One of the problems
with American culture is quite simple.
Not enough people read Westerns.
As a genre, it represents a set of virtues for people to emulate. Over the last century, ideals and principles in
society have declined markedly.
Strength, nobility,
and courage are virtues that are exemplified in one only persona, that of the
American soldier, and popular media downplays the contributions and sacrifices of
the only true hero left to us.
The Western influenced
a generation of Americans when it was popular on television and in Hollywood
"Westerns... created a model for men who
came of age in the twentieth century." – Jane Tompkins, West of Everything
Even in the Revisionist
Westerns when the anti-hero became popular, the protagonist still emulated
honor and loyalty.
In Unforgiven, Eastwood's character Will
Munny is a man who "has killed everything that has walked or crawled at
one time or another," yet he is on a quest to bring to justice men who
have harmed a woman. Later in the movie,
he seeks vengeance against those who killed his friend.
The protagonist in
any Western stood up for his beliefs, no matter what the cost and offered no
compromise. Pick up any Western story and you will find virtues that have all
but vanished from society.
The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales by Forrest Carter offers some insight into
what many consider to be the Code of the West, although it's improbable that
such a code actually existed during the Old West time period.
As a man had no coin, his coin was his word.
His loyalty, his bond. To injure one to whom he was obliged was personal; more,
it was blasphemy.
How many people
nowadays are actually concerned about keeping their word? How many people actually stand up for their
beliefs? Today,
instead of standing up to evil, people look the other way.
There's no such
thing as honor, integrity or loyalty in American society. There is no line that hasn't been crossed. Honor has become a word that people look up in
the dictionary and not a value to be lived by.
Without the Western,
there are no heroes for today's culture.
While some celebrities and athletes are fine people, the majority of
them are not the best of role models.
As Louis L'Amour
said in his novel Sackett's Land, people
need someone to admire. "A man
needs heroes. He needs to believe in strength, nobility, and courage. Otherwise
we become sheep to be herded to the slaughterhouse..."
The problem with
today's society can be summarized by a quote from John Wayne. "A man's got to have a code, a creed to
live by, no matter his job."
With no heroes to
emulate and no creed to live by, how long before we become sheep to be herded
to the slaughterhouse?
Good point. The western falls astride two different and opposing creeds, which often create an interesting dilemma for the men and women at the center of a western story. One creed is "an eye for an eye"; the other is the Golden Rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It's hard to follow both creeds and do the right thing, yet the western hero is often called upon to do so.
ReplyDeleteRon, I think that it's the struggle to do the right thing and still follow a code that makes for good storytelling.
DeleteWell said, Matthew.
ReplyDeleteI think heroes are important.
Unfortunately, we have too few these days ... Worse still, when someone *does* become elevated to hero status, by whatever means(think Tim Tebow, for example), we have a voracious 24/7 paparazzi-fueled news media who CAN'T WAIT to somehow, some way dig up dirt to tear him/her down.
But --- on screen and in pages --- we who haven't "outgrown" Westerns will always have Duke, Coop, Roy, Gene, L'Amour,etc.
Thanks, Wayne. I agree that one of the problems with today's world is that the few heroes we do have are systematically torn down and that just doesn't make sense to me.
DeleteHeroes. I love reading stories where the hero, defined as a man who lives by his own code of honor, is placed in a dilemma with that very code at stake. In Western Historical Romance, we combine that with the heroine who is faced with that very same dilemma, which creates a third dilemma with the romance arc.
ReplyDeleteIt's truly a shame that children today don't have strong values in the characters presented in popular TV, movies, and books. Even in the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore ends up being of dubious character, Snape ends up the good guy, and all in all, it's a mixed up mess. In the olden days, even characters who straddled the fence (e.g., Maverick and Paladin) have a code of honor that was clear, and we all knew what it was.
I enjoy reading stories with heroes too, Jacquie. The heroes with values to emulate and their code of honor is what draws me to writing Westerns.
DeleteTake issue with you on one point....the western genre influenced an entire world not just Americans. I'm a Brit and my childhood was laced with the wonders and the values of the wild west. The history belongs to America but without it I wouldn't have become a western writer.
ReplyDeleteNowadays we don't have heroes...we just invent them....from Jack Reacher to Longarm they are the type of heroes that are wanted.
Sorry I omitted that fact, Ray. I've read some fine Westerns by British writers.
DeleteIt does seem that inventing our heroes is the only recourse we have left.
I would add only that the reading of Westerns is not enough. They need more Western movies and TV programs that promote the "Good Hero" image. Where art thou John Wayne, etc.?
ReplyDeleteThat's the kind of thing we need, Oscar, but today's culture seems to shy away from it. We could even do with a few anti-heroes on television as long as they portray some heroic qualities.
DeleteI'd argue that superheroes replaced the Western, so where children once played at being sheriffs and cowboys, they became seduced by superpowers and costumes. You only need to look at Hollywood's output to see that - and my biggest problem with it is that to succeed as a superhero or a caped crusader, all you have to do is exceed the strength of your opponent. In Westerns, where everyone has the same basic human capabilities, it comes down to motivation, skill, honour, etc. etc. Besides, Westerns demonstrate that there will always be consequences to your actions - something most people need reminding of.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, Icy. One that I hadn't considered. Another problem with being seduced by superpowers is that its not very realistic. In my opinion, it's better to have a hero who you can actually strive toward emulating.
DeleteIcy, I've been making that same argument for some years now. I guess great minds think alike, and so do ours :-) But I would add that, in the best superhero stories (which tend to be those created by Stan Lee and the Marvel artists!), there are very strong moral messages about right and wrong. In fact, ol' Spidey often takes on bad guys who are stronger than he is... but his sense of responisbility and honor drive him to face overwhelming odds. A few years ago I was musing about some of the great movie heroes of yesteryear who had huge impacts on me as a child, and on my sense of morality... Will Kane from High Noon was a big one... and wondering, in this post-modern age of anti-heroes, where do kids get something like that? And I had the same realization as you, it's the superheroes.
ReplyDeleteTo matthew's point, I'd say this. My favorite superheroes as a teenager were Spider-man, Captain America, Daredevil, and Iron Man. I didn't aspire to be bitten by a radioactive spider, or get a secret serum or invent armor or be a blind accrobatic lawyer. I wanted to be responsible, like Peter Parker (who learned the hard way there are consequences for his actions.) I wanted to stand up for the best of my country's ideals rather than for its government, like Steve Rogers. I wanted to have a sense of justice and desire to protect the weak, like Matt Murdock. And I admired Tony Stark, who A) realized that there were negative consequences for the fortune he had made selling arms, B) kept fighting for what he thought was right even though his heart could literally fail any minute, and C) struggle back from alcoholism. I really didn't mean this to turn into a defense of the superhero story, but I love both genres... and they have much more in common than you may have realized.
One could argue, I think, that the superhero is an American mythic figure the same as the cowboy. That said, once the cinemas are saturated with costumed do-gooders, maybe the cowboy can come back to the cultural fore as well.
Troy, I didn't mean to imply that I disliked the superhero genre altogether. Some of them I find unrealistic, but I have always liked Iron Man and Batman. Batman being the one that I have kept up the most with through the years. The recent Dark Knight trilogy are great movies.
DeleteWhat I like about those two are that they don't necessarily have "super powers" but they turn to technology for their superiority and are able to defeat beings with super powers.
Much like Star Wars is a Western story set in space, I think that Batman is a Western story set in the superhero genre. He is essentially the lone gunfighter that protects the innocent.