God Bless John Wayne?
I live in Texas. I see bumper stickers that say, “God Bless John Wayne.” They’re usually on pickup trucks with a Trump bumper sticker.
John Wayne’s legacy lives on today, especially in our politics. Too many of our politicians are cast out of the John Wayne mold of opinionated, racist men and a couple of women who view violence as a manifestation of their faux masculinity.
It seems that John Wayne’s propensity toward violence wasn’t limited to the screen. On the eve of the Academy Awards, we revisit one of its most historic moments notwithstanding the famous Will Smith slap.
In 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather, stood on the Oscars stage on behalf of Marlon Brando to turn down his Best Actor award for his performance in The Godfather, using the speech to call out the film industry's treatment of Native Americans.
She was booed and humiliated by the audience known for their liberal, humanitarian attitudes. Three decades after the event, she recalled the moment:
"I heard a disturbance from behind me as I was speaking up at the podium. I found out that John Wayne had been restrained by six security men from assaulting me while I was on that stage."
She called it the most violent moment that had ever taken place at the Academy Awards.
I’m sure that some men felt proud that it took six men to restrain “The Duke.”
My generation grew up on this portrayal of hyper-masculinity. We thought this was what a man was supposed to be. Now, some of these men and a couple of women are in positions of power and acting out that scene in True Grit when Rooster Cogburn confronted Ned Pepper as he rode his horse across that open field, twirled his rifle, and said, “Fill your hands, you son of a bitch.”
John Wayne was an illusion created by Hollywood. There was another “real man” around the same time who was popular but didn’t become the role model for what a man should be. Maybe our country would be better off if more boys and girls grew up wanting to be like Mr. Rogers.