"He graced the whole world the
image of what an American should be", Elizabeth
Taylor said of him. John Wayne is nothing short of a
legend. He embodies those certain American qualities
so exceptionally well that one's response to his persona
is, sadly, political. His critics once said that he
portrayed a smug, pigheaded, bully-esque, bigot. Yet,
he was without a doubt the exact opposite. People just
forgot how consciously.
Wayne addressed the contradiction in
his roles. Anywhere from his breakthrough performance
in "Stagecoach" (1939), to his tamer 1976
's "The Shootist", Wayne portrayed the charisma
of a true American Hero. Anyone who watches "Red
River" (1948), or " The Searchers" (1956),
can identify that Wayne knew the pitfalls of power and
obsession in his roles, and his filmography is "studded
with as much bitterness." But, he was real, and
for a time, "The True American Cowboy", along
with the hero bit of course. His accomplishments in
films such as "They Were Expendable" (1945),
"Rio Bravo" (1959), reveals that to idolize
or demonize this man is to cheat him out of the real
complexity of his karma. Yet, worse than that, to miss
his movies is to only cheat yourself. (CD)
John
Wayne Photos - MovieActors.com
