I wrote this back in February on a piece of paper and just stumbled across it. Found it amusing, hope you do too.
It's weird, ya know, I was watching the movie "3:10 to Yuma" the other day. It's a Western movie with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Crowe plays this renegade outlaw who gets caught because of Bale's character. But Bale plays this rancher who is crippled from the Civil War and is in dire financial needs due to a drought.
Anyway, it got me thinking. Our society really hasn't changed much since the pioneer days. Aside from inflation and technology bringing different kinds of jobs there are basically three types of people in the world. You have your middle class people who get the mildly glamorous high paying jobs; the blue-collar workers who rely on the good gracious of whats been given to them to earn a living. And then there is Ben Wade.
While the idea of Ben Wade is an outlaw who kills and steals to make his way through life, I find a different meaning to his role. Wade is a guy who does what he has to to survive. He could easily be a banker, or a lawyer, or an artist (Wade is a brilliant artist in the film.) Or, he could rely on what Bale's character does, the land to provide for his family. Instead, Wade is a criminal. He bends, and breaks, the rules of society constantly traveling to country wreaking havoc on those who stand in his way.
While the movie depicts him as a criminal and an outlaw, I like to consider the idea of Ben Wade as something more beneficial: a hero.
Think about it. Here is a guy who is hell bent on staying alive, staying on his own path, simply so that he can continue on the life he has. Isn't that the American Dream?
I get that he steals and kills and makes the lives of others absolute hell, but consider this: haven't we always been told that we can be whatever we want to be as long as we do whatever it takes, and not to let anyone tell you you can't and don't let any sonuvabitch stand in your way? Isn't that what Ben Wade does?
And yes, Bale's character is the "good guy" of the film, but he and Crowe's screenplays are the same person, just on different spectrum's of the law. Bale does whatever it takes, including abandoning his wife and deathly ill son, just to make sure a hardened criminal is locked away.
While that is the righteous thing to do, consider the final fifteen minutes of the picture. Wade constantly is trying to persuade Bale to set him free, double the reward, and Bale refuses simply because the story he told his sons about losing his leg in the war is not as heroic as it seems. In fact, it's embarrassing. He wants to do something that will make his family proud of him.
Upon hearing the actual tale, Wade decides to help Bale's character get him on the train to Yuma prison. He even kills every member of his own gang after they (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) after they kill Bale's character. He then jumps on the train to Yuma, completing Bale's heroic quest, but not before admitting that he has escaped the prison before. Twice.
I guess the conclusion is that there are two types of heroes. The one who does what he can until an extraordinary chance comes along to do something right. And the one who blazes his own path so the ends justify the means. My question to you then, is this: in this "dog-eat-dog" world, which one would you rather be?
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