The term ‘Western’ draws to my mind dusty, sandy land with craggy mesas in the back ground. Small towns in the middle of nowhere thrown together in no time at all. Men usually look dirty and smelly. Women often wear outfits so complex you’d think they would get in it just the one time and stay in it forever, yet they somehow always look crisp and clean. Approximately 30% of people are wearing ponchos. Holsters are everywhere. When you live in a place where the law is not quite in control, you’d probably want to be able to shoot your way out of trouble. This may still be a problematic attitude today.
Where is ‘The West’? Well the obvious answer is it’s over there to the west. Somewhat south, too because it usually seems hot. Maybe it’s Mexico. Mexico is probably close by anyway. I remember seeing Unforgiven when I was quite young and thinking it was a weird Western because it didn’t seem so hot all the time. So am I wrong or is Clint Eastwood? It might be me. I’m just describing to you how I have ‘Western’ stored in my brain. I haven’t seen a new Western since maybe Django Unchained, but that was kind of a Southern wasn’t it? Was that a ‘Southern’? Being from Canada, I think we should start a new genre called ‘Northerns’ where we just re-shoot classic westerns in snowy locales where we can see our breath and we have a tough time shooting with mittens on. The trailers for Hateful Eight show snow everywhere all the time. What are you doing to my understanding of ‘Westerns’, Quentin? You’re messing it up.
In my dusty, hot Western world imagine how uncomfy it would be after a big rain? Mud everywhere, can’t just throw your stuff in the laundry. You probably have to hike to the top of the mountain to find a creek to rinse off and beat your clothes with rocks while you freeze nearly to death in your birthday suit.
Anyway, this important piece of literature you just read was to let you know what a Western means to me right now. Let’s see if that changes as I continue to sit around this #Western106 campfire. See y’all next time!