Cole Hauser, aka Rip Wheeler on Yellowstone, directed a short for the Professional Bull Riders Association titled Be Cowboy.
The film expounds on the core values that PBR seeks to promote. The organization recognizes individuals and organizations that embody those values through a Be Cowboy Award. I think that’s cool.
These are, after all, values that any Frontier Partisan can whole-heartedly endorse: courage, integrity, the willingness — indeed, the eagerness — to do hard things. As noted, it’s not about hat, boots, spurs and buckles — it’s about heart.
There’s nothing ironic or hip about this. It’s earnest and genuine, and it’s worth four-and-a-half minutes of your time.
The Rip Wheeler phenomenon is quite a thing. I recently, and only half-jokingly, encouraged a friend who operates a hat shop here in Sisters to get herself a life-size cardboard Rip, offer a photo and a raffle ticket for $5, and raffle off a hat on Rodeo Weekend. That’ll drive traffic. I have seen women line up for a pic with Cardboard Rip.
The Rip Wheeler Effect is real, which maybe surprised Hauser and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan when Yellowstone got rolling. The man is, after all, the Dutton Ranch’s enforcer. A dangerous man. A killer. John Dutton’s Porter Rockwell.
As Hauser said in an interview last year:
“At first, to see women coming up and saying, ‘Oh my God, I love your character.’ I was thinking, “What’s wrong with you?’’
He shifted his perspective, recognizing that women loved the “bad boy” aspect of the character. And…
“What makes [Rip] special is that he has an unbelievable heart, too. I mean, his loyalty is to not only the Dutton family, but to Beth; and his kindness, other than wanting to kill people at times, is just, to me, it’s the best of both worlds to be able to play.”
This is not actually hard to understand. Women tend to like dangerous men. As Titus Pullo might tell you, they may say they don’t like it, but they do. Something about October. Anyways…
Reminds me of a Cormac McCarthy quote from The Crossing:
“She said that these were things all women knew yet seldom spoke of. Lastly she said that if women were drawn to rash men it was only that in their secret hearts they knew that a man who would not kill for them was of no use at all.”
Ideally, such a man is only dangerous to those who threaten what he loves. That’s Rip Wheeler, and that’s why women love him. Quite useful, that one.*
Oh, and my friend did order up Cardboard Rip. He’ll be at Sisters Hats + Co. for Rodeo Week, June 11-15.
Anyways… Be Cowboy.
*A couple of women of my acquaintance prefer Harry Da Souza, played by Tom Hardy in Mobland. Same principle, slightly different aesthetic.
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