Road House: The Stoic Fighter
The other day I happened to rewatch a classic popcorn movie, Road House, starting Patrick Swayze. There’s a lot to laugh at in the film, a lot of over-acting and action. The film is about a specialized bouncer called a “cooler,” named Dalton, who has a reputation for cleaning up bars and keeping out bad customers. The film starts with him being approached by the new owner of The Double Deuce, a road side bar in Jasper Missouri. The bar is known for having problems and he thinks Dalton is the one to fix them.
The small town and bar are shaken up when Dalton arrives, bringing with him the changes he believes necessary to bring stability to the bar and create an environment where people can enjoy themselves without worrying about being stabbed. This mostly requires firing drug dealing, stealing, and incompetent employees.
These changes bring Dalton into conflict with a corrupt local businessman named Brad Wesley. Wesley has made his life around Jasper by extorting the town for protection money and is dead set against Dalton making any changes that could disrupt his power. This becomes the conflict of the film, with Wesley and Dalton fighting for the Soul of Jasper and the fate of the Road House.
Like I said, a popcorn movie.
The Philosophy Fighter
