Legends of Western Cinema Week || Kick-off + Tag

Mornin', mornin'.  *lifts hat* 

Legends of Western Cinema Week begins today!  Rachel and Heidi and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.  I'll be keeping it simple over here with a handful of reviews, but I know there will be games and giveaways and gizmos a-plenty from other quarters.  

Sounds like a marvelous time, doesn't it? 😉

As usual, we'll get basic logistics out of the way first thing.

This year, the tag is in either/or format, so let's start with that, shall we?  Here's a clean list of the questions:

1) Western movies or Western TV shows?

2) Funny Westerns or dramatic Westerns?

3) Westerns that focus on loners or Westerns that focus on families?

4) Male-centric Westerns or female-centric Westerns?

5) 1930s to 1960s Westerns or 1970s to 2020s Westerns?

6) Westerns that take place in America or Westerns that take place internationally?

7) Family-friendly Westerns or edgier Westerns?

8) Straightforward good guy or conflicted hero?

9) Historically accurate Westerns or Westerns that aren't afraid to take some creative liberties?

10) Bittersweet or happily-ever-after endings?

Next, I'll go ahead and answer the questions for myself. 😉

1) Western movies or Western TV shows?

Western movies.  I don't think I've ever watched a Western TV show, actually (unless we're counting Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), and I don't think I'd like one very much.    

2) Funny Westerns or dramatic Westerns?

On principle, I'd say funny Westerns, but the actual fact of the matter is that most of my favorite Westerns are dramas.  Still, any new-to-me Western will have a much higher chance of earning my affection if it highlights humor along with its pathos. 

Rango, of course, is the stand-out for me when it comes to strictly comedic Westerns, and it's definitely high on my top-ten list.  But take another of my ultimate favorites, the one that is (currently) surpassed only by the infamous Broken Trail:  Tom Selleck's Quigley Down Under.  That show moves from sardonically hilarious to deadly serious and back again in a matter of heartbeats, and I absolutely adore how deftly both styles are blended in its narrative.  (More on this in a few days!)

3) Westerns that focus on loners or Westerns that focus on families?

Typically, the Westerns I watch contain at least some variant on the "found family" theme, so I suppose the technically correct answer would be families.  But "found" is a key distinction for me, here.  I don't tend to like generational sagas, and Westerns are no exception.  Throw a bunch of random people together and watch them form familial bonds?  That I can do.  Plant your focus on one biological family and watch them . . . exist . . . for however many years?  That doesn't interest me so much. 

However, I'm rarely gripped by the "lone gunman" trope, either.  Drifters who have to work with a group of other drifters and become friends with them (or with a couple of them), putting down meaningful roots even if those roots tend to migrate a little?  Sure, absolutely.  Drifters who arrive somewhere, do something, and then drift away again leaving bittersweet pseudo-relationships behind them?  Eh, not so much.

Too long, didn't read:  I'm picky. 😂  So really what I need you to do is collect a group of people — be they whatever assortment of friends, colleagues, acquaintances, relatives, and downright enemies that they may — and let them work out whatever needs to be worked out without focusing too much on any one dynamic.

4) Male-centric Westerns or female-centric Westerns?

Well, there is (*ahem*) a distinct lack of female-centric offerings in the genre, as of now — but there are a few, and I have hope for many more!  (Thanks in part to a couple of friends who are currently writing some pretty smashing Westerns of their own. 😉)

But which do I prefer, personally?

At the risk of sounding trite:  both.  Again, circling back to the idea of an eclectic group of players, I like a story that maintains more or less of an equilibrium when it comes to the division of gender in its characters.  

And I think that, in general, a lot of Westerns actually do a decent job of this.  Is there a clear predominance of male-centric stories in the genre?  Yes.  But I do feel that, even in that sphere, you can often find a fairly reasonable emphasis placed on female characters, too.  You can find stories which take the time to highlight the contributions of women in the Old West, as well — whether that be through a cast of characters in which the women outnumber the men and thus command a unique narrative focus (like Broken Trail), or though a story in which the women have equally (or nearly equally) vital roles to play as the men do (like The Big Country or Quigley Down Under).

Which is not at all to say that there isn't work that needs to be done!  There is plenty of room for improvement, and don't let's forget it.  I just mean that, even as the genre currently stands, there are options that offer that more balanced narrative — they can just, unfortunately, take a bit of digging to find.

(Also, to be clear, there's nothing wrong with stories that focus on one gender or the other.  It's just that they don't tend to appeal to me as often.)

5) 1930s to 1960s Westerns or 1970s to 2020s Westerns?

I used to watch a lot of older black-and-white Westerns, but my interest in those has died off in recent years, and I mainly watch from the 90s forward now.  So, at the present moment, the answer would be 1970s to 2020s Westerns. 

6) Westerns that take place in America or Westerns that take place internationally?

With the exception of the aforementioned Quigley Down Under, I have more American-set favorites.  But I'm always down for an international Western, too!  I just haven't seen as many.

7) Family-friendly Westerns or edgier Westerns?

Again, based on my current favorites . . . I guess I tend to go for edgier ones, given that a lot of them involve human trafficking and other not-so-family-friendly themes.

8) Straightforward good guy or conflicted hero?

"Both?"

"Both?"

"Both."

"Both is good."

9) Historically accurate Westerns or Westerns that aren't afraid to take some creative liberties?

I don't generally know enough about history to be qualified to judge, but I love a purposeful twist or reversal of historical cultural mores. 😜

10) Bittersweet or happily-ever-after endings?

I certainly like happy endings better!  But I can appreciate a bittersweet or tragic ending depending on the story.

It also depends on your definition of "happily-ever-after".  I generally consider it a "happy ending" if the surviving protagonists are able to stay with their newfound family/friend "group" in at least some capacity, even if a lot of people have been lost along the way. 

And now, to conclude, here's this year's link-up widget!  Don't forget to return to this post (or Rachel's or Heidi's) to drop links to your own Western posts so that we can all read them!

Let's do it!