The Motion Picture Western is dead, and this society is dying.
Fridays couldn't be better.
Mmmmm. Full belly. I went out and had a pleasant dinner with very pleasant company. Six months ago a Friday evening completely at my disposal was simply unheard of. I could get used to this. Wait, I already have. A Social Life. I thought that was one of those elusive things they did episodes about on The X Files.
I return home, get comfortable, and turn on the television. Scanning through the guide feature, I see something that makes me as giddy as a schoolgirl. Silverado. Sorry Ladies. My next two hours of life as I know it are spoken for. A truly great Western.
Why is the broadcast of this great Western, or any Western on television a very exciting thing? Because Western films no longer exist. They are extinct. No, scratch that. They are an Endangered Species, like the California Condor was in the Eighties when they numbered less than two dozen. The Western's population is even more dire. There have been a few magnificent modern Westerns, Silverado being one of them. Others of note are to be counted on one hand. Lonesome Dove, a great miniseries that should have been produced as a motion picture Western saga. Imagine what it would be like if Peter Jackson were to be a McMurtry fan and decided to do it in a motion picture format. I shudder. Dances With Wolves was another fine film. Those more conservative and politically jaded than me would say that it was revisionist history with the portrayal of the American Indian as a noble creature tormented by a unruly, uncouth, and unprofessional U.S. Military. I thought it was done fairly. A number of Louis L'Amour novels have also been brought to the screen in very well done made-for-television movies. My only regret is that they were not produced for the big screen. Crossfire Trail, Connagher, and The Sacketts were first-rate. In the last thirty years, however, this has been it. It is no longer a mainstream motion picture staple.
People change. Society changes. Taste in film changes. More film formats than the Western have met this fate. My gripe is that the Western has fallen out of favor because today's society and it's moral fiber cannot relate to it. Why pay money for a film that portrays lost morals and values that society no longer understands or gives any priority?
The Duke is Gone. America subsequently starts circling the drain. Story at Eleven.
The truly great Westerns, and the Western novel that inspired them, had a common thread. There was right and there was wrong. The hero lived by the code of right and the badman by the code of wrong. Two worlds collided, the hero came out on top in the end and got the girl. The motion picture Western doesn't attract a thriving audience because in this America all conduct, no matter if it is hands-down wrong, can be rationalized, spun, or defended judicially. More later. I'm just getting started...
Mmmmm. Full belly. I went out and had a pleasant dinner with very pleasant company. Six months ago a Friday evening completely at my disposal was simply unheard of. I could get used to this. Wait, I already have. A Social Life. I thought that was one of those elusive things they did episodes about on The X Files.
I return home, get comfortable, and turn on the television. Scanning through the guide feature, I see something that makes me as giddy as a schoolgirl. Silverado. Sorry Ladies. My next two hours of life as I know it are spoken for. A truly great Western.
Why is the broadcast of this great Western, or any Western on television a very exciting thing? Because Western films no longer exist. They are extinct. No, scratch that. They are an Endangered Species, like the California Condor was in the Eighties when they numbered less than two dozen. The Western's population is even more dire. There have been a few magnificent modern Westerns, Silverado being one of them. Others of note are to be counted on one hand. Lonesome Dove, a great miniseries that should have been produced as a motion picture Western saga. Imagine what it would be like if Peter Jackson were to be a McMurtry fan and decided to do it in a motion picture format. I shudder. Dances With Wolves was another fine film. Those more conservative and politically jaded than me would say that it was revisionist history with the portrayal of the American Indian as a noble creature tormented by a unruly, uncouth, and unprofessional U.S. Military. I thought it was done fairly. A number of Louis L'Amour novels have also been brought to the screen in very well done made-for-television movies. My only regret is that they were not produced for the big screen. Crossfire Trail, Connagher, and The Sacketts were first-rate. In the last thirty years, however, this has been it. It is no longer a mainstream motion picture staple.
People change. Society changes. Taste in film changes. More film formats than the Western have met this fate. My gripe is that the Western has fallen out of favor because today's society and it's moral fiber cannot relate to it. Why pay money for a film that portrays lost morals and values that society no longer understands or gives any priority?
The Duke is Gone. America subsequently starts circling the drain. Story at Eleven.
The truly great Westerns, and the Western novel that inspired them, had a common thread. There was right and there was wrong. The hero lived by the code of right and the badman by the code of wrong. Two worlds collided, the hero came out on top in the end and got the girl. The motion picture Western doesn't attract a thriving audience because in this America all conduct, no matter if it is hands-down wrong, can be rationalized, spun, or defended judicially. More later. I'm just getting started...
1 Comments:
I heard the song America by simon and garfungkle,for the first time in many yrs, i nearly cried and then realized that the westerns u mentioned and the music of the 60's and 70.s was fading away from society. as far as I'm concerned, when madona and brit spears kissed on national TV, i figured the last nail in the coffin of a dead or soon to be dead USA was occuring
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