Character Analysis
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Lureen Newsome, the fastest cowgirl in Childress, Texas, is the wife of Jack Twist, the mother of his son, and heiress to a tractor empire. John Deere, eat your heart out.
Lureen is the closest thing that Texas has to a princess—she's gorgeous, rich, and endlessly pampered by her doting daddy. But she's not passively resting on her laurels and looks—she runs a business. She's sexually aggressive. And she's emotionally detached to the point that she doesn't consider that her husband may be having an affair. In other words, she is the perfect woman for Jack Twist.
The movie barely shows us Jack and Lureen's marriage. When it does, it only shows us Jack's dicey relationship with his father-in-law (check out "Family" in our Themes section for more on that). The best word to describe their marriage would be "content." It's not passionate, but they seem to be happy.
At least, Lureen's happy. She has a husband. She has a son. She has a business. However, she is oblivious to Jack's affair. At one point, she says,
LUREEN: It's funny, isn't it? Husbands don't never seem to want to dance with their wives. Why do you think that is, Jack?
But this isn't a knowing line meant to expose Jack. She has no clue Jack has boys on the side.
Lureen realizes Jack loved Ennis at the end, but after she hangs up the phone with Ennis, we don't see her again. We don't know how she'll cope with the revelation. But we do know that Lureen is a fighter from the top of her Texas-sized 80's hair to her perfectly manicured nails. She'll be just fine.