cowboys

John Wayne has lately been visiting our house. He made his first appearance at a family movie night. It was my favorite John Wayne movie, El Dorado with James Caan playing Mississippi and spouting Edgar Allan Poe poetry. Jedidiah was fascinated with the movie, the characters, and the world in which they resided.

So we've been watching lots of westerns. His favorites are Cat Ballou and Rio Bravo. For the past two days, he has been John Wayne. First John Wayne the sheriff, like Chance in Rio Bravo. Then, John Wayne the hired gun and fist for the downtrodden, like in El Dorado. John Wayne isn't actually in Cat Ballou, but Jed seems to have substituted him for Lee Marvin and I'm not going to argue.

It's funny that, for all the violence in these movies, I'm totally okay with my son watching these films. See, modern woman that I am, I want my son to grow up manly and to have integrity, and I think John Wayne films model both behaviors. I want him to prefer denim and flannel to man bags and hair gel. I grew up looking at John Wayne as the ultimate good guy. There's a great song by The Amazing Rhythm Aces called "King of the Cowboys." The second verse goes like this:

You told the truth
You were always ready
Whether with your gun
Or with your hand
It was lies
But I never knew it
You taught me how to
Act like a man

The song is basically about how John Wayne's onscreen persona was often taken for his "real" life. I don't know squat about John Wayne, but I am perfectly willing to buy into the story that he was the kind of man who told the truth, was always ready, and did the right thing. Such people are harder to find these days.

We named our son, in part, after Jedediah Strong Smith, a mountain man and explorer of "great character and integrity." Both my husband and I admire adventurers, men who push their physical limits and take on our world with respect, conquering themselves not mother nature. To me, the combination of doing the right thing over the easy thing, and leading an examined and adventurous life is an ideal, one I hope my children will embrace.

So, here I am, letting my kid wear his six shooters and boots and watch Big Jake, and hoping that he picks up the values I like, and resists walking into bars spitting his chaw juice into spittoons and fighting. I want him to realize that while fighting isn't preferable, sometimes it's inevitable. And if you have to fight, fight to win.


(You can listen to the Amazing Rhythm Aces sing "King of The Cowboys" at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Albums-Amazing-Rhythm-Aces/dp/B00004TZZR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1260830594&sr=1-1 )