Western

The western is a genre of film, television, literature, and art that emerged during the nineteenth century. The genre mainly focuses on the latter half of a period in American history often referred to as the Wild West. Stories and depictions are usually set during or after the events of the American Civil War, although the genre later took on more modern settings. The central figures of westerns are usually cowboys, or gunslingers, whose enemies range from Native Americans to greedy businessmen. Painters and illustrators gave the public its earliest glimpse of western life. From these depictions, writers conjured exciting tales of mischief and adventure that were later translated to the screen. Western imagery was identifiable by its rough, glorious landscape, which often featured expansive desert sunsets and vast, dry wilderness.

In the earliest western books and screenplays, heroes were wrought with moral uprightness and a code of honor. The western protagonist grew darker as the genre evolved, however. Western narratives typically revolve around acts of revenge or justice, often featuring a daring rescue or personal vendetta. The western landscape itself also plays an important role in western art, literature, film, and television. The symbolic frontier tests the western protagonist's morality and sanity. Writers and filmmakers continued to probe the boundaries of the western genre through the decades, eventually mixing in elements of other genres to create numerous western subgenres.

Background

The legend of the American Wild West, also known as the American Frontier, began during the Civil War era of American history. In tandem with the growing trend in western expansion, American investors began constructing cross-country railroad systems to transport citizens westward. Railroads provided faster transportation than ever before, and soon the West was booming in settlement and economic development. The West was promoted as a land of prosperity where opportunity lay in wait for those who made the journey. Easterners from the New England area to the Deep South poured into the region to take jobs as miners, farmers, and ranchers. The West was also considered a haven for minorities, with settlements being specifically established for black and Asian communities. Such prospects led to scores of settlers traveling west from all manners of society.

The influx of settlers greatly altered the geography of the West. American bison herds were hunted to near extinction. The grasslands of the region were farmed to plant wheat and other crops. Cattle farming became an important part of the western economy, and the cattle business became very lucrative with the introduction of railroad transport. American settlement of the West also greatly affected the Native American tribes that had existed in the area for centuries. The dwindling bison and repurposing of land destroyed many Native Americans' means of survival. Such issues led to constant conflict between the white settlers and Native Americans. Heavily outnumbered, the Native American population swiftly declined. Those who survived were relegated to reservations in less thriving locations.

The American Frontier was a somewhat mythical civilization to people living back east, symbolized by the figure of the cowboy. Cowboys became a source of fascination to those outside the Wild West. Popular culture depicted cowboys as handsome, adventure-seeking gunslingers with a penchant for heroism. The main antagonist of the cowboy was the Native American—often depicted as a "savage" out to kill settlers and steal cattle, horses, or women. The life of a cowboy was far from exciting, however, often involving grueling hours of underpaid labor and meagre living conditions. The reality did not stop artists and writers from characterizing them in their heroic glory, however, and representations of the Old West became a popular fixation of artists and writers from the end of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

Western Art

Some of the earliest depictions of the American Frontier came in the form of paintings and sculptures. Artists such as George Catlin, George Caleb Bingham, and Alfred Miller painted detailed portraits and scenery characterizing life on the frontier. Two of the most renowned artists of the American West include Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Both artists traveled west from the northeastern United States in the 1880s and spent decades attempting to capture the essence of the American frontier. Their work was exhibited across the country, giving viewers a glimpse of life in the West. Remington's and Russell's works often focused on images of cowboys, Native Americans, and conflicts between the two. Their works portrayed a dangerous yet beautiful place where a diverse range of people and wildlife roamed. The pair also aimed to document the history and everyday life of those involved in the creation of the frontier. The art of the American West made a big impression on the American public's idea of the region, further adding to the folklore established in other artistic mediums.

Western Literature

About the same time western art took hold of the nation, western literature began to entice the imaginations of readers across the country. Such publications were precipitated by the frontier fiction of authors such as James Fenimore Cooper, whose Leatherstocking Tales—written between 1823 and 1841—served as a prototype for the popular genre of western fiction that would emerge in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Cooper's tales took place in the East, mostly among the European settlements of New York. Western literature was set primarily in the West.

Early western literature consisted of serial fiction such as dime novels and "penny dreadfuls"—cheap booklets of short stories dramatizing the events of the Wild West. These productions often featured real-life westerners of notoriety such as "Buffalo Bill" Cody, "Wild Bill" Hickok, Wyatt Earp, and Jesse James. Most of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century western writings take place sometime between 1865 and 1890. Western literature's defining characteristics include the western hero—usually a frontiersman, cowboy, bandit, or sheriff. The western hero lives in a vast, ruggedly beautiful landscape. His primary antagonists include Native Americans, wealthy capitalists, bankers, and politicians. The frontier itself also serves as an antagonist in many of these works, symbolizing a physical and spiritual conquest.

The western genre also made its way into the popular pulp magazines of the time. Publications such as Western Story Magazine and Wild West Weekly provided readers with a weekly dose of western stories. Pulp magazines often featured popular western writers of the time such as Max Brand, Zane Grey, and Paul S. Powers. Novels and short stories revolving around western themes also grew in popularity by the end of the nineteenth century, with writers such as Dorothy Johnson, Owen Wister, and Clarence Edward Mulford producing successful works of western fiction.

The twentieth century saw western literature focusing less on the action of the western lifestyle and moving in a more serious dramatic direction. The western novel took hold of many readers, introducing new voices to the genre such as Louis L'Amour, Ray Hogan, Jack Schaefer, and A.B. Guthrie Jr.—whose novel The Way West earned the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1950. Many of these authors saw renewed interest in their works toward the last half of the twentieth century, inspiring a new generation of western writers such as Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. Western comic books also found an eager audience in later decades. Popular western literature reached its peak about this time and began to drop off in popularity by the end of the century.

A new demand for historical westerns emerged around the beginning of the twenty-first century, however, particularly in regard to the many injustices suffered by the Native Americans during this period. Writers began to explore a new perspective on the American West in an effort to correct what they considered a damaged, romanticized representation. Such endeavors appealed to audiences interested in deciphering the history and mythology of the Old West.

Western Films

Westerns dominated the film industry from the dawn of cinema until the 1960s. Beginning with the silent-era films of the early 1900s, the western genre of cinema took off with the 1903 short film The Great Train Robbery. These early westerns gave rise to the first western movie stars, including figures such as Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, William S. Hart, and Tom Mix—an actual cowboy turned actor. Many early westerns were filmed at East Coast movie studios before California became the center of the filmmaking industry. These early western films were often based on the pulp magazines and novels available at the time, including the genre's first major production, The Covered Wagon (1923).

By the 1930s, the western genre had turned into somewhat of a gimmick, with studios churning out low-budget productions aimed at appealing to younger audiences. These films were often presented in a serial format, with multiple chapters that relied on cliff hangers to sustain continued viewership. These serials featured an array of rugged cowboy heroes out to save the day. This period introduced a number of enduring western characters including the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers. The western leading man was often depicted as a righteous yet gruff hero who served as the role model of principled masculinity. This character trope was epitomized in the early films of John Wayne, arguably the most famous of all western movie stars.

Eventually B-westerns gave way to the classic era of western filmmaking. This period produced a number of critically acclaimed western dramas between the 1940s and 1950s, many of which were directed by iconic director John Ford. Ford's epics included Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), and his much-lauded Calvary trilogy—Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950)—all of which starred John Wayne. Director Fred Zinnemann also delivered several acclaimed films to the western pantheon including High Noon (1952).

Westerns took on a darker tone in the years following World War II (1939–1945), giving rise to a subgenre known as noir western. Heroes of the noir western differed in their masculinity from earlier characters, exhibiting brooding and pessimistic behavior. Noir western heroes were flawed but ultimately good at heart. This subgenre centered on themes of revenge, obsession, and paranoia. Examples of noir westerns included The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Searchers (1956), and Forty Guns (1957). Alongside the many western films captivating viewers throughout the 1950s, western-themed television shows also found an eager audience with shows such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide.

The golden era of the American western came to an end by the 1960s, but the genre persisted in other regions of the world. A subgenre known as the spaghetti western emerged in Italy in the 1960s, producing some of the most enduring films in the genre's history. Italian director Sergio Leone is credited with solidifying the spaghetti western with his Man with No Name trilogy, a series of films starring then newcomer Clint Eastwood. Spaghetti westerns were much darker and more violent than the classic westerns of American cinema. These films were closer to arthouse cinema than blockbuster cinema, and the characters operated on much shadier motives.

The spaghetti western coincided with the development of the revisionist western, a subgenre bent on turning the defining tropes of classic western cinema on its head. Over the next few decades, films such as Hud (1963), Little Big Man (1970), Ulzana's Raid (1972), and Dances with Wolves (1990) sought to amend ill-informed perceptions of the American West by incorporating Native American perspectives and more historically accurate details. At the same time, films such as Cat Ballou (1965) and Blazing Saddles (1974) sought to demystify the West through satire. Hollywood continued to experiment with the western genre through the end of the twentieth century, blending elements of comedy, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, crime, and other genres to produce unique takes on western themes.

Production of popular western genre films and television series dwindled significantly by the twenty-first century. The western continued to captivate new generations of audiences, however, with critically praised films such as There Will Be Blood (2007), True Grit (2010), and The Revenant (2015). Television series such as Deadwood, Hell on Wheels, and Westworld also contributed to the genre's enduring approval. The genre was hugely influential to many modern filmmakers who continued to integrate western themes into their works, evidenced in films such as Brokeback Mountain (2005), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Hell or High Water (2016).

Bibliography

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