Stagecoach is the most classic styled westerns out of all of the three movies we watched in class. In comparison with True Grit, Stagecoach had less gore and the main characters were male cowboys and a side kick; promiscuous woman, where True Grit changed things a bit, putting it in the middle of the classic vs. revisionist continuum. In True Grit the main character is Maddy, a young innocent girl. I also noticed that there was more gore in True Grit than was seen in Stagecoach, possibly making that a less prevalent characteristic of a classic western.
Unforgiven on the other hand is on the revisionist side of the classic vs. revisionist continuum, while still having True Grit in the middle. I think the thing that makes Unforgiven a revisionist western the most is also the main character, Will. He not a typical cowboy. He has a conscience and is still faithful to his wife even after she is gone. He has kids that he wants to take care of etc... But, he still wants to try to put justice into his own hands. Another sign of why this was a revisionist western is because the young boy also has a conscience and deep down inside sees pain in killing others. Also, Will is not a lone cowboy for long, he has his friend Ned for most of the film and the young boy.
After seeing all three movies I would say that True Grit is more Revisionist than Classic. First, Maddy was definitely not a lone cowboy, although she was very independent for her age, she was reliant on others. Also, she did not portray the typical female role of either sidekick for a man or promiscuous nuisance. She more of an equal or almost superior to the people she surrounded herself with on a educated and strong mental level. The main character says a lot about a movie and I would say since she was such a different atypical western character that this movie is more Revisionist than Classic.
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