Rethinking John Wayne

Ever since he was a little boy in the 1940’s, Howard Schaffer was rejected by his siblings and peers because he was a short, fat child. Even so, he was infatuated with movie star John Wayne and dreamed he would one day be a great American hero like him. When he grew up however, he found that the American counterculture values of the late 1950s and 1960’s viewed America and its iconic hero John Wayne with disdain. Becoming involved in the counterculture, Howard turns from his idolizing his childhood hero as well as American patriotism. Joining the beatnik and then hippie movements, he becomes a popular comedy entertainer. For several years his comedy routines focus on demeaning and denouncing anything and everything having to do with patriotism and American icon John Wayne, his onetime hero. What happens to Howard and his comedy career years later, as well as the counterculture he had become involved in, is a sad yet redemptive story of returning to the values of one’s childhood. Rethinking John Wayne brings back the American spirit of yesteryear to take hold of hearts once again. In the end, its message is that no matter who or what comes against our country, it will always remain the land of free and home of the brave as long as Americans stand firmly together as one nation under God.