Being good is sexy

A third old blog I saved from my MySpace account.

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Being good is sexy: A Critique of 3:10 to Yuma

Written by: Cherie Black

3:10 to Yuma is a feminist's greatest nightmare… and its greatest ally. The former is obvious and not requiring explanation… though I am going to explain it anyway. The women in this movie (a grand total of two) are objectified. They are manipulated and made to dance by their puppeteer male counterparts. It doesn't matter whether her eyes are green, outlaw Ben Wade (played by Russell Crowe) can still use the description as an avenue for influencing any woman. Within moments, she will both enthusiastically strip her clothes and promise to meet him in some far-off city or she will respond to his masculine worth instead of her husband's and need the reminder from the latter that she shouldn't listen to the deceiving comments. Yeah… the women in this movie matter only in how they move the male characters' stories along (try saying that three times fast!).

But… however… nevertheless… this film works like a cosmetic mirror (a recognized feminine object). The flat side reflects the obvious nature of society – overbearingly and destructively patriarchal. The concave side, on the other hand, magnifies the affect it has on men, the people who supposedly perpetuate it. Enter Dan Evans (played by Christian Bale). Society with its emphasis on the fit and cunning has deemed him pitiful. He is trampled by outlaws and law keepers alike. The epitome of what a patriarchal society loathes, no one gives a rat's ass about him.

Yet, by the end of the film, it is he and he alone who conquers. How does he do it? By answering to a higher call than being the fast gun in the west – being willing to die for what is right. This, friends, is the opposite of a patriarchal society, of a culture in which men are the most powerful, are the fittest, are those who survive everyone else at any and all costs no matter the morality of it.

I am a woman, and I love this movie. I understand the reasons behind feminism, and I recognize in the Evans character the answer to the patriarchal issue – the sacrifice of one's life for what is right… kind of reminiscent of another character… one who isn't fictional... one who is timeless… Now who might that be? ;-D