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Ramble on the Western Genre
Aug. 27th, 2006 12:26 pm[Note: unedited fairly stream-of-consciousness, rambling entry, due to the fact that my neck and back are killing me and I've got to get of this damn thing. This post is proof that I have seen more movies and tv shows in my 39 years of life than I want to think about. Ugh.]
From reading and responding to a friend's discussion of the Western classic Stagecoach last night, I feel the oddest urge to write a post about The Western - the genre that has become more or less forgotten in the modern age. If you go to your local bookseller, you may find a couple of Westerns tucked away on the last two or three shelves of the Sci-Fantasy section or Romance section or even the Mystery section - in the case of hybrids. But gone are the days when there was a complete shelf devoted to it. The Science Fiction genre has more or less gobbled up what once upon a time was the Western/Adventure novel.
Even on TV and film, we see less and less of them. Every few years, one will pop up, but it is usually more contemporary in tone or literary, falling within the category of mainstream or off-kilter drama. Such as Brokeback Mountain or The Missing or even Dances with Wolves. Literary Westerns.
But back in the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and even a good portion of the 80's or the 20th Century, Westerns did big business. And were more prolific than Science Fiction or Fantasy shows or novels. The stories, if you've read Westerns aren't really that different than the basic plots of a sci-fi or horror tale - the gunslinger holed up in a house defending the family from invaders, who may eat, maim, rape, or harm them. Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Lost, Earth 2, BattleStar Galatica, Star Wars, Cowboy Bebop and even Star Trek borrowed heavily from the Western motif - exploring new territory, me against the establishment, setting out to find my own land and defending it against invaders, the lone gunslinger, the band of people on the run in a land they've never seen with untold dangers that is unhospitable...The Western tended to be simpler in some ways.
( Read more... )
From reading and responding to a friend's discussion of the Western classic Stagecoach last night, I feel the oddest urge to write a post about The Western - the genre that has become more or less forgotten in the modern age. If you go to your local bookseller, you may find a couple of Westerns tucked away on the last two or three shelves of the Sci-Fantasy section or Romance section or even the Mystery section - in the case of hybrids. But gone are the days when there was a complete shelf devoted to it. The Science Fiction genre has more or less gobbled up what once upon a time was the Western/Adventure novel.
Even on TV and film, we see less and less of them. Every few years, one will pop up, but it is usually more contemporary in tone or literary, falling within the category of mainstream or off-kilter drama. Such as Brokeback Mountain or The Missing or even Dances with Wolves. Literary Westerns.
But back in the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and even a good portion of the 80's or the 20th Century, Westerns did big business. And were more prolific than Science Fiction or Fantasy shows or novels. The stories, if you've read Westerns aren't really that different than the basic plots of a sci-fi or horror tale - the gunslinger holed up in a house defending the family from invaders, who may eat, maim, rape, or harm them. Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Lost, Earth 2, BattleStar Galatica, Star Wars, Cowboy Bebop and even Star Trek borrowed heavily from the Western motif - exploring new territory, me against the establishment, setting out to find my own land and defending it against invaders, the lone gunslinger, the band of people on the run in a land they've never seen with untold dangers that is unhospitable...The Western tended to be simpler in some ways.
( Read more... )