Elements of the Western Genre
Out Line
1. Violence
2. Secondary Race: The Villain
3. Horses and The Western Setting
4. Classical Western Hero vs. The Super Western Hero
1. Violence
2. Secondary Race: The Villain
3. Horses and The Western Setting
4. Classical Western Hero vs. The Super Western Hero
1.
Violence
I choose this particular logo because it is ironic. You can not categorize a book or a movie under the western genre if there is no violence presence it is impossible. It is like trying to call a Romantic movie a romance if there is no romance in it. The plots of Western books and movies revolve around the concept of violence. However the way that violence is presented is different depending on the the type of Western that it is. If its a Classical Western we will have physical violence that typically it is presented as gun showdown or a fist fight. The Super Western goes be on the physical violence. The violence that occurs in a Super Western book is so much more detailed and violent in general. Just as the violent scenes from Blood Meridian. If I am correct every chapter from Blood Meridian explained how someone had been murdered. All the detail that McCarthy would use and the over all gore is enough to prove how much more violent the Super Western Genre is. Both the Classical Western Genre and the Super Western share the convention of violence.
2.
Secondary Race: The Villain
It is conventional for the Western Genre to identify a race other than whites as the villains of the plot. In Classical Western this role belong to Native American characters. There are hundredths of examples that I prove this, one of the best examples would be "Stagecoach." Even though the plot of the movie does not revolve around battles with Native Americans there is a one specific scene that shows the accepted convention of a secondary race as a villain. The villain role changes drastically in a Super Western. It is actually very difficult to pin point out who the hero is and who is the villain. It is a matter of psychological control and an overall factor of who is causing the most harm to society. Just like in the Super Western movie "Unforgiven." You would expect for someone who kills and murders to be the bad guy in the movie. However this is not the case, the protagonist of the movie "William Munny" kills everyone in the last confrontation yet he is seen as the hero of the movie. But the question is why? Well it is actually very simple. We identify who is causing the most harm in the present and who is trying to stop them. The character of characters that are casing harm to society are the bad guys and the ones trying to stop them are the heroes. This is why William Munny is seen as a hero.
3.
Horses and The Western Setting
There is one thing other than violence that the Western Genre must have in order for it to be called a Western there must be horses, guns and the setting of the story must be a Western setting. In a way it is forced for the Western Genre to include horse in movies because it was a convention of the Western to travel by horse. Once again referring to the cowboy figure, a cowboy always travels by horse. Secondly we would expect there to be guns or a form of a fire arm to be present in the Western plot since violence is essential and its a convention to the Western Genre. It would not be correct to say that all confrontations in the Western Genre involve deadly confrontation because they do not. But it would be okay to say that in most confrontations that occur in the Western Genre the use of a weapon is necessary. Probably the most essential element of the Western Genre is the setting. You literally can not have a Western with out it occurring in the Western. Once again it would be like having a horror movie without scary scenes. We do not realize this but a western setting is one of the most fundamentals conventions to the Western Genre.
4.
Classical Western Hero vs. The Super Western Hero
This can be found in Classical Western Hero vs. The Super Western Hero Tab along with an essay explaining the difference.