Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club (2013).

 

Ron Woodroof is the hero of the story, there is no debate about that. He was a electrician and a rodeo before HIV discovered on him. Woodroof is first socially separated from his usually group, not because of his ‘ego’ (Vogler, pg.29), but he is forced out due to his condition. After being banished, Woodroof sets off on a journey to discover a new identity ——HIV carrier, or PWA (People with AIDS). He is forced to start this journey, which makes him an ‘unwilling’ and a ‘loner’ hero at the beginning (pg.34 – 36).

 

It does not take Woodroof long to find his new identification and fully accept it since his choices are limited. His main struggle in the story is not to figure out who he is, but to survive with this new identity. To discuss Woodroof as an archetype of hero, it leans on Christopher Vogler’s idea of dramatic function of hero than the psychological function.

 

Unlike most of the heroes, Woodroof is not easy for audience to identify with. His has horrible personalities; he is arrogant and disrespectful, especially at the beginning of the film. He starts off with being an Anti-hero, and he is a bit of both types of which Vogler mentions in his book. Woodroof is ‘ given a strong touch of cynicism and (or) have a wounded quality’ (pg.35) which he demonstrates throughout the film. He is also a ‘tragic hero’ (pg.35), his choice of language as I analyzed in the last post, and his behaviors are not preferable to normal people. Although never stated explicitly, Vogler does not seem to believe either types of anti-heroes are identifiable to the audience. However, he does claim that the first type sometimes has the audience’s sympathy, which is clearly the case in Dallas Buyers Club. Vogler also claims that the second type, tragic heroes, ‘never overcome their inner demons and are brought down and destroyed’ (pg.35); Woodroof only matches half of this description since he eventually makes peace with his inner demons, thus continue to live with them as he accepts his patient identity and the fact that he is never going to be cured, but also that he is never going to stop fighting.

 

Woodroof grows in two different ways during his journey. The first one is how he acquires the knowledge of AIDS and researches on the relevant medication. The second one is an underlying transition of how he gradually gets rid of his homophobic quality. The most representative plot is that his attitude to Rayon goes through a significant change in the film, not only he stops using homophobic language but he also steps up for her when Rayon is treated disrespectfully by Woodroof’s old friend. Woodroof protects Rayon from being humiliated in the groceries, and from that moment he starts to act like a ‘real hero’ in the film.

 

Death is one of the themes of this film, dealing with death becomes part of the daily lives of HIV carriers. Woodroof faces the risk of death on a daily basis; he is driven by his will to survive. The motivation of this character is to escape his death. However, the most significant death Woodroof encounters in the film is the death of Rayon, his partner, friend, an ally. Rayon’s death reminds him that he is fighting for a higher purpose, to earn people’s rights to medically treat themselves. Rayon’s death also tells the audience that Woodroof is no longer a hero to a specific person, but a hero to a group of people. He has transformed from an unwilling, loner anti-hero to a group-oriented hero.

Dallas Buyers Club. 2013. [film] Directed by J. Vallée. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA: Truth Entertainment.

Vogler, C., 1998. The Writer’s Journey. pp.29, 34-36.