The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood

The Smile and the Spit

61 the smIle and the sPIt The Motivational Polarity and Self-Reliance Portrayed in The Outlaw Josey Wales and the Dollars Trilogy James R. Couch The characters of Josey Wales and “The Man with No Name,” like magnets, have the power of attraction as well as repulsion. Not only did the cigar chewing , unshaven face of the Man with No Name deliver barbs of divisive wit and foreboding scowls, but smiles indicating solidarity and humor. These traits are similarly found in Wales. Yet, even adding the further similarities of verbal adroitness, cleverness, vigilance, and certainly the mastery of the gun, the central characters of the trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), and of The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), at least at first glance, show a decided difference .1 Where Josey Wales scowls and offers a wad of well-aimed spit to show his contempt for what he finds morally distasteful, the nameless blond man of the trilogy is more at ease, even smiling in the face of danger. Moreover , where Wales struggles to right the unbalanced scales of justice, the Man with No Name struggles to tip the scales of fortune, with gold, in his favor. Though the films differ in respect to their stories and the mannerisms displayed by the central characters, the fundamental and unifying theme of self-reliance is a part of them all. Eastwood’s acting brings to life characters that truly navigate according to the self-assurance taken from their own moral compass and confidence in their skills, and as a result reveals the tenuous relationship between the self-reliant individual and other people, a relationship provoking both smiles and spit. Exploration of Eastwood’s two characters and the specific consideration of these characters’ actions of smiling and spitting will traverse the following trajectory. The ultimate goal is to bring to light Eastwood’s revelatory acting as it shows the problematic relationship a self-reliant individual has with 62 James R. Couch other people and society at large. By first looking at the role of Josey Wales, then examining the Man with No Name of the trilogy, their respective tendencies of spitting and smiling can be contextualized. Such contextualizing can aid understanding how these particular traits fit with the conception of self-reliance. As will be discussed, the self-reliant individual, by following a course of his or her own design, can easily be seen acting in ways antithetical to others. A tension is consequently created between that individual and others. This tension is one of attraction and repulsion, exposing the motivational polarity in which people are moved to either approach or withdraw from Wales as he spits and the Man with No Name as he smiles. In the first section, Wales’s acts of spitting will be discussed in regard to what will be called contemptuous disgust, which is to say, an attitude that has a moral component and is capable of both repelling and attracting others. The smile is often more inviting, showing compassion and genuine enjoyment, but it remains plastic and capable of being deceitful, concealing a person’s true thoughts and feelings. Consequently, Eastwood’s use of the smile in the trilogy again points to the tension fostered in others by the self-reliant, as it is used both to show solidarity and to create discord. I begin with the character of Josey Wales, farmer turned outlaw. Outlaw Farmer The Outlaw Josey Wales is a Western that in some ways allowed Eastwood to depart from his earlier roles in the Sergio Leone films. Rather than being a man with no name, in this film Eastwood’s character clearly has one, inspiring greater awe in both the characters of the film and the audience with each new feat. The film itself is based on a novel written by Forrest Carter, The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales, which was later republished as Gone to Texas.2 The story, as Eastwood admitted, is a story that follows the incredible journey of Wales as he travels from farmer and family man to Confederate rebel and outlaw.3 The tale begins with Wales, living in Missouri with his wife and son, being attacked by Captain Terrill and his band of Kansas “Redlegs.” The Union soldiers mercilessly destroy the farm and murder Wales’s wife and son. Rising from the ruins of his former life, Wales joins Confederate raiders , to become hardened by his...