Sam Elliott is offended by the big Oscar favorite, The Power of the Dog. The 77-year-old actor, known for his legacy in western cinema with classics behind him such as Butch Cassidy's First Blows and Sundance and Tombstone: The Legend of Wyatt Earp, has taken the portrait of the American West in the Netflix movie in a “F- personal” way.
From the cowboy profile depicted by Benedict Cumberbatch, to the use of clothing and suggestions of homoS. Sam Elliott has not been convinced by anything about the acclaimed production, with a reaction of homophobic overtones that only shows that he did not understand the film, nor its message or intention.
During an interview for the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, the actor said “you want to talk about that piece of shit?” in reference to the most nominated film at this year's Oscars with 12 nominations. “There was a whole page in the LA Times talking about the evisceration of the American myth and I thought, 'What the hell?'” he said, referring to an article that serves as an example for the many others we wrote in the press praising the film and his work, implying his rejection of the editorial plaudits the film receives.
The Power of the Dog revolves around cowboy Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the terror he places on his brother and his wife through constant bullying. A film that more than an old-school western is a psychological drama about the dysfunction between him and his brother, as a result of his repression of homoS- in an environment of toxic masculinity.
In his critique, Elliott went so far as to compare the actors to the traveling theatrical troupe of the Chippendales who put on male striptease performances, wearing only bow ties, collars, and cuffs over bare chests. “This is what the cowboys in this movie looked like. They spend it in chaps and shirtless. There are all those allusions to homoS- throughout the whole damn movie” he added in reference to the wardrobe.
that Benedict Cumberbatch wears in his role as a cowboy and the masculine scenes where he is surrounded by secondary characters who follow him, dress like him, idolizing his words and bathe next to him.
He even had criticism for the director, Jane Campion. “What the does that woman down there [referring to her home country of New Zealand] know, even though I love her previous work of hers, from the American West? Why the f*ck did he shoot the movie in New Zealand and call it Montana? he asked himself with a whip that displays reasoning to put his hands to his head.
“The myth is that there were these males with the cattle but I just got back from Texas where I spent time with families – not men – but families,” she said of recordings of the western series 1883, a prequel to Yellowstone. “Big, long, extended, multi-generation families making a living… And their lives are centered around being cowboys. And when I saw that movie I was like 'what the hell?'
However, when the presenter tried to defend The Power of the Dog by explaining how homoS- is ultimately the underlying theme of the story, Sam replied: “Cumberbatch never takes his shit chaps off. He has two pairs, one made of wool and one made of leather. And every time he walks somewhere, he never walks on a horse, he'd walk home, run upstairs to lie on his chaps, and play the banjo. what the hell? Where's the western in this western?"
For this reason, if we compare the cinematographic depth of the story with the reaction of Sam Elliot, we could perceive certain homophobic airs against the homoerotic portrait that Jane Campion makes in relation to the character of Benedict Cumberbatch. As well as his lack of understanding of the message and the art of making films anywhere, with the free vision that each filmmaker has, in an industry that spans the entire planet.
To begin with, the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch does not remove his chaps even to lie down in bed does not mean that Jane Campion does not know anything about westerns or cowboy life. Rather, it is his way of putting into visual context the tough cowboy facade in which the character hides, even from himself and his own emotions. He tells us about his need to be the leader of that ranch and the cowboy that everyone looks up to on the outside. And both the bullying he imposes on his brother and wife, as well as his own clothing, are a reflection of this personal need as he hides his homoS- from the world around him.
For Sam Elliott to compare Phil's story to the cowboy families he met in Texas makes no sense. Because the film deals with repressed homoS- in an environment of masculine toxicity from yesteryear, and which in this case is lived in the world of the American West but could easily be transferred to other settings.
That Sam Elliott believes that The Power of the Hound does not have Western weight just because the character does not portray the cowboy of the cinematic past, such as those brought to life by John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, or was not shot on location in the American West, only leaves in doubt It shows the lack of understanding of the message, of the cinema and the industry in general. After all, Ang Lee already disrupted the genre with Brokeback Mountain more than 15 years ago, and directors move around the world telling stories that don't have to be exclusively spun from their own culture.
I admit that while listening to the podcast and the actor's words, I couldn't help but wonder if this man is aware of how he has changed the industry where he has been working for decades. If you understand that cinema is an art like any other, where the vision of each artist is so valid and broad that all genres, including a classic like the western, have room for change with the contribution of new ways of telling stories.
In short, what Jane Campion did was dismember the western of yesteryear and that rude portrayal of repressing emotions as a symbol of masculinity that circulated through the genre. And she turned it into a drama where the roughness of that cowboy living under superficial testosterone-laden labels makes it a visceral drama of artistic and emotional stripping.
