—specifically its failure. Joe Buck (Jon Voight) arrives in New York City with a naive, hyper-masculine fantasy: he believes his "cowboy" persona will allow him to strike it rich as a gigolo for wealthy women. This "picaresque journey" quickly sours as he realizes his outdated notions of masculinity and success are no match for the indifference of a modern, decaying metropolis. Instead of fame and fortune, he finds isolation and extreme poverty. Industrial Scripts A Study of Fragile Masculinity MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969
Schlesinger also mastered the use of the flashback. Joe’s traumatic past—including the implied sexual assault by his grandmother’s boyfriend and the suicide of his girlfriend—is revealed in jagged, terrifying fragments. We realize Joe isn't just a hustler; he’s a wounded child trying to escape a past too horrible to remember. Midnight Cowboy