Matthew Percefull
The late 1960s marked a significant turning point in art and culture, as youth movements and countercultural forces drove new waves of creative expression. Many of today’s artistic movements and genres were influenced by this era of experimentation. Film was among the art forms undergoing this transformation. The period saw the emergence of what is now known as the New Hollywood era in cinema history. Unlike the traditional studio system that had dictated production for decades, New Hollywood gave directors greater creative control, allowing for more innovative storytelling. From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, this movement reshaped cinema. Midnight Cowboy stands as one of the early successes that exemplified this new approach to storytelling.
Midnight Cowboy represents this era of expression perfectly. It’s bold, honest, and deeply disillusioned with the American dream. The film hit big upon release, becoming the first X-rated movie to receive an Academy Award for Best Picture. Had it been released a decade later, it might have been received more coldly. But in 1969, it was exactly what audiences needed. That year was a sobering moment in American culture. The optimism of the free-loving hippie movement crumbled after the Tate-LaBianca murders put the Manson Family at the center of national headlines. The Vietnam War had dragged on for years, despite widespread outcry and with no clear resolution in sight. The country was still reeling from the violent deaths of activists and political leaders who had shaped what was primed to be a progressive decade.
The glitz and glamour that Hollywood was associated with no longer comforted audiences who saw the world crumbling around them. The “perfect” image that Hollywood presented was seen as the scam it was. People didn’t want celebrities running around in fancy clothes on big sets anymore. Movies as strictly entertainment didn’t cut it anymore. How could it? Art needed to mean something to connect with audiences in a real way. New Hollywood was the answer to many prayers.
Filmgoers weren’t seeking an escape; they wanted something raw and unflinching that resonated with their feelings. Midnight Cowboy was there to say: “You’re not being dramatic, this place really is that strange.”
Joe Buck (Jon Voight) is a young Texan man who feels stuck at his dead-end dishwashing gig. Seeking some freedom, he decides to move to New York City to become a male prostitute. He instantly realizes that making it big in the city isn’t as easy as he thought it would be. On the verge of becoming homeless, Buck meets Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a local conman who is ostracized in his own city. The two form a complex business relationship that goes deeper than either man expects.
This relationship is what makes Midnight Cowboy. The way these two men are bonded together informs everything that happens here. Both Joe and Rizzo are looking for the same thing: validation. Joe feels like he’s outgrown his hometown. He sees himself as special and alluring. Once in New York, he expects everyone to treat him as such and is severely disappointed. Rizzo, on the other hand, just wants to be equal. As the son of a shoe shiner, he lacks self-esteem and sees himself at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Despite his rough exterior, all he wants is for someone to see him for more than his financial status. These two meet each other in the middle to try and understand the hellscape they find themselves in.
Identity is a huge theme in Midnight Cowboy. Joe Buck wears his identity as a costume. He presents his southern upbringing almost as a character he’s playing. He is performing as a cowboy because he thinks it will attract people to him. Instead, it just alienates him. He escapes Texas for a better life, but Texas is all he knows. He’s forced to use his past as a way to market himself. He finds that moving to the big city doesn’t encourage personal expression, it just awards capitalistic conformity. Joe makes several connections in this film, but closes himself off unless there’s monetary gain. His naivety is turned into greed without him even realizing it. He completely loses his moral compass and fades into the vicious underbelly of New York.
Rizzo’s identity is also tied to his hometown. He prides himself on walking like a New Yorker and talking like a New Yorker. He tries to teach Joe the attitude that he was taught is needed to make it there. He is proud of the city but disgusted by the people who occupy it. He’s jaded and untrusting. It’s not until the very end of the film, when he’s dying, that we see him let the mask slip. He’s scared of the future and being viewed as obsolete. He’s rejected by the city he’s grown up in, and his last move is an attempt to leave it. Midnight Cowboy portrays how America can suck the life out of any type of person.
Midnight Cowboy can be a brutal watch. It’s two men buying into the American dream and being failed by it every step of the way. Every speck of hope is instantly dashed. Director John Schlesinger dissects America, and his diagnosis is bleak. It isn’t natural charm and a good attitude that gets you ahead in this country, it’s usually luck. These systems rely on Joe Bucks and Rizzo to keep spreading these dead-end dreams and lose hope in the process. Midnight Cowboy expresses these thoughts in an abrasive and sobering fashion.
Something that makes Midnight Cowboy feel this abrasive is the editing. It perfectly encapsulates what Joe Buck feels throughout this story. Almost every editing “rule” is broken here. The following continuity and nondiegetic inserts are perfectly disorienting. The merging of flashbacks with present-day imagery was also incredibly creative for its time. The editing feels so 60’s while also being timeless. Midnight Cowboy is a film that is steeped in its time yet hasn’t aged a day. This acrobatic editing is a huge part of that.
The best way to describe what it feels like to watch Midnight Cowboy is to say that it feels like a dream. This is a cliched way to describe a film, but it truly fits here. It’s hazy and hard to decipher at times. The end is the film snapping you awake from this dream. When Joe Buck has to close the eyes of his dear friend on the bus and sit next to him, it’s sobering. There are no crazy edits or music. It’s just Joe Buck’s face with the dark reality of life sitting on his face.
Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman ground this film in reality. The fast-paced editing style of Midnight Cowboy represents the many thoughts racing in Joe’s head; Jon Voight’s scaled back performance represents the awkward false confidence that consumes his reality. Hoffman portrays his character with empathy that spreads to the audience. These distinct performances are great on their own, but together they create magic. Their chemistry carries the emotion of the film, giving it the substance to match the film’s unique style.
Midnight Cowboy tells a timeless story. Despite being a direct reflection of the late 60’s, everything it exposes about American life is still present today. If people were disconnected in 1969, we’re all in different worlds in 2025. Social media has changed our world in ways most people don’t realize. It has changed the fabric of how we view social interaction. Class disparity only gets worse, and our youth are lonely and antisocial. John Schlesinger’s Oscar-winning classic was not just a reflection of 1969; it was a ballad about life under capitalism. It’s an example of an older film that will always resonate with audiences.
This influential film not only inspired a documentary, but it also set the stage for a wave of gritty New York-based films in the years to come. Films like Taxi Driver, The Last Picture Show and Panic at Needle Park are all dark character studies in the same vein as Midnight Cowboy. Even more modern films like Brokeback Mountain or Dallas Buyers Club feel in conversation with the 60’s film. It’s an important film from both a messaging and industry perspective. It showed what you could really do within a film. It also showed that the award bodies were willing to champion experimental films. It opened a floodgate of character studies that exposed the decaying state of America. Without Midnight Cowboy, the current state of film sure does look a lot different. We can still learn a lot from its warnings.
Midnight Cowboy is part of a truly daring time in filmmaking. These artists weren’t afraid to push boundaries and give studio CEO’s the finger while doing it. We find ourselves at a state in films where studios are profit first and art second. If there’s ever a time for a revolutionary film movement to sweep the world again, it’s now. Hopefully, there’s some prodigy out there currently working on their Midnight Cowboy. Until then, we have this classic for inspiration.
