Rules of a Western

[alanajoli]

coffeeem had an excellent entry yesterday about expanding the Western as a genre. It made me think about what I've been doing lately with Cowboys and Aliens and how I stumbled over the genre at the very beginning.

When I first started talking about the Cowboys and Aliens gig with Jeremy Mohler (who I also work with on Baeg Tobar), I got to thinking about

Comments

[eriksdb]

What an excellent entry.

So is Firefly/Serenity a Western that is also SciFi, or a Space Western?

On another point:

I fancy that Ghostwalker was a little like a western in fantasy's clothing.

Though perhaps the women were too prominent. Can't see Clint Eastwood getting all kissy-kiss with a hot redhead. :)

Cheers

[alanajoli]

I could see John Wayne with one, though. He did play opposite Katherine Hepburn after all... ;)

Firefly/Serenity is typically classified as Space Western where I've seen such qualifications made. My supposition is that any Western-styled story that takes place in outer space will earn that classification from people who feel like narrowing that particular genre. There's a whole site dedicated to Space Westerns now, and they mostly feature Firefly, Cowboy Beebop, and Trigun from what I've seen thus far--along with new original work.

Actually, your telling me that Ghostwalker was a Western/Fantasy hybrid is what made me buy it. ;)

[eriksdb]

Oh, John Wayne gets around--there's no contest there. ;)

I tell people that it's a fantasy western and they get all intrigued. Then I say "picture a young Clint Eastwood in a black cloak with a sword, and you've got the main character." Then they buy it.

Score!

Cheers

[jeff_duntemann]

I don't recall where I read the definition, but the most concise way I could describe the Western is: "A tale of a new society coalescing in a sparsely populated land." Nothing in the society is routine, social hierarchies are still forming, opportunities are wide open, and the population front precedes the reach of centralized authority

[alanajoli]

I agree on all counts, though I don't think I'd have been as eloquent. ;) While I'm writing for C&A, despite the fact that the storyline is going to take us all over the place, I want it to *feel* like a Western--which I think is that sense of culture, "libertarian politics," and sense of what's important. coffeeem has been talking a lot about people finding their place in the world because the world where they lived before wouldn't have 'em. Now that they've gone West, they've made good. I think that's another great theme to work with.

I also think that the idea that Seven Samurai could become The Magnificent Seven and they both work as great movies bears some consideration. I'm not sure what it implies yet, but it strikes me as significant.