Female Character of the Week: Mattie Ross

Yesterday, I went to see the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of Charles Portis’s novel, True Grit. (The film is not a remake of the 1969 adaptation of the same name; it is a second adaptation of the book. I felt it necessary to make that distinction.  Similarly, Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp is not a remake of the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder, but another adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book. But I digress).  I didn’t feel pressed to write a full-length review of the film, because it’s not technically a comedy even if it does have great moments of Coen humor.  But the main character in the movie is, quite frankly, made of so much WIN that I have named her my very first Female Character of the Week.

Name: Mattie Ross

Why She Rocks: Mattie Ross is a strong, smart, fiercely independent girl who takes on a mission to find the man who killed her father, and she will stop at nothing to bring him to justice.  But she’s not a simple-minded kid who flies off the handle and rushes into a sticky situation without a plan.  She has a plan AND a plan B (as in a backup plan, not an emergency contraceptive).  Mattie seeks information about U.S. marshals before deciding which one to hire for the job, and she makes sure she has the money to pay him for his assistance.  How does she get the money?  By expertly haggling with the man who sold her father his horses and threatening him with legal action if she doesn’t get what she wants.

Mattie is admirable because she lets nothing get in the way of her goal to find and capture Tom Chaney.  Rooster Cogburn attempts to go on the mission himself and leave her behind?  She tracks him down.  There’s no way to get across the river without help?  Well, horses can swim, can’t they?  The men traveling with her demean her and criticize her for being disobedient and in over her head?  She’ll prove them wrong, again and again, through her daring actions and cutting wit, until she earns all of their respect and loyalty.  Most notably, she earns their respect without becoming anyone’s love interest (thank God, because she’s fourteen and that would be gross).  There’s no hint of a romance at all, and by the end of the movie (SPOILER ALERT), she acknowledges that she never married because she has no time for that foolishness.  Awesome.

Mattie Ross is well-played by Kim Darby in the 1969 movie adaptation of True Grit, and expertly played by Hailee Stenfield in the 2010 adaptation.  Stenfield is already earning award nominations by the truckload – all for Best Supporting Actress.  Oscar politics demand that she is nominated in the supporting category, and marketing demands that she is fourth-billed behind the excellent Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, but she is the real star of the movie and the one with the most…say it with me now…true grit.