"Pain Don't Hurt": Road House as a Serious Stoic Text

Do you know Road House? Not the 2024 remake-without-a-soul version. No, I’m talking of the Patrick Swayze in his prime, Sam Elliot so gorgeous that time should be frozen, bare-breasted ubiquity, 1989 cult classic of a film Road House. The film would never be made now. Between the crotch shots, naked breasts, a throat being ripped out, a monster truck barreling through the glass showroom of a car dealership, and the body count of Dalton (Swayze), it’s dismissed easily. While the plotline is thin—Dalton’s hired to clean up the Double Deuce, a violent bar, and makes enemies because he threatens the cash cow of Wesley’s racketeering, a man bent on prospering off the backs of the Jasper, Missouri businesses—the ethics and practices Dalton embodies is a modern entry into Stoicism and should be required watching for anyone that claims Stoicism as a personal philosophy.

Stoicism seems all the rage lately, from the Ryan Holiday books and Daily Stoic podcast to the recently published Go Gentle by Maria Semple. Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that teaches how to live a meaningful life in the face of hardship. The Enchiridion, literally meaning “handbook” or “manual”, collected the wisdom of Epictetus, a former Greek slave turned Stoic philosopher. The very first chapter tells the budding Stoic philosopher (or budding bouncer) that there are some things in our power and some things not; knowing the difference is key. This is called the dichotomy of control and Dalton’s character is formed on this basis. The most oft-quoted line in the film, “pain don’t hurt” (Herrington), is derided as tough-guy bravado. Viewed through Epictetus, Dalton shows that physical pain is merely an _impression—_Epictetus’s term for feelings, emotions, or thoughts. Impressions shouldn’t be acted on until after careful deliberation. Dalton knows the pain isn’t the problem; the problem is the judgment made about his pain. He is disciplined with his reaction.

The same discipline shows up in his daily activities and interactions. Dalton practices physical rigor with his morning Tai Chi routine. He gives the bouncers he manages a credo of “be nice until it’s time to not be nice” (Herrington). Dalton knows that self-governance comes from doing the interior work of probing his impressions and choosing the type of man he wants to be. And that man doesn’t perform or bloviate about his ethos and credo; there is no fanfare or posturing. Validation—a sense of one’s own worth—must come from within and is another core tenet of Stoicism. One you start looking for kudos and adoration outside yourself, you compromise your character. Your thoughts about Dalton are inconsequential to him, evidenced by his response when told he doesn’t amount to much: “Opinions vary” (Herrington) is the palatable, ever-so-subtle eff you response. The insult is noise and easily dismissed. Epictetus sagaciously reminds that insults only hurt if credence is given to them.

And yet, Dalton knows that Stoicism isn’t a solitary practice, which many modern-day practitioners fail to understand in their tech-bro, YouTube-productivity-porn interpretation. All of us are part of a community that require certain things of us. Although Dalton came to Jasper with a singular focus of cleaning up the Deuce, the townspeople come to rely on him for more, and he fulfills the part like an actor in a play. His self-governance is in service to something larger than himself, that of the wider community of Jasper. When things get out of hand, he relies on the community he’s established and his long-time friend and mentor, Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot). When his friendships and community ties are tested and violently ended—Wesley kills Garrett—Dalton uses his emotions (remember Epictetus’s impressions?) to inform his next action. Nothing is done in isolation and everything is in relation: to others, to our surroundings, to the great “human cosmopolis” (Pigliucci 386) to which we all belong.

Road House is the perfect film showing a modern interpretation of Stoicism, where self-governance, internal validation, and community play vital roles in living a meaningful life. Dalton is the modern man: tough, deliberate, emotionally available, kind. He knows he’s not the center of the universe, understands the roles he plays, and accepts them without fanfare or bravado. He is a man rooted in his self, established by years of physical and mental hardship. Hardship is used to inform and educate his character and responses. Dalton is the man we should all look to in an age inundated with selfish, unserious, polarizing humans as a beacon of what is possible.

Works Cited

Epictetus. Discourses and Selected Writings. Translated and edited by Robert F. Dobbin, Penguin, 2008.

Gilmore, Richard. “Maximus as Stoic Warrior in Gladiator.” Searching for Wisdom In Movies, Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 71–92, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39895-2_4.

Hirsch, Christina, et al. “Stoicism, Philosophy as a Way of Life and Negative Capability: Developing a Capacity for Working in Radical Uncertainty.” Leadership, vol. 19, no. 5, Oct. 2023, pp. 393–412. SAGE Journals, https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150231178092.

Maloney, Marcus, et al. “‘I Can Choose to Be a Good Man Even If I Got a Raw Deal’: Neoliberal Heteromasculinity as Manosphere Counter Narrative in r/Stoicism.” Social Media + Society, vol. 10, no. 3, July 2024. ProQuest, https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241274677.

Nussbaum, Martha C. “Emotions as Judgments of Value.” Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 19-88.

Pigliucci, Massimo. “Stoic Therapy for Today’s Troubles.” The Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, edited by Kelly Arenson, 1st ed., Routledge, 2020, pp. 384–96, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351168120-31.

Power, Cormac. “Stoicism and Performativity: Identity, Resistance, Performance.” TDR: The Drama Review, vol. 61, no. 1, 2017, pp. 56–67.

Road House. Directed by Rowdy Herrington, United Artists, 1989.

Sacks, Kenneth S. “Stoicism in America.” The Routledge Handbook of the Stoic Tradition, edited by John Sellars, 1st ed., Routledge, 2016, pp. 331–45, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315771588-28.

Sorabji, Richard. “The Emotions As Value Judgements In Chrysippus.” Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, edited by Richard Sorabji, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 29-54, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256600.003.0003.