Topic: Just curious, but why do people like John Wayne so much?

I've been wondering about this for a while now. I saw True Grit in January, and heard a bunch of my dad's older coworkers saying it was terrible because it wasn't John Wayne's version. So I found John Wayne's version and thought that all the acting was...really, really bad. John Wayne was better than the other two main characters, but I still thought he was really overacting and exaggerating everything he did way too much. So I figured that it was just that one movie, and watched some other ones and that was the way he was in every movie. The same goofy, overacting cheesiness.

What am I missing?

I didn't know who the heck John Wayne was until I read this.

I have never seen a single movie with him in it but I assume If you like westerns at all you probably like John wayne.
He's iconic just like Clint eastwood. Everyone has heard of him. It's a cowboy thing I guess. People just love a macho guy on a horse for some reason. Especially the ladies.

Wait, John Wayne as in Peter Griffin's John Wayne at the first thanksgiving joke?
Yeah, I don't know. To each his own I guess.

Forget about them, True Grit was awesome!

Nobody's been able to give me a reason for liking John Wayne other than the fact that John Wayne was John Wayne, so I'm willing to guess that they're blinded by nostalgia.

That said, if someone can give me another reason, I'm willing to listen.

When I saw this title I thought it said Lil Wayne, lol.

John Wayne was a terrible actor and a sack of s**t as a person. Here are excerpts from his Playboy interview

Wayne: I believe in white supremecy until blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.

Lewis: Are you equiped to judge which blacks are irresponsible and which of their leaders are inexperienced?

Wayne: The academic community has developed certain tests that determine whether the blacks are sufficiently equipped scholastically. ....I don't feel guilty about the fact that five or ten generations ago these people were slaves. .... I wish they'd tell me where in the world they have it better than right here in America.

Lewis: Do you feel any empathy for (Indians)?"

Wayne: I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them ..... the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves. .... I'm quite sure that the concept of a Government-run reservation .... seems to be what the socialists are working for now — to have everyone cared for from cradle to grave ..... But you can't whine and bellyache 'cause somebody else got a break and you didn't, like those Indians are. We'll all be on a reservation soon if the socialists keep subsidizing groups like them with our tax money."

I think with the older crowd its just what they grew up with. Personally I am not a big John Wayne fan I can take or leave his movies. But as I said I think its just a personal preference. I mean it would be like someone asking you why is (insert you favorite actor here) so great? I dont get it. Whats the fuss about?

Thats pretty much it.

His movies were way before my time so naturally I don't get the facination with him. If you grew up with his movies you'd probably feel differently. Just like how older people think videogames are just a stupid waste of time that rots your brain.
If you were young when certain fads or popular things were new you'd probably be more attached to them.
It basically comes down to nostalgia and which generation you grew up in.

Bah, no-one here understands what camp value is. You know, "so-bad-it's-good"?

Because of his incredible range.

EDIT: Obviously that was sarcasm. Don't listen to the people who say the old version of True Grit is superior. It isn't. For me, it's borderline unwatchable.
It's really only famous because it's the only film that netted John Wayne a "best actor" Oscar, but the only reason he got it for that movie was because he died and had never won one.

The new version of True Grit is spectacular, and I found Jeff Bridges' performance to be far better than John Wayne's in the old version.

I guess I'm curious because I saw and loved True Grit and then found out there was an old one. I heard people who utterly despised the new one just for not being the old one, so I watched the old one and thought it wasn't anywhere remotely near the realm of "good". I saw some of his other movies and they were all about the same, and Wayne played the same character every time. There's no real redeeming qualities to his acting, and Fox just showed that he was a terrible person also. But I still find all of these people saying that John Wayne is the greatest person ever born without giving a reason for it. So, I wanted to see if anybody could give a reason for it, but I guess there is no reason for it other than nostalgia.

Because John Wayne was supposed to be a mans man. That doesn't really apply nowadays though and I don't think any younger person would say they like him. He was completely one dimensional and quite honestly I think he pertains more to that generation, which is how I see a lot of how men are of that generation.

The only reason they say the John Wayne version of True Grit is superior is that what they know and like. It was the first therefore there was nothing to compare it too. They just dont want to admit that the new one is better I dont know why that is but it just is. Its like a remake of a game. If a remake of a game that you cherish so much it wont matter how better that one is in your eyes that one will always be better.

Truth be told its all in the eyes of the beholder to each their own, Just cause you like the John Wayne version of True Grit better than the Jeff Bridges thats your business.

I'm not even old but this made me feel old.

Who's John Wayne? A rapper?
_{was that really necessary? :/ — TBD}

Forgive me, but I'm very poorly informed when it comes to famous people. I just couldn't care less about them really. Could never understand why people follow what famous people do so much.

OMG SO-AND-SO IS AT THE BEACH!
OMG SO-AND-SO IS EATING FOOD!
OMG SO-AND-SO DYED HER HAIR!

John Wayne is a dead guy whom you`ve never heard of because you`re too young. He was like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of westerns.

The reason that John Wayne has his enormous reputation is because his name became synonymous with the Western genre. Combined with his 'partnership' spanning decades with the incredibly talented director John Ford, movies such as Stagecoach, Rio Grande and The Searchers came to define the genre.

The really early stuff in particular (like Stagecoach) is amazing. These guys created epic Westerns with horse stunts that still put a lot of current stuff to shame.

Without John Wayne and John Ford, the entire action genre would be incredibly miserable (as it spawned from the western), and those Clint Eastwood movies we all know and love (Dollars Trilogy in particular) wouldn't have come around either, as Sergio Leone (director of all the Spaghetti Westerns) would have had no source material to pay homage to.

As such, he is very important (as are his movies)

edit - seems weird that I'm from Australia and love him and tonnes of you guys (who I assume are American) barely know him?

@kid_A - he died about 10 years after the movie was released dude? Certainly, people probably favoured him for the award as he had done many fantastic movies previously without luck, but it certainly wasn't out of a respect for him passing away.

Who's John Wayne?