Western Masculinity Beliefs - Movie Review Example

The idea of masculinity in the film 3:10 to Yuma James Mangolds 3:10 to Yuma is an impenitent morality film and a study of character that digs deeply into Western masculinity beliefs (Canavese Para. 1). The film instantaneously creates remarkable characters and moral quandaries through behavior in trying circumstances that the audience can also enjoy as action sequences that are superb. The fundamental concept of the film is about what it means to be a man, precisely a man of the old west. The film is set during the expansion of the post-civil War. The film sizes up the lawless, Darwinist Wade code and the principled Evans stance. In the late 1800s in Arizona, the notorious criminal Wade and his malicious gang of criminals and killers have inundated the Southern Railroad. When Ben Wade is captured, Evans Dan, who is a civil war veteran struggling to survive, offers to bring him alive to the 3: 10 Yuma train. The train will take the murderer to trial. Evans and Wade, each from different worlds start to earn each others respect. However, with Wades outfit on their trail and dangers at each turn, soon, the mission becomes a violent, impossible journey toward the destiny of each man. The film is a study of masculinity that dramatizes the struggle of a man to balance his communitys need with the individual needs. Masculinity has become a self-aware aspect even though it still clings to strategies of negation, and it has been illustrated in numerous instances in the film 3:10 to Yuma. As stated by Hamad (43), the film 3:10 to Yuma narrates the re-masculinization of Dan Evans, an economically subjugated rancher. Evans wakes one night to the sound of employees of the creditor to whom he was indebted. The employees commit arson on his property as an intimidation tactic. He finds himself weak to act, much to his teenage son’s disgust who openly holds Evan’s fatherhood with profound disdain. William, Evans son who believes he is more of a man than his father, brings about another aspect of masculinity. His son William is the one who carries a short gun while his father has no leg, which is masculinity loss. Dan Evans is on the brink of bankruptcy. He hardly looks at his two sons and his wife in the face. Evans family is his priority, but repels sacrificing his morality. He is no stranger to the idea of killing even though as a sharpshooter of the Union Army, he was left physically and emotionally damaged by the war. Evans is more traumatized by his unmanly retreat memory (Canavese Para. 3). Evans is offered a chance to re-enfranchise his family and recuperate his fatherhood following an encounter with the criminal, Wade. Wade steals Evans’ horses to prevent him from informing the authorities. This further jeopardizes Evans’ already threatened livelihood viability. Wary of his fatherly responsibility to guarantee his family’s unwarranted fiscal security and anxious to prove his paternal worth to his sons, he joins a crew charged with escorting Wade. Unknown to Evans, his son secretly follows them even though Evans had warned him against joining the posse. William reveals himself only when it becomes necessary when Wade attempts to escape which he successfully prevents. This further derogates Evans masculinity. However, Evans defining moment comes when the remaining members of the group want to surrender their mission. Nevertheless, knowing that his masculinity and fatherly worth are at stake, he stands fast in his resolve to complete his quest. In addition, knowing there is a probability of him being killed, he successfully demands a much greater fiscal reward, thus safeguarding the fiscal futures of his family. His journeys to the Yuma train with Wade gives him an opportunity to atone his paternal letdowns and win back the respect of his son that was lost. He dies knowing that the future of his family is secured. As Hammad (44) asserts, seeing his failures as a father through his son’s eyes, he is constantly aware of the low esteem in which William holds him. Hence, viewers are always mindful of the need for Evans to revalidate his masculinity and recover his slandered fatherhood. Evans confesses to Wade about a failure in the battlefield when his colleague shot him in the foot. The experience has been a source of shame for him since he is not able to narrate the story to his sons. In many circumstances, he would get some sympathy because of his confessions. However, in the masculine culture framework, his story affects Wade with severity. As a result, Wade spares him. Wade has a strong sense of his rules and by Wades definition; his criminality is part of his identity as a frontier gentleman (Ryan Para 2). The 3: 10 to Yuma explores ways men size each other up and surprisingly, develop mutual respect, whether in working together to survive or at odds (Canavese Para 8). The mens conceptual brawling high points in a room in the hotel as the clock ticks away to 3:10 and Wade tempt Evans with easy money. The masculinity aspect of the film is also about young Will whose soul is uncertain. He is drawn to Wade whom he views as manly but learns plenty of unexpected lessons of life by following his father’s progress. According to Canavese (Para 9), most of the Film’s characters define masculinity through toughness. They take action, use violence, and demonstrate power. The men do what is required of them with no queries asked. Some of the characters illustrate superficial masculinity markers such as drinking, smoking, womanizing, and profaning. Some of the men portray a masculinity presumed trait by showing no pain. Others, such as Evans locate their masculinity in the traditional fatherly utility through providing and protecting the family. He also portrays his masculinity through righteous decency, placing negotiation first over violence. The film creates direct connections to modern America. In modern America, the masculine culture hegemony is implicated in significant business formation, minorities oppression, and women marginalization. Moreover, the social conscience of the film plays on a larger irony, which underscores the hazards of being a male in a masculinity culture. The 3: 10 to Yuma explores the maleness rigid definitions and the narrowness in which courage is earned. Evans Dan and his family live in conditions that are diminished and partial social practices. These factors play on the psychology of a man that is guilt-ridden, who can no longer provide for his family. Contemporary audiences see Evans as a hardworking father who takes daily risks making a homestead. According to Ryan (Para 4), it seems a little bit false that he is tired of watching his children grow hungry given the number of cattle on his ranch. Evans has confessed to Wade concerning his struggles to look heroic before his son. Evans son and wife court the attention of Wade. In the film, what binds Wade the bad guy and Evans the good guy at the end is the mutual commitment to the fantasy of the powerful father figure. When Evans confesses to Wade that his wound from the war resulted from a shooting by his men, Wade switches to the maintenance of a myth that he was denied as a fatherless child (Peek para. 11). Evans still got the determination in him to doggedly hang onto the notion of making his small ranch successful enough to support his family. His individual dilemma develops into a dangerous conflict with Wade. It reveals the heavy burden men carry for their masculine individualities and shows the steep price they pay for their social duties (Ryan Para 4). The film illustrates the distance between two men who both have differences in significant ways. Dan Evans is a smart, insightful and thoughtful individual and Ben Wade, who lives in a world of thought and imagination (Lip Para. 3). In a significant scene, his employer offers Evans more money so that he would not go through with the job for everybody realizes they will not succeed. Sensing a better offer to take care of his family, he negotiates for even more money and benefits. He solely chooses to escort Wade through the dangerous town. Nonetheless, we discover that it is Evans desire to live a life worthy of retelling, specifically to his sons, to be the only man to walk Wade to the train. 3:10 to Yuma shows this unique masculine desire for dramatic heroism as a powerful trope that portrays a close kinship. It shows a close kinship between living as a historical being and the desire to be a part of a living antiquity (Ryan Para. 10) Evans is severely powerless. He has been deprived of every shred of dignity and accomplishment. He is crippled with a wooden leg in memory of his service in the civil war. This handicap might augment his achievement significance if he attained anything. Nevertheless, he is incapable of completing tasks for himself at every turn. His elder son William despises this, considering its inadequacy and weakness. However, Evans is man enough to compete with Wade at least as an underdog. On one occasion, Evans saves Wade’s life when he is attacked by a kinsman of one of his victims. Evans sticks to his duty. He turns down offers of bribe and even refuses the initial reward regardless of whether or not he will sail through with his mission. His exact mission is to leave his son a legacy to follow. Ultimately, Evan gains his respects of self and the respect of his wife, as well as well as Wade’s respect, which makes a significant difference. His self-respect and that of his family elude him to the end. Evans remains a pathetic figure to the end, dying with nothing but his son’s and Wade’s pity. By amplifying the father-son dynamic, the film becomes as much a story about the power of role models. William, Evans elder son, cannot help but hide his admiration for Wade when he witnesses Wade gun down two men down. On the other hand, Evans is struggling to make a legitimate living. Consequently, he suffers in the eyes of his son something that he is focused on correcting by bringing Wade to justice. Eventually, William finds out that the decency of his father is ultimately more dynamic than all of the stagecoach Wade robbing exploits. Ultimately, Wade decides that familial relationships are worth more than societal relationships, specifically those that based on criminal enterprises. He also decides that his lawless way of living needs a liberating release. More significantly, in this culture of masculinity, the fate of Evans shows the deep irony that there is a great social promise, yet much individual danger (Ryan Para. 13). As asserted by Csaski and McMahon (72), the film 3:10 to Yuma provide significant examples of the ways in which the Western has been used to reimagine liberal selfhood. The film is about how masculinity is understood as historical narratives. Pooled together, both Evans’ life and Wade’s life are an illustration of the dreams and realities of a working class man. Nonetheless, even though it is extremely masculine like most westerns, the two women with the speaking roles, are treated with an unusual respect level. Neither Alice nor the barmaids are clichés (Lipp Para. 6). In addition, according to Jones (Para. 8), the film plants a seed of doubt between Evans and his wife. He is of the imagination that she is questioning his manhood and his capability to provide as a man. He also imagines that Wade has charmed her. To conclude, the 1957 film uneasily inferred that by some primal measures, Wade was more man than Evans was. Nonetheless, the distance between them was close enough that Evans could still argue with. In addition, the 1957 film believed that a man was a man, whether he was a criminal or a citizen who was abiding by the law and core human and societal values applied to all. The 2007 remake perceives men as either wolves or sheep as depicted by Wade and Evans characters. It perceives men as either those who take what they want if they choose or those who are helpless victims of their impulse and notions. Work Cited Canavese, Peter. Masculinity Films: 3:10 to Yuma. 2013. Online Csaski, Steve and McMahon Jennifer. The Philosophy of the Western. Canada: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. Print Hammad, Hannah. Post feminism and Paternity in Contemporary US Film: Framing Fatherhood. New York: Routledge. 2014. Print Jones, Kent. 3:10 to Yuma: Curious Distances. 2015. Online Lipp, Deborah. Monday Movie Review: 3:10 to Yuma. 2007. Online Peek, C, Wendy. New Fathers, Old Conflicts? Patriarchal Politics in 3:10 to Yuma, Don’t Come Knocking, and Atmen. 2012. Online Ryan, David. Paying Dearly for Masculinity in 3:10 to Yuma. 2008. Online Read More