What attracts me to Westerns right now is not what traditionally comes to mind when one considers the genre. The clear-cut white hat versus black hat morality doesn’t interest me much. Nor do the actual history of western expansion by the United States and the important discussions of justice and genocide that history brings forth. Instead, I am drawn to what McCarthy emphasizes of the West: the frontier is a hard land capable of destroying people and communities. Because it exists beyond the reach of the law, the contents of peoples’ hearts show more clearly. One has to make a choice to be a moral person rather than depend upon the borders society creates to make moral decisions for them.
The Westerns set in the 19th century embrace the hope of settlers to make a fresh start in the untamed land as well as see it as a dangerously hard place to survive. Farmers cannot make their crops grow. Wild animals, harsh weather, and other humans threaten to take whatever gains one has made. People faced with the challenge of survival must choose whether they will behave in ways that promote community and justice, or will they shuck all morality and choose a self-interested existence? As in the cases of Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in High Noon or Dan Evans (Christian Bale) in 3:10 to Yuma, on what resources do they rely when their communities would rather retreat and seek immediate safety rather than challenge evil? Or in the case of Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) in Unforgiven, what should have kept him from resorting to his old violent ways; how did the system of justice become so perverted that vigilantism was the only means of recourse? How does the prospect of riches in There Will Be Blood and The Treasure of Sierra Madre change human relationships and how could the men in those stories have made choices that sought the benefit of others rather than their defeat? Where does their greed eventually lead them? While people may say that Westerns are too simple in their morality, these are questions we need to answer today.
In McCarthy’s contemporary Westerns, society has not tamed the land. If anything, it is more terrifying than before, as evinced in the harrowing character Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem in the film version of No Country for Old Men) with his odd sense of fate and morality. The open landscape may begin as a symbol of freedom and opportunity, but it ends in chaos void of rules, as in the case of John Grady Cole’s journey in All the Pretty Horses. I find myself drawn to this bleak world full of more terrifying questions than reassuring answers. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) understands the risk in living in such a world. He explains in the opening narration of No Country for Old Men, “But, I don’t want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don’t understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He’d have to say, ‘O.K., I’ll be part of this world.’”
Tyler
The Western: Landscape and Chaos
April 22, 2008 · 5 Comments
Lately, the Western genre has captivated me. It probably started in October with seeing the recent remake of 3:10 to Yuma. Since then I saw No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, which has taken much of my attention. For my movie club selections, I chose The Searchers and High Noon, two classics in the genre that I had not previously viewed. I returned to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I bought a copy of Unforgiven and am currently reading Cormac McCarthy’s novel, All the Pretty Horses.
What attracts me to Westerns right now is not what traditionally comes to mind when one considers the genre. The clear-cut white hat versus black hat morality doesn’t interest me much. Nor do the actual history of western expansion by the United States and the important discussions of justice and genocide that history brings forth. Instead, I am drawn to what McCarthy emphasizes of the West: the frontier is a hard land capable of destroying people and communities. Because it exists beyond the reach of the law, the contents of peoples’ hearts show more clearly. One has to make a choice to be a moral person rather than depend upon the borders society creates to make moral decisions for them.
The Westerns set in the 19th century embrace the hope of settlers to make a fresh start in the untamed land as well as see it as a dangerously hard place to survive. Farmers cannot make their crops grow. Wild animals, harsh weather, and other humans threaten to take whatever gains one has made. People faced with the challenge of survival must choose whether they will behave in ways that promote community and justice, or will they shuck all morality and choose a self-interested existence? As in the cases of Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in High Noon or Dan Evans (Christian Bale) in 3:10 to Yuma, on what resources do they rely when their communities would rather retreat and seek immediate safety rather than challenge evil? Or in the case of Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) in Unforgiven, what should have kept him from resorting to his old violent ways; how did the system of justice become so perverted that vigilantism was the only means of recourse? How does the prospect of riches in There Will Be Blood and The Treasure of Sierra Madre change human relationships and how could the men in those stories have made choices that sought the benefit of others rather than their defeat? Where does their greed eventually lead them? While people may say that Westerns are too simple in their morality, these are questions we need to answer today.
In McCarthy’s contemporary Westerns, society has not tamed the land. If anything, it is more terrifying than before, as evinced in the harrowing character Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem in the film version of No Country for Old Men) with his odd sense of fate and morality. The open landscape may begin as a symbol of freedom and opportunity, but it ends in chaos void of rules, as in the case of John Grady Cole’s journey in All the Pretty Horses. I find myself drawn to this bleak world full of more terrifying questions than reassuring answers. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) understands the risk in living in such a world. He explains in the opening narration of No Country for Old Men, “But, I don’t want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don’t understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He’d have to say, ‘O.K., I’ll be part of this world.’”
Categories: Book (Fiction) · Commentary · Film