In The Lone Ranger episode “Man of the House,” Casper Dingle
inherits his uncle’s ranch. When he
travels there, he falls in love with Maude, the woman running it in his uncle’s
stead. As he was raised in the city, he marries
Maude and works inside the house, doing the cooking and cleaning, while she
handles the running of the ranch.
 |
| "That was my favorite plate, Casper!" |
Yet neither seems entirely happy with this arrangement, and
when rustlers steal their cattle, Maude despairs that she married a mouse
instead of a man. Casper cowers beneath
her glare, and apologizes for breaking the plate he dropped when she yelled at
him. Then she rides off with the ranch
hands.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto, who have been on the trail of the
rustlers, stop by the house. Poor Casper,
seeing the ranger’s mask, straps on a gun belt, but can’t even pull the gun out
of the holster. After the Lone Ranger assures
him he intends him no harm, he tells Casper that he’s not really a coward:
he’s just let everyone make him think he is.
 |
| "Uh, Mr. Dingle, you'll do better if you open your eyes." |
While Tonto tracks down the rustlers, the Lone Ranger teaches Casper to
shoot. But when Tonto’s horse returns
rider-less, the lesson is over.
Tonto’s horse leads them to the hideout, and thanks to the
Lone Ranger’s training, as well as his belief in him, Casper proves
instrumental to capturing the rustlers.
The group return to the ranch, but Maude can’t believe her husband helped
capture rustlers. So he shoots her
favorite teapot off the shelf on the wall to prove his marksmanship, as well as
his willingness to defy her. As Tonto
leaves, he tells Casper, “You keep wearing the pants in family,” and Casper
stares down Maude until she agrees to do all the cooking and cleaning from now
on, while he minds the ranch. As the
Lone Ranger and Tonto ride away, Maude asks him the identity of masked stranger. Casper replies, “Typical woman, you don’t
know nothin.’ That was the Lone Ranger.”
Much has changed since this episode first aired, including
gender roles and race relations. It’ll
be interesting to see how Hollywood transforms the sixty-year-old TV show into
a blockbuster movie, with a high profile actor as Johnny Depp playing the role
of Tonto, the sidekick. In the meantime,
I’m enjoying The Lone Ranger on COZI TV. “Man of the House” struck me as unique, so I
thought I’d share it with you. I like
how the Lone Ranger unlocked the power inside Casper that was ready to be
released. Sometimes that’s all any of us
need: someone to believe in us, give us a little instruction, and accompany us
a short distance along our new path through life.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must finish the laundry before
my wife gets home. Hi-yo Silver! Away!
Dragon Dave
Related Dragon Cache Entries
No comments:
Post a Comment