MovieChat Forums > Midnight Cowboy (1969) Discussion > What if Joe Buck never met Ratso Rizzo a...

What if Joe Buck never met Ratso Rizzo at all?

posted 8 years ago by Matthew7819
7 replies | jump to latest

How would that have changed the plot of the film? Midnight Cowboy is about a dishwasher from Texas named Joe Buck who goes to New York City to become a Hustler, along the way he meets Ratso Rizzo and is ripped off by him and later taken in by him okay great.

What would Jo Buck's story have been like if Ratso had not been inside of that bar when he went to have a few drinks after meeting Cass? Like say Ratyso already left or was coming in later after Joe left.

Then Joe Buck leaves the bar and continues his Hustling career without being ripped off by anyone at all, maybe down the road he would have eventually gone broke and been forced to get a real job washing dishes again like he contemplated doing when he saw the guy washing dishes after he was broke and homeless.

Joe Buck then washes dishes in New York City and does his Hustler job at night after hours, finding out where the action is and pimping himself out there, Times Square, 42ND Street, Harlem and Washington Heights etc.

I can easily see Joe buck washing dishes by day and Hustling by night, never leaving New York City and keeping his Hustler dream alive all by himself, heck even getting that damn suitcase back from the hotel too, i wonder if Joe Buck could survive in New York on his own for long or not even with a job.

At the end of the day the movie is about Joe Buck and his goal and dreams of becoming a Hustler, Ratso Rizzo while a great character is not important to the story but becomes important to us the viewers, if Ratso never encountered Joe Buck it wouldnt really matter at all anyway, Joe would just get desperate and start washing dishes again and Hustling by night, he would try out his dreams and fail and remain in the city.

Thoughts?

[–] daverindone 8 years ago

Good point! There was that fleeting moment when Joe spies the Dishwasher Wanted sign and seems to be considering it when the current washer gives him a surly look. I took that scene as two things: One, his daydreaming / consideration of travelling all this way to just become a dishwasher was broken up by the current guy giving him a dirty look (and him walking away) or Two: He was starving and the thought of a diner breakfast looked great. The other think was the guy currently doing the job sort or resembled Joe, so it may have been a kind of "alternate" story. If you see it from the other side, the current guy looks up after feeling like someone is starting at him, only to find this Cowboy-looking weirdo looking back at him.

[–] riddick-11114 7 years ago

I think that Joe Buck would probably go completely broke and might have to get a job washing dishes if he had never found Ratso, even with all of his original money he would not last long.

Failing this he could go to Harlem and find a Pimp, though most of them only pimp women and not other men, he could explain his story to them and be put to work in Times Square or on 42ND Street, but he wasnt smart enough to do this, a real pimp might help him out, but if he failed to earn he would take a beating and might get shot, or end up in jail.

Joe could always mug or rob someone too, but he could fail or do it too much and would get arrested, that would end his dreams in a hurry too.

Its a good thing he found Ratso, the other outcomes are horrible if he didnt, even living a boring life as a dishwasher would be hell.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 7 years ago

Its a good thing he found Ratso, the other outcomes are horrible if he didnt, even living a boring life as a dishwasher would be hell.

If Joe worked as a dishwasher again, his life might well be boring, but he'd still be better off materially and personally than the situation he had with Ratso. Even at a dishwasher's salary he'd be able to at least get a room with electricity and heat, for one thing, and more importantly, he wouldn't have to put himself in degrading and dangerous situations just to get by.

One thing Joe and Ratso had in common was that both thought that legitimate work (washing dishes or shining shoes) was somehow beneath them and that somehow, by some miracle, they would have a good life without starting at the bottom. The irony is that they wound up below rock-bottom with their strategies.

On the other hand, Joe did gain something from having found Ratso: the first meaningful friendship and connection with another person that he's had in years.

[–] somesunnyday 7 years ago

What if, what if, what if... The story is what it is. Why even contemplate anything else?

[–] mplo (2305) 7 years ago

Joe, a kid from somewhere down in Texas, who'd been working full-time at a greasy-spoon restaurant, was as innocent and naive as they come, wanted to come east to New York to have some fun, and become a hustler. He also met Ratso, a rather sickly, unfortunate con-man, which he partnered up with. They were in New York for awhile, and Joe tried to get Ratso to see a doctor, but to no avail. Ratso said that the Florida sunshine would be more helpful. Ratso, who was suffering from TB, died on the way down to Florida, on the bus.

[–] Thadd (339) a year ago

He would have drifted about. He might have gotten in trouble, with the police.

Mugged. Rolled. Ended up in a homeless shelter.

[–] mplo (2305) a year ago

That's entirely possible, or he might've ended up murdered.