pjmedia.com By Jamie K. Wilson
Fill Your Hands, You Son of a B***h
There’s a moment in True Grit that captures the soul of the American myth. Rooster Cogburn, single eye squinting, reins clenched in his teeth to free both hands for revolvers, charges a line of killers after bellowing, “Fill your hands, you son of a b***h!” It’s raw, unpolished, unashamed. There’s no quip, no irony, no apology. Just a man doing what must be done.
That’s the Western hero in miniature: quiet, unassuming, often reluctant to fight, but when duty calls, unquestionably courageous. He’s not cruel, though he can be hard. He’s not perfect, though he has a code. He knows the wilderness is dangerous, but civilization must be protected, and he’s the hinge between the two.
Even Gene Wilder, in 1974’s Blazing Saddles, understood the power of that archetype. His “Waco Kid,” drunk, broken, haunted, is a parody built on love, a man who mocks what he once was because the world no longer believes in it. Beneath the farce, that film mourns what’s been lost. We laugh because we recognize the truth…
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