True Grit is a tale of a female protagonist breaking boundaries and taking names. This isn't made immediately apparent upon glancing at the cover of the movie or even reading most synopsis of it, however. The starring character Mattie is made out to be a supporting character in everything but the film itself, where she is the obvious lead.
The actress who played her, Hailee Steinfeld, doesn't even have her name on the cover and was placed in supporting actress category when nominated for an award. Despite these strange discrepancies, the Coen Brothers' film speaks for itself--and is a beautiful thing to behold.
Possibly In The Belief, It Would Make Him More Dead
Rooster and Mattie come upon a man hanging from a tree, dead. The man has been hanged from a branch extremely high in the air, and Mattie, while climbing to cut his body loose, wonders at why his executioners chose to do the deed from such a high spot.
Rooster gives a typically comical response, not quite answering the question and further emphasizing how bizarre the scenario is.
We Have No Rodeo Clowns In Tell County
Mattie wakes to Labeouf, the Texas Ranger, played brilliantly by Matt Damon, watching her. He means to intimidate her but quickly finds that no matter what he says, Mattie has a clever, quick comeback.
In this particular instance, she is commenting on his clothes, which are all tan and have many tassels, and his boots are garnished with spurs. He also has a slightly goofy demeanor, contributing to Mattie's critical appraisal of him.
I Always Go Backward When I'm Backing Up
Rooster is being questioned during a trial. This is the first occasion that the audience encounters the character in full, having previously only heard his voice from the confines of an out-house.
Rooster is clearly on trial for his excessive killings, which the lawyer at hand is trying to emphasize. Rooster highlights his comical personality by flipping what the lawyer says and making the jury laugh.
I Don't Believe In Fairytales Or Sermons Or Stories About Money, Baby Sister, But Thanks For The Cigarette
Mattie approaches Rooster and entreats him to take her case. She offers him fifty dollars, money she later earns from bartering. Rooster, like most characters in the movie, doesn't take her seriously and brushes off her promises of money.
He takes the cigarette she has been rolling for him--a habit she continues throughout the movie--and exits the scene, assuming, mistakenly, that he is rid of her.
Texas Trash
Rooster regularly makes cracks about Labeouf being a Texas Ranger. Labeouf is hugely proud of his identity as a ranger and refers to it constantly, making it only easier for him to be made fun of.
When they start arguing about the war and Labeouf offends Rooster, he casually refers to him as "texas trash".
I'm Sorry That You Have Been Eluded The Winter Long By A Half-Wit
When Mattie meets Labeouf she has trouble understanding why it is that he claims to have been pursuing Chaney for a long time.
Mattie sees this as a weakness, asserting that if he hasn't caught Chaney yet he must not be very good at what he does. When Labeouf defends himself by saying Chaney is a clever man, Mattie begs to differ, sharing that she always considered him a half-wit.
If Them Men Wanted A Decent Burial They Should've Got Themselves Killed In The Summer
Mattie and Rooster have promised that they will bury the body of a man who died at the hands of someone they were trying to question, and who stabbed him in order to prohibit him from sharing information.
When they go to leave without fulfilling their promise and Mattie becomes alarmed, Rooster credits their actions to sheer practicality.
They Tell Me You're A Man With True Grit
As soon as Mattie hears that Rooster is considered the most fierce Marshal available, she knows that's the man she wants.
Rooster embodies the kind of course determination Mattie proves to value and likely sees in herself. She needs someone who is tough if she wants to bring justice to her father's killer, and she will accept no less than what she wants.
People Do Not Give It Credence That A Young Girl Could Leave Home And Go Off In The Wintertime To Avenge Her Father's Blood
This opening statement to the film defines the strength of the protagonist, Mattie, and exemplifies the energy that permeates throughout the rest of her story.
Mattie is faced with constant disbelief by the adults around her. She is misunderstood and stereotyped, treated as inferior because she's a child and even worse because she's a female, yet all those who meet her eventually realize their mistake.
You Must Pay For Everything In This World, One Way Or Another. There Is Nothing Free Except The Grace Of God
The quote speaks to the brutal reality apparent in the film. Mattie's father is killed during an effort to help somebody. Mattie sets out to avenge her father and has to fight tooth and nail just to get people on her side. Even once she finds a crew to help her, they attempt to reject her.
By the end of the film when she has killed the man she sought out to, and her crew has finally accepted her and aimed to save her life, she still loses her arm, and then never sees them again. There is no romantic end, but a balance of some wins and some hardships.