Introduction: The west, westerns, and American character

Document Type

Editorial

Publication Date

12-1-2005

Abstract

There is no more characteristic American art form than the Western film. Even when it is produced in Italy, Finland, East Germany, Hungary, Australia, or Japan, there is no mistaking the American institutions that are being represented or the distinctively American character types portrayed. Scholars have been interested in the wide variety of Western stories and representations of the West for generations. Consider The West of the Imagination, a 1986 PBS television series focusing on nineteenth-century painters and photographers of the frontier who "like the writers and storytellers became America's primary mythmakers" (Goetzmann x). For the eras prior to cinema, painting, works of sculpture, and literary representations conveyed the myths of the West. But in our media age, by far the most influential forces in shaping images of the American West have been entertainment films and television programs. In these visual narratives, Hollywood has interpreted America to itself. The Western legacy has pervaded popular culture and the ordinary activities of life. Any person even vaguely familiar with the century-long history of Western movies and TV shows might reasonably assume, despite the testimony of the never-been-kissed Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), that the typical barmaid in a Western tavern had at least a "questionable" reputation. And everyone knows that you would not want to be the guest of honor at "a necktie party." Teenagers "ride shotgun" (on the passenger's side) while their friend drives the car; their teachers "shoot from the hip" when they ask an unexpected question on a quiz; and a deserted shopping center on a Sunday morning is like a "ghost town." These and other colloquialisms derive from the liminal persistence of Western narratives in the American mind. Copyright © 2005 by The University Press of Kentucky.

Identifier

84904456854 (Scopus)

ISBN

[0813123542, 9780813123547]

Publication Title

Hollywood S West the American Frontier in Film Television and History

First Page

1

Last Page

34

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