#41 True Grit in Christian Context
This film is full of Christian and Jewish connotations. The film opens with a quote from Proverbs 28:1 which says, “The wicked flee though no one pursues.” The film depicts a man who has committed many wrongs Tom Chaney. Chaney killed Mattie Ross’s father and has fled the scene of his crime. The movie plays out the Bible verse is quoted at the beginning of the movie through Chaney fleeing. But this is not the end of the verse by not including the rest of the verse the film creates ambiguity about who the verse is referencing. Past this scene Mattie Ross gets off a train. The rest of Proverbs 28:1 says, “but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Mattie seems justice and in doing so she seeks someone with true grit who can get justice for her father’s death. This pursuit seemingly plays out the rest of the verse.
The film True Grit has similarities to other Coen Brother films The Big Lebowski and No Country for Old Men. When compared to the latter the similarities are hard to miss. Both films show a version of pursuit and retreat, both show a form of justice. Both films explore the idea of what happens to old men. Except their endings are different.
True Grit is a “western” which usually means that it is obvious who the good and bad guy is in the movie. Good guys wear white hats and bad guys wear black hats and, in the end, the good guy wins. In True Grit the roles are less clear. In True Grit there are three possible good guys Mattie Ross, LaBoeuf, and Rooster Cogburn. But throughout the movie they each do both good and bad things. Mattie kills Chaney and is manipulative. LaBoeuf spanks Mattie and abandons the pursuit of Chaney. While Rooster Cogburn reveals himself to be an alcoholic. Each character also redeems their flaws by following through in the end. It is really important that this movie is a western. Westerns were most popular in the 1930’s to the 1960’s set in the old west they showcase individuality and self-reliance. In the classic western you know that justice will be done. In this time period America was plagued by many wars and many changes which caused people to want to see justice. Nowadays as we enter into a postmodern world, we are less accepting of the idea that justice is served in the end. True Grit is a reflection of our postmodern world.
While many of the characters in True Grit show many emotions at many different times Mattie Ross shows very little emotion. Throughout the film she appears to be in a sort of denial about the loss of her father. Mattie shows no emotion when she sees her father’s body in the morgue. She only becomes emotional towards the end of the film. After shooting Chaney and getting bitten by a snake Cogburn takes Mattie and her horse Blackie to the closest doctor. They ride at top speed until Blackie eventually drops them and is dying. Cogburn shoots Blackie this releases Mattie’s emotions and she cries mourning for her father it seems for the first time.
One of the major aspects of the film is in its title grit. Grit is your ability to pursue something despite setbacks and mistakes. Mattie searches for someone with “true grit” to help her get justice. When watching True Grit this is the aspect that I most identify with. Growing up I learned about the concept of grit through the experience of learning to read. It is interesting to me to observe the comparisons of grit in the film and in my life. When learning to read I met many setbacks because of my dyslexia and consequentially did not learn to read until I was 12 and got a tutor who taught me grit. Mattie finds herself to have grit through harder and harder things that she goes through. Such as selling back her father’s ponies, getting across the river, climbing a tree, and eventually shooting Chaney. For me grit came as a goal learning to read, and a thousand small steps. Learning about syllables, learning each letter two each week, stringing sentences together, and then reading book after book.
The film changes in the middle. In the beginning Mattie searches for someone with grit to carry out justice. But in the middle of the film Mattie loses confidence in both of the men that are with her, one is drunk and the other is shot. As such she takes justice into her own hands. Which leads us to the ending where justice is seemingly served. The call to action seems to be to take action into your own hands. What would have happened in this film if each character did not take action for themselves? All the main characters would have died. We need to learn to rely on ourselves so that we can help others.
