Where have all the westerns gone?

Growing up, I was never a big fan of Western movies. My opinion of Westerns began to change in my early teenage years.

At the time, I began watching John Wayne movies. They started to grow on me. The first one I remember is “The Alamo,” in which Wayne portrays Davy Crockett. After “The Alamo,” I discovered all of Wayne’s films.

Some of Wayne’s best movies include: “Rio Bravo,” “The Searchers,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and “The Sons of Katie Elder.”

There is a song by Paula Cole titled “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” I want to know where have all the Westerns gone. I’m talking about shoot-outs between the good guys and the bandits, the adverse disposition of villains and frontier life, which the hero must overcome, and a larger than life character, preferably played by Marion Robert Morrison, aka, John Wayne.

OK, so I’ll admit I’m a big fan of Westerns. Wayne and Clint Eastwood are two of the coolest people ever. However, I wasn’t always sold on the entertainment value of Westerns.

I used to think Westerns were a bit too unrealistic and at times idealistic. Of course Westerns are both of these things, but isn’t most of what comes out of Hollywood these days at least one if not both? Western movies began to grow on me because of the simple plots, lots of action, mostly honest heroes and beautiful desert scenery.

I can’t think of many Western movies that have been truly great over the past 20 years. “Dances with Wolves,” “Unforgiven,” “Maverick,” “Open Range” and “Wild Wild West” are a few that come to mind. I only remember “Open Range” and “Wild Wild West” because they weren’t that great. I’d really like to give Will Smith a mulligan on “Wild Wild West” and completely forget about it. There just isn’t a big demand for Western movies anymore.

“Dances With Wolves” is probably the best western of the past 20 years. One of the reasons was a different approach to the plot. Instead of American settlers being the protagonists fighting the “savage” Native Americans, the Sioux-Lakota Native American Tribe is the film’s protagonist and must eventually deal with the aggressive expansion of the United States and the U.S. cavalry. While the movie definitely holds its own, Kevin Costner is no John Wayne.

I’ve come up with a couple of theories behind the lack of demand for Westerns. One is that it has all been done before. How many times can you have the drifter come to town, save the day, ride off into the sunset and then cut to the credits?

Another theory is that our generation isn’t into movies without fast cars, fast computers or fast women. Obviously technology and Westerns don’t mix. That’s probably the one thing we learned from “Wild Wild West.” Or maybe it’s because there’s no great larger-than-life actors like Wayne, Eastwood or James Stewart anymore.

Perhaps a fresh approach is needed for the rebirth of Westerns. Maybe someone could convince Steven Spielberg to produce a Western. I know it’s not his genre but I bet he has some original ideas. How about time travel back to the Old West? Wait, that’s already been done – “Back to the Future Part III.” One idea suggested to me was something about aliens landing in the Old West. Now that would’ve been a different John Wayne movie. It would be interesting to see how the “Duke’s” Winchester rifle would hold up against a ray-gun.

I hope, this is something that people other than myself have given some thought to. Seriously, where have all the westerns gone?

David McNeely can be reached at [email protected].