Gun from 2010 True Grit

In one particular scene in the 2010 film Mattie receives her father’s belongings ,including his gun, and just stares at them. However in the 1969 film Mattie cries at the sight of her father's belongings. With the contrast of these two gun scenes, audiences are able to see the difference in characters between the two. In both films the gun is a very important motif that represents Mattie’s goals to kill Tom Chaney. By having Mattie hold it together in the 2010 film it shows her strong motivation to kill Chaney, but by having her cry in the 1969 film it in a way foreshadows the fact that she will not be the one to kill Chaney. The murder of Chaney itself shows the difference of intended ideologies of the films. In the 1969 film, Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne, is the one to kill Chaney. By having Cogburn kill Chaney in the 1969 film, it just proves to audiences what the intended take away for the film was. The Coen brothers showed the grit of Mattie Ross by having her be the one to kill Chaney. They made True Grit distinctly Mattie Ross’s story, in doing so they provided more context to the feminist ideas of the film by showing she is capable completing her revenge. Mattie had no choice in challenging gender roles and societal expectations to meet her goals. In the end, one might say that “Cogburn and LaBoeuf also exhibited their own form of feminism in accepting Mattie's goals and behaviors”(Robinson).

Robinson, Laura, et al. "True Grit." Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, vol. 24, no. 2, Apr-Jun2012, pp. 190-193. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/08952833.2012.648134.