John Wayne: America, F@ck Yeah!
Sideshow Toys is offering a John Wayne figure of significant magnitude. This version of The Duke comes in a lovely tiger stripe camouflage scheme in all his John Wayne-ish glory. It’s guaranteed to get every blue blooded patriot and manly man of manliness’s heart fluttering.
For you regular readers looking for a hit of the usual awesome this, this sucks that, I have to warn you that I get a little term paper serious for a moment. You might want to watch a really bad martial arts clip until the next post if you’re not up for it.
For many, I’m sorry to say for mostly generations of Americans a tad older than me, Wayne signifies the ultimate in machismo and rugged American values. While he is pretty cool in his films, the funny thing about The Duke is that he never really plays anyone else but the character of John Wayne, not the character in the film’s script. The same applied to his toy, you don’t get a figure of a character John Wayne played, you get a John Wayne figure who is dressed up as a character. The John Wayne persona transcended whatever character he played on every level. In fact, I’d bet that there are probably some of you out there that are surprised to find out that John Wayne was never a soldier, nor was he ever a cowboy in the old west.
To quote his Wikipedia entry:
John Wayne rose beyond the typical recognition for a famous actor to that of an enduring icon who symbolized and communicated American values and ideals.
In his lifetime, Wayne himself played the most important role in his transformation from John Wayne the actor to John Wayne the embodiment of everything American. Along with his tough-as-nails roles, he was a hard edged right winger and full-on red blooded American. His public stance against communism and his part in the blacklisting of director Carl Foreman, his financial support of segregation supporter and Alabama governor, George Wallace, and his support of the war in Vietnam all played a part in positioning Wayne as a die-hard right winger and patriot. One thing is for sure, John Wayne was no tree hugging, dope smoking hippy.
Has any actor before been defined by the roles he’s played as John Wayne has? There should be an exclusive club for actors or actresses who have become their roles. For the purposes of this article, we shall call it the John Wayne Club.
Harrison Ford comes close in a way. Harrison Ford the actor might not dodge boulders in real life, but he does fly helicopters and has saved at least one life before (or at the very least helped a sick person). Still, nobody buys a Harrison Ford figure because he just happens to be in an Indiana Jones costume. Indiana Jones is a guy with the same face as Harrison Ford. This also applies to Han Solo. When you think of the character of Han Solo, the image that springs to mind is wookies and spaceships and not much else.
One could argue that Marilyn Monroe might be in the John Wayne category. The problem with her was that she hardly ever played a contemporary or fantasy based role. She pretty much was a sex idol in film and was a sex idol in real life. The argument for her inclusion in the John Wayne Club would be that most often Marilyn merch is sold of her in her movie outfits, but who even remembers the names of the characters she was playing?
Are there any actors or actresses you believe belong in the John Wayne Club? How about Judy Garland? Or Arnold Schwarzenegger? I’d be interested in hearing what you think.
toy, toy collecting, action figure, John Wayne, The Duke, Harrison Ford, Marilyn Monroe, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Judy Garland, Sideshow Toys
April 4th, 2007 at 9:23 am
I gotta get me a John Wayne action figure. I loved Green Berets. Ok, now that I have my man-crush out of the way..
Steven Segal, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan? Those seem to be a few guys that have little to differentiate thier screen persona’s from thier real ones.
April 4th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Good call, but I’d argue that with Steven Segal his acting is SO bad that he doesn’t play anyone other than Steven Segal on accident. I’d agree to the other two for sure.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:44 am
I would suggest leaving MArilyn Monroe out of this. She was not so much a sex idol in real life as she was searching for love and acceptance. It just so happened that on this search, she was blessed with a killer rack, and instead of finding love, she merely got used by every influential man in Hollywood and Washington.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
So, we’re saying Boobs are a disqualifier? Just want to be clear on this.
oh, yeah. Nick Cage. His acting has become very Nick Cagey. I like him and all, but he plays to type anymore…
April 4th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I got distracted by the mention killer rack. Yes, I agree she was a sad and lonely person. I was thinking more about how she was seen in film by other characters and in real life by the general public. Sorry, I should have been more specific.
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On another note, does Elvis belong in this club? His movies were only vehicles to present Elvis.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Elvis both definitely belong in the “John Wayne Club”. Schwarzenegger even more so since he was elected governor. Stallone, maybe? Burt Reynolds? Clint Eastwood, to a certain extent, even though he’s my idol when it comes to being an actor, director, and all-around great movie-maker! Steve McQueen? James Dean? Clark Gable? I can think of a ton of possibilities, but I hate buttonholing people!
April 4th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I would argue against Clint Eastwood simply based on the fact that he’s transformed himself from tough guy dirty harry/cowboy to clint eastwood highly successful director.
April 4th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Steve McQueen. Excellent.
April 4th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Have you noticed yet that most of the people in the club are deceased?
April 4th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
My husband says “Audie Murphy”, whoever the fuck that is.
I say Jean Claude VanDamme only plays Jean Claude (ASSHOLE)…pretty much any mainstreamed martial artist plays the same character in every movie.
Meg Ryan has played just about the same thing in every movie she’s ever been in. Jim Carey - okay, he TRIES to be a dramatic actor, but it just doesn’t work.
Will Farrell is an actor who definitely belongs in the exclusive “John Wayne Club”, and I dare anyone to refute that!
April 5th, 2007 at 1:33 am
Elvis was a pretty good actor it’s just that alot of the roles he was forced to play were Elvis.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:41 am
definitely Clint Eastwood belongs in the club - despite his great directing prowess of today. Oh those old spaghetti westerns! hum it with me folks, deedle-deedle-deeee-deee!
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April 5th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Janson, that he may have been, but he came off as “Elvis” in the films regardless of his skill so he reinforced his role as Elvis the persona. He def. got a crappy deal with the film roles he played.
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Barbara, sorry I can’t agree on that. I don’t think of Clint Eastwood the same anymore!
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Randi, you may be right on the Will Farrell thing… but time will tell if he’s got any kind of staying power. Usually comedians will burn out and become unfunny (Jim Carey, Adam Sandler). They then become the unfunny comedian that keeps making stupid movies.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Paul I guess you’re right on that, but Charo and Flaming Star really show that Elvis could act in a film and not just play Elvis. Tom Cruise should be in this club though, can you think of a movie where he wasn’t just playing himself?
April 5th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
The problem with Tom Cruise is that all his “crazy” antics have trumped anything he’s done on film. If he played all crazy characters then I’d totally agree.