In the 1969 and 2010 film adaptations of Charles Portis’ True Grit a girl named Mattie Ross infiltrates the male-dominated territory of the Wild West and by her resilient aggressiveness in search of justice earns the respect of the grittiest of cowboys—a Fort Smith US Marshall named Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn and a Texas Ranger named Mr. LaBoeuf—thereby not only calling into question the gender norms and boundaries of the time but also calling to life otherwise dormant aspects of the masculinity that they had made themselves. In the first film the self-made man of the western genre emerges rather vindicated, but in the latter there are indications of a new man emerging in that old country: one who finds himself in self-giving and fellowship instead. This narrative interplay serves as a modern parable not only of the shifting perspectives of American culture but also of the dynamics at play when persons aim to operate within the gender norms of their cultural contexts but not necessarily according to them. It is accessible case studies like these that may be most helpful for those aiming to break their interpretive gridlocks and speak about the practical ramifications of the gospel by which they mean to live.
The Institute for Cultural Engagement, an official program of Multnomah University and Biblical Seminary