coen Brothers.
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0:12 - 0:16This is a remake of the 1969 film starring John Wayne which is in itself
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0:16 - 0:20an adaptation of the 1968 Charles Portis novel.
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0:20 - 0:23The 14 year old lead character is played by Hailee Steinfeld
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0:23 - 0:26who much to my surprise was only 13 when filming the movie.
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0:26 - 0:29This is a significant and welcome change from the original casting
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0:29 - 0:32where actor Kim Darby was 21 when playing Mattie Ross.
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0:32 - 0:36it's always nice seeing young actors playing lead roles in serious films
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0:36 - 0:39especially young women, because they are offered so few of these.
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0:39 - 0:43Without giving too much away, this is a classic western narrative about the search
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0:43 - 0:47for revenge, self-reliance, and independence in a harsh and unforgiving land.
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0:47 - 0:51The movie follows Mattie on her quest for revenge against the man who killed her father.
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0:51 - 0:57To help her on in this venture, she hires notorious US Marshall Rooster Cogburn, known for his ruthless grit.
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0:57 - 1:01The Marshall initially dismisses and ridicules Mattie because of her age and gender
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1:01 - 1:06however, she convinces him of her confidence and they set out on the trail to find the killer
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1:06 - 1:09For those of you who haven't seen True Grit, there's going to be a few spoilers ahead.
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1:09 - 1:13What's so captivating about Mattie's character is how witty and smart she is
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1:13 - 1:16and how daring, self-reliant and independent she is.
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1:16 - 1:20She's full of confidence in herself and her abilities in a hostile, male-dominated world.
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1:20 - 1:25These are traits rarely ascribed to female characters, let alone female teenage characters
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1:25 - 1:29One of my favorite scenes comes early on when Mattie sucessfully negotiates with
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1:29 - 1:31an unscrupulous horse trader.
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1:31 - 1:35And I want $300 for Papa's saddle horse that was stolen from your stable.
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1:37 - 1:40You have to take that up with the man who stole the horse.
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1:40 - 1:43Tom Cheney stole the horse while he was in your care. You are responsible.
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1:43 - 1:50hahaha... Yeah, I admire your saying, but you'll find I'm not liable for such claims.
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1:50 - 1:55You are the custodian. If you were a bank and it were robbed you could not simply tell the depositer to go hang.
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1:55 - 1:59I do not entertain hypothetical, the world as it is is vexing enough.
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1:59 - 2:04Secondly, your evaluation of the horse is high by about 200 dollars.
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2:04 - 2:05How old are you?
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2:05 - 2:09If anything, my price is low. Judy is a fine racing mare.
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2:09 - 2:12I've seen her jump a 8 whirl fence with a heavy rider. I'm 14.
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2:12 - 2:15Mattie really is a breathe of fresh air
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2:15 - 2:17As Rebecca Keegan points out in her LA Times article
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2:17 - 2:24“Given that female adolescents are frequently depicted on-screen as vapid, angst-ridden, pregnant or merely decorative.
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2:24 - 2:29Mattie Ross is a remarkable role. She never shakes out her braids in a makeover montage, swoons
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2:29 - 2:33over a cute stable boy or frets about the daunting task at hand.”
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2:33 - 2:38I wholeheartedly agree, however, I've been a little dismayed by some mainstream media articles
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2:38 - 2:41and some blog posts that are quick to label Mattie a "feminist character."
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2:41 - 2:43Personally, I think it's a little bit of a leap
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2:43 - 2:46While it is certainly true that Mattie possesses a number of admirable traits
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2:46 - 2:48rarely seen in female movie rolls,
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2:48 - 2:50I'm just not convinced she's a feminist character.
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2:50 - 2:52Here are the two main reasons why:
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2:52 - 2:56All characters need a good story arc where they're one way when the story starts
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2:56 - 3:02and they learn a lesson or change or grow or regress or something.
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3:02 - 3:05The point is that the character has transformed from the place that they were
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3:05 - 3:08at the beginning of the story to some place different by the end.
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3:08 - 3:11For all intents and purposes, Mattie is basically the same person
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3:11 - 3:14from the first scene to the closing credits.
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3:14 - 3:17When she first steps off the train, she may be a little bit naive
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3:17 - 3:22but she is still fairly confident, self-assured, independent and emotionally cold.
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3:22 - 3:25During her experiences traveling with Rooster and LaBoeuf she retains all
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3:25 - 3:31of those traits and seems fairly unaffected by the danger, brutality and death all around her.
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3:31 - 3:34As an adult, she seems to have changed very little, if at all
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3:34 - 3:36and that leads directly into point number 2.
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3:36 - 3:40At no point in the film do we see a real range of emotion, such as sorrow,
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3:40 - 3:43despair, or grief for the loss of her father
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3:43 - 3:47Mattie's entire reason for being, as far as we're shown in the movie
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3:47 - 3:50is to seek the death of his murderer, an outlaw named Tom Cheney.
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3:50 - 3:54She is unwavering in her conviction that justice can only come through
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3:54 - 3:57the hanging of Tom Cheney in the town square
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3:57 - 4:00In fact, the whole film frames the murder of Tom Cheney as justice
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4:00 - 4:05whether he meets it by the state, by the US Marshalls, or by Mattie herself
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4:05 - 4:08It's never questioned that maybe "an eye for eye" is not such a good idea
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4:08 - 4:12We don't see Mattie questioning capital punishment ie. the death penalty,
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4:12 - 4:15or really considering any other potential forms of justice.
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4:15 - 4:19Even after she kills Cheney, she still shows no emotion
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4:19 - 4:24In fact, no one in the movie seems to be effected by brutality, death or the suffering of others.
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4:24 - 4:27As we know, all people, regardless of gender
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4:27 - 4:30are capable of the entire range of human behaviors
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4:30 - 4:33But since we live in a male-dominated, male-centered society
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4:33 - 4:38traits stereotypically identified as masculine
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4:38 - 4:42are more valued and consequently, more celebrated by Hollywood.
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4:42 - 4:47While traits stereotypically identified as feminine,
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4:47 - 4:49are undervalued and often denigrated.
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4:49 - 4:54This may be one of the reasons why people are quick to adopt Mattie as a feminist character,
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4:54 - 4:58and other female pop culture characters who are considered strong and tough.
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4:58 - 5:01The feminism I subscribe to and work for involves more than
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5:01 - 5:05women and our fictional representations simply acting like men
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5:05 - 5:09or unquestionably replicating archetypal male values
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5:09 - 5:13such as being being emotionally inexpressive, the need for domination and competition
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5:13 - 5:16and using violence as a form of conflict resolution.
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5:16 - 5:21In my feminist vision, part of what makes a character feminist is watching her struggle
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5:21 - 5:25with prioritizing values such as cooperation, emathy, compassion
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5:25 - 5:29and non violent conflict resolution in a world largely hostile to those values.
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5:29 - 5:33I think feminist characters should, like feminists in real life
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5:33 - 5:36push beyond societal norms, challange gender roles
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5:36 - 5:39and the institutions that actively work to maintain them.
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5:39 - 5:44And let me be clear here, this is not to say that I don't want characters who are flawed, because I do,
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5:44 - 5:49I want characters who are subtle, who make mistakes and who don't always do everything right.
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5:49 - 5:52but I want those characters to fit into overarching themes where they're not stuck
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5:52 - 5:57in stereotypical roles such as the damsel in distress, the girlfriend, or the love interest.
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5:57 - 6:03And on the other hand, I don't want them to just recast tough male roles for women to play,
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6:03 - 6:05which we've been seeing a lot of lately.
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6:05 - 6:08In True Grit, Mattie is certainly subverting expected gender roles
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6:08 - 6:12by being witty and smart and competent and independent
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6:12 - 6:15yet she is not challagenging the set of partiarchal, archetypical
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6:15 - 6:18male values ever-present in most mass media narratives,
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6:18 - 6:20she is actually adopting them.
- Title:
- True Grit, Mattie Ross and Feminism?
- Description:
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Mattie Ross is the star of the award winning film True Grit. She is a remarkable character being cast as a strong, tough, independent, and determined young woman. While I think Mattie's character is (unfortunately) rare in major Hollywood films, many people have been quick to call her a feminist character... I have a slightly different take.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Feminist Frequency
- Duration:
- 06:31
femfreq edited English subtitles for True Grit, Mattie Ross and Feminism? | ||
Ashley Harrington edited English subtitles for True Grit, Mattie Ross and Feminism? |