Sam Elliot doesn’t mince words on screen or off screen. He seems to be that type of person, that when he says something, everyone should listen. Elliot made some news this past week when he was asked what he thought of the new Jane Campion directed Western, ‘Power of the Dog’. Elliot did not like it, and thought that it was garbage, to put it mildly. ‘Power of the Dog’ is directed and co-written by Jane Campion, and starts Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons. On Marc Maron’s ‘WTF podcast’, Sam Elliot was casually asked about the Western, and went into a curse laced tirade, about how it wasn’t a Western, how it in no way represented cowboys, and alluded to homosexuality throughout the movie. Elliot has received some bad press over his comments, mostly from the Hollywood mainstream media cabal. In my opinion, however, Sam Elliot has a point. But let’s remember, that these are Elliot’s opinions, backed by years of representing the Western genre, and he is not alone in his sentiments.
‘Power of the Dog’ is an Evisceration of Our Country’s Cowboy Myth
Sam Elliot has the resume to back up is comments, as he has been a fixture in Westerns for a lot of his career. He has starred in ‘Tombstone’, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, ‘Gone to Texas’, ‘Molly and Lawless John’, and the TV series ‘1883’, just to name a few. What triggered Elliot’s response was an ad in the LA Times, that quoted a line from a New York Times article by Manohla Dargis, in which she stated “The Power of the Dog” was “a great American story and a dazzling evisceration of one of the country’s foundational myths.” I would have had the same response as Elliot’s if I had seen that. It’s almost as if Dargis was proud of the fact that a movie was tearing down a piece of America’s past. Elliot continued to eviscerate Campion’s ‘Power of the Dog’, comparing it to Chippendale’s dancers, asking where the actual Western was in ‘Power of the Dog’, and questioning Campion’s knowledge of the American West, because she’s from New Zealand.
“That’s what all these fucking cowboys in that movie looked like(Chippendale dancers). They’re running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions of homosexuality throughout the movie.”
“Where’s the Western in this Western? I mean, Cumberbatch never got out of his fucking chaps. He had two pairs of chaps — a woolly pair and a leather pair. And every fucking time he would walk in from somewhere — he never was on a horse, maybe once — he’d walk into the fucking house, storm up the fucking stairs, go lay in his bed in his chaps and play his banjo. It’s like, what the fuck?”
“What the fuck does this woman from down there know about the American West? Why the fuck did she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana? And say this is the way it was? That fucking rubbed me the wrong way.”
“I just came from Texas where I was hanging out with families — not men — but families. Big, long, extended, multiple-generation families that made their living and their lives were all about being cowboys. And boy, when I fucking saw that [movie], I thought, ‘What the fuck? Where are we in this world today?’”
That last quote was in reference to the “foundational myth” of the cowboy and the American West. Elliot state in the interview, that the “myth” was that all cowboys were just macho guys who herded cattle, when in reality, the whole family was a part of that cowboy scenario.
Sam Elliot is Not Wrong in Being Offended
As expected, though, Sam Elliot was criticized on social media for having an opinion, being called homophobic and not having the knowledge that many Westerns have been shot in other countries. While that last part may be true…Sergio Leone comes to mind…there’s a difference in the Westerns we’ve seen from those past directors like Sergio Leone, and Jane Campion’s depiction. Sergio Leone was infatuated with the American West, and it showed in every one of his movies. Campion’s version of the American West is just that, her sole unique interpretation, and that’s it. It definitely doesn’t represent the majority of fans who love the American West and Westerns. Sam Elliot is not wrong in being offended by Campion’s ‘Power of the Dog’. It doesn’t relate to the majority of fans who are used to seeing a Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliot, or John Wayne in their Westerns. It’s classic bravado at its glorious best, and Jane Campion’s film does everything to refute those legends, by giving us a movie about a closeted homosexual cowboy that is laced with effeminate themes. While that may win over the out of touch Hollywood, the fans might reject it.
Sam Elliott being a homophobe is bumming me out, but him thinking Kodi Smit-McPhee looks like a chippendale is definitely pretty funny pic.twitter.com/stvL5Yq7Cs
— Paul McCallion (@OrangePaulp) March 1, 2022
I’m very sad to take Sam Elliott out of my crush rotation for being a wizened, rusted, toolbag, but also very amused that he doesn’t realize ROAD HOUSE was extremely homosexual. See also: TOMBSTONE. https://t.co/2LKuz2n0vK
— Suleikha Snyder (@suleikhasnyder) March 1, 2022
Box Office Success Relates to Audience Success
Sam Elliot shouldn’t be surprised that Jane Campion’s depiction of the American West is being lauded and rewarded with 12 Oscar nominations. ‘Power of the Dog’ fits right into the woke Hollywood’s wheelhouse, and checks all the marks it needs to be successful, whether on purpose or not. Critically successful that is. I’ve heard mixed reviews, and wonder how well it would have done had it been released in theaters instead of Netflix. I’m sure the acting is exceptional considering the immense talent ‘Power of the Dogs’ has in its line up. The reason Hollywood is adoring Jane Campion right now, is because she’s being touted as one of the greatest director’s of all time. I’m sorry, but before I heard about Sam Elliot having a problem with ‘Power of the Dog’, I had never heard of Jane Campion, or anything she’s ever directed. Is she a competent director, maybe. I can’t judge that until I’ve watched a few of her movies. What I can tell you, is that I can name at least a dozen directors and their movies, that I have watched over and over again, because they were cinematic masterpieces, and were box office successes. All of Campion’s movies have been critical successes but not box office successes. Does that necessarily mean you’re a bad director? Of course not, but I do think it is a measure of how successful you are with the audience.
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Give Me ‘Tombstone’ or ‘Fistful of Dollars’ Any Day of the Week
Sam Elliot’s reaction to ‘Power of the Dog’, is a reaction I think a lot of fans would have considering the current climate of Hollywood releases. There is a forced identity politics in our entertainment, and I think ‘Power of the Dog’ falls victim to that. Meaning, I don’t think it was intended to be political, but it comes across that way because that’s what the fans are used to being fed. I personally look at ‘Power of the Dog’ as a Hollywood art piece that reflects a very narrow point of view on the American West. I would probably have had the same reaction Sam Elliot did after I watched it. When you go into a movie thinking you’re going to see this great Western, and then it flips the whole narrative by telling the audience, what you’re really watching is a movie about a cowboy dealing with his homosexuality. Just not my cup of tea when it comes to Westerns. Give me ‘Tombstone’, ‘Fistful of Dollars’, or ‘Red River’, and an extra helping of toxic masculinity any day of the week.
