'The Philosophy of the Western' Explores a Genre that Refuses to Die

John Wayne may be dead but the Western still lives on. We all have an idea in our head that pops up whenever we think of the Western. Certain characteristics come to mind such as horses, six-guns, cowboy hats, dusty streets or savage wilderness, all of which is usually set in the mid to late 1800s. Of course, this is what generally makes up the genre’s Golden Age but since then the tropes and ideologies have been altered and often inverted. Films by legendary Western directors like John Ford and Anthony Mann were transformed by filmmakers like Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel. Classic films like Stagecoach (1939) and The Man from Laramie (1955) led to revisionist films such as Unforgiven (1992) and The Shootist (1976). The Western has the largest classic period (arguably from late 1930s through the late 1960s) and has been subject to revisionist and nostalgic interpretations ever since. The Western is a perfect avenue to observe genre evolution because of the numerous ways it explores race, gender and identity.

One of the latest explorations of the genre is in The Philosophy of the Western (2010), edited by Jennifer L. McMahon and B. Steve Csaki. The book is an anthology of essays that deal with the Western in terms of the myths created in both history and cinema. This compilation deals primarily with the philosophy surrounding identity, ethics and gender that dominate the American Western. In addition, the authors incorporate the intersection of philosophy and Western myth, each at different lengths and depths. Co-editors McMahon and Csaki say that “while rooted in history, the myth of the American West quickly took on a life of its own” (2). The blurred line between fact and fiction of the Wild West has continually been carried by the American film industry since the early 1900s. This book shows that the famous line, “when legend becomes fact, print the legend,” from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962) still rings true. Hollywood continues to print (or revise) the legend to this day.

The academic field studying the Western is almost as large as the genre itself. Many of the original studies are still useful from Robert Warshow’s influential essay “Movie Chronicle: The Westerner” (1954) to Jim Kitses Horizon’s West (1969) and John G. Cawelti’s The Six-Gun Mystique (1970), (the last two have updated versions). The Western may get more notice recently due to the Coen brother’s 2010 Oscar nominated film True Grit. The Coen’s film is a true exploration of nostalgia (which they have done for numerous genres such as noir and gangster), but to understand their sentimental approach to the Western one must have a grasp of the films that founded the genre as we know it today. Thought of the Western will generally draw quick images of Ford’s Monument Valley or Mann’s rigid mountain tops or gunfighting protagonists like Shane (Alan Ladd in Shane, 1953) and John T. Chance (John Wayne in Rio Bravo, 1959). It is this legend/myth created by these films and characters that keep audiences and scholars interested.

The most recognizable icon in the Western, other than the dusty landscape itself, is the male gunfighter. This character is usually the heroic figure that traditionally saves the day and rides off into the sunset. In “Civilization and its Discontents: The Self-Sufficient Western Hero,” Douglas J. Den Uyl breaks apart the inner working of the famous protagonist. The most common trait of the Western hero is his ability to rely on himself (sometimes herself). Den Uyl connects the idea of self-sufficiency with Aristotle’s works such as Nicomachean Ethics, which argues that happiness is created by a virtuous act. The Western hero is certainly self-sufficient, generally virtuous and rarely needing or asking the help of anyone else. The predominantly male gunfighter’s selfless acts are generally seen by his defense of the civilization that is threatened by the savage wilderness that surrounds it. Discussing this character, Den Uyl says that “virtue of courage is almost always present, and some form of the virtue of justice is typically part of the hero’s character as well” (38). Such tropes have transcended the history of the genre and can be seen through The Ringo Kid (John Wayne) in Stagecoach to Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. The virtuous gunfighter character was also famously inverted in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992).

Of course, sometimes the virtue is justified for a character by their desire for revenge as it was for Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers (1956). This kind of individualism is personified through both self-reliance and self-motivation, much of which comes from their past experiences (the author mentions the general lack of rookies in Westerns). Den Uyl importantly notes that “Western heroes are likely to be men guided by reason and would not be heroes if they were not” (39). The reason that drives these heroes is one that is deeply personal. The Western hero is dedicated to his own ideas of truth and virtue (which are often deconstructed in later Westerns) that create his moral compass. This is why he must always ride off alone as he represents the ultimate in rugged individualism. When self-reliance is gone it becomes “a license for mob rule” (47), which is what is addressed in the great Henry Fonda film, The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) that shows the destructive nature of group-think. Den Uyl declares the Western genre the best representation of American virtue.

Additional essays in The Philosophy of the Western deal with the role of women in Westerns as well as legendary career of Clint Eastwood as both an actor and director in the genre. There is also a piece about the HBO series Deadwood and the Coen brother’s No Country for Old Men. As Kitses explained in Horizon’s West (12), all conflicts in the Western come down to a dust up between civilization (order) and wilderness (chaos). Of course, it is not always clean cut as it is always evolving, which is why study of the genre is still warranted. The Philosophy of the Western continues to purge the many meanings beneath the surface of the films in this monumental genre. Fans of the genre or anyone looking to research the Western will not want to miss this anthology full of useful essays about the oldest and arguably the most dynamic genre in Hollywood.