Over at National Review’s The Corner blog there have been some comments about the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Mainly the comments are about how women today seem to be falling for Jimmy Stewart’s character, Ransom Stoddard, more than John Wayne’s character Tom Doniphon. Many of the people at NRO seem to feel that this is a shame and are more sympathetic to Doniphon as a heroic character.
A number of email reposes from ladies supporting their love for Doniphon were posted and I just had to say something. I emailed one of the writers to let her know my thoughts of the characters and I thought it would make an interesting post here as well.
There are spoilers so do not follow the link unless you’ve seen the film or do not care about spoilers.
The Man Who Shot LIberty Valance is truly a fantastic piece of film making and art and one of my favorite films, but I think all the ladies who are idolizing To Doniphon are not seeing the whole character of Tom Doniphon. I think there personal editors are slicing off everything after Tom shoots Liberty.
I am going to state that Tom Doniphon was a weak man. There’s no doubt that Tom had physical courage, a fairly strong moral sense (though not one strong enough to compel him to deal with Valance before it became a crisis for the woman he loved,) and generally pleasant disposition. However Tom had never dealt with loss or defeat on a personal level. It is clear in the film that Tom has won in life much more than he has lost. He has a thriving business, the respect of his community, and before ransom came along, the affections of a lovely and good woman in Hallie. Everything changes with the introduction of Ransom.
How did Tom handle that? This is where I think a lot of you ladies are editing things around to make him better than he was.
Tom dives into the bottle. Staggers from the saloon, and when he gets home to sets his house on fire — starting the fire in the room he had built for Hallie — and then drops himself into a chair and waits to die in the flames. Like Denethor in the Return of the King, Doniphon cannot accept defeat and despair and would rather die than struggle on with life. Tom never recovers from his loss. He never repairs his home and he lets his business crumble until upon his death his funeral is a charity from the state. This is hardly the strong independent character that people should aspire to be. He is at heart a character who cannot accept change in his world, who cannot pick himself up and get back on the horse after a bad fall.
Because of everything in the preceding paragraph Tom Doniphon is unlike any other character played by John Wayne. I think much more than Rooster Cogburn, this is the role Wayne deserved his Oscar for. It was a powerful piece of acting subtly played and with pathos worthy of any great actor.
