Core Response #2 (Feb 14th Reading) – KC Chow

In Gary Willis’ prologue and introduction to John Wayne’s America, he discusses the titular screen star’s effect on American audiences and cultures as well as how he achieved it.

Though John Wayne lacked a cult following that celebrities such as Rudolph Valentino and Marilyn Monroe garnered due to their documented off-screen vulnerabilities that fascinated the public: Wayne possessed the opposition, onscreen invincibility, a quality that helped him catapult past cult fascination and transcend trendy popularity into an overwhelming cultural synonym of America to the public and politicians alike (11-13, 17). Talent such as Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis might be American stars, but John Wayne was America. It’s funny to me how I can’t think of a modern equivalent of John Wayne, a public personality American society equates to their ideal and elevates to the behemoth of a nation – someone that epitomizes what they want America to be. Possibly because modernity sees so many other cultural icons (Youtube and Instagram stars) apart from ones of the big screen that were the sole channel during Wayne’s days, it’s difficult to pinpoint who it would be? Unfortunately, in this day and age, I feel that the Kardashian name is the closest it’ll come to.  

Unlike these flimsy cult celebrities who favored rebellion, Wayne was a stable solid in a time when American society felt that that the values and traditional fabric of their country was wearing away, particularly a time “when men were men” (14). Similar to a past reading that connected the rise of the sultry Marilyn Monroe’s star to an age of increasing female sexual liberation, Wayne filled/satisfied a societal desire at the time.

Later in the reading, Willis notes how every movement Wayne made on screen was meticulous – the star being conscious of every single movement that would contribute to such a distinction that his silhouette alone (sans any features) would be enough to identify the star (18-19). I find this fascinating as I can’t think of many male star (from yesteryear or modern-day) that would put so much effort into his body movements, especially to the point where a singular body movement can be synonymous to a star. Though Wayne was America’s ideal of a “man’s man,” I find this purposeful practice to be more related to female stars. Think the famous wiggles synonymous with Marilyn Monroe or Mad Men’s Joan (played by Christina Hendricks).