{"id":1920059,"date":"2023-04-27T10:25:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T14:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/does-hollywood-want-to-wrest-the-western-out-of-conservative-hands\/"},"modified":"2023-04-27T10:32:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T14:32:05","slug":"does-hollywood-want-to-wrest-the-western-out-of-conservative-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/does-hollywood-want-to-wrest-the-western-out-of-conservative-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Hollywood Want To Wrest The Western Out Of Conservative Hands?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoes-hollywood-want-to-wrest-the-western-out-of-conservative-hands%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1920059&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Is the Western Genre Getting a Queer Makeover?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tinsel Town has turned some of the biggest movie genres against Heartland USA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Science Fiction? James Cameron\u2019s \u201cAvatar\u201d franchise doubles as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/avatar-sequel-ramps-up-pro-environmental-messaging-already\/\" title=\"\u201cAvatar\u201d Sequel Ramps up Pro-Environmental Messaging (Already)\">climate change screed<\/a>, while his \u201cTerminator\u201d franchise diminished Arnold Schwarzenegger in favor of a Girl Power aesthetic with the 2019 \u201cDark Fate\u201d installment. Recent Marvel Cinematic Universe films hyper focus on LGBTQ themes and aggressive diversity casting over, you know, fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Horror? Woke shockers like \u201cAntebellum,\u201d \u201cCandyman,\u201d and \u201cThey\/Them\u201d speak for themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But what about the Western genre?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A new short film, albeit one featuring two major stars, is getting plenty of buzz.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shot in southern Spain\u2019s Tabernas desert, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2023\/film\/global\/pedro-almodovar-gay-western-strange-way-of-life-italy-latin-america-mubi-1235580205\/\">Strange Way of Life<\/a>\u201d stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as two gunmen who reunite after 25 years. The half-hour film has been described by [Pedro] Almod\u00f3var as a \u201cqueer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other,\u201d the director said last December on Dua Lipa\u2019s \u201cAt Your Service\u201d podcast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s \u201cBrokeback Mountain\u201d redux. One could also say it\u2019s a kissing cousin to \u201cThe Power of the Dog.\u201d That 2021 Netflix original featured a closeted gay cowboy (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his connection with a local outcast (Kodi Smit-McPhee).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The film earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The latest spin on \u201crevisionist Westerns\u201d could be the new normal, and it involves more than closeted gay cowboys revealing their sexual appetites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Western Genre: An American Experiment<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western is as American as baseball, apple pie, and reality TV. The genre thrives on rugged individualism, masculine heroes, and themes that speak to the country\u2019s character. Classic Westerns like \u201cHigh Noon\u201d (1952), \u201cShane\u201d (1953), and \u201cThe Searchers\u201d (1956) taught generations about sacrifice, honor, and what it means to be a man.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In short, it\u2019s the American experiment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western hero was far from perfect. He might drink too much or struggle with his emotions. When danger came, however, the townsfolk knew who to call. He didn\u2019t blame others or wallow in his misery. He got his hands dirty and set to work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Female heroes mattered, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Movies like The Daily Wire\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/videos\/terror-on-the-prairie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Terror on the Prairie<\/a>\u201d featured a strong female lead (Gina Carano), but the essential Western elements surrounded her brave defense of her nuclear family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Nicolas Cage\/Nick Searcy indie \u201cThe Old Way\u201d followed a gunslinger (Cage) training his daughter how to sling lead to protect herself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western\u2019s DNA is anathema to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russia-moves-to-legalize-online-media-software-piracy-to-get-around-sanctions\/\" title=\"Russia Moves To Legalize Online Media, Software Piracy To Get Around Sanctions\">major film studios<\/a>. Too much toxic masculinity, they say. Where is the diversity? Why are these stories glorifying guns for self-defense?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Future of the Western Genre<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western faded from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/could-dirty-harry-exist-today\/\" title=\"Could Dirty Harry Exist Today?\">pop culture landscape<\/a> in the late 20th century years as legends like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood either passed or passed on the white hats to a new generation. Oaters became passe, as CGI fueled a string of blockbuster movies and superhero adaptations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The genre never went away. TV shows like \u201cLongmire,\u201d \u201cJustified,\u201d and, more recently, \u201cYellowstone\u201d captured the Western\u2019s ethos despite modern trappings. Each enjoyed sizable success, with the latter becoming one of the most popular shows across the cluttered streaming landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Few stories inspire as much passion, and viewer loyalty, as the ongoing Dutton saga.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Subverting the Western fits snugly into liberal Hollywood\u2019s worldview. Movies once celebrated the American way of life, extolling freedom, self-reliance, and sacrifice against impossible odds. Now, the films that celebrate all-American principles (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/affleck-damon-deliver-with-air-a-pro-capitalism-three-pointer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">like the recent \u201cAir\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">) stand out as exceptions to the pop culture rule.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, of course, American culture is swiftly shared across the globe, our most curious export. While Chinese movies praise the communist nation and its achievements, American filmmakers (under no such governmental pressure) often do the opposite.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western must be demystified, rearranged, and revised to blast the past and embrace the new American ethos. Films like 2017\u2019s \u201cHostiles\u201d turn on the mistreatment of the American Indian, a valid theme that often swamps storytelling essentials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even the liberal RogerEbert.com review noted that Christian Bale film <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/hostiles-2017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">lacks nuanced portraits of the Indian characters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Woke sensibilities make it harder to turn minority figures into flesh-and-blood souls.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This doesn\u2019t mean a film genre needs to be replicated over and again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Previous revisionist Westerns cling to the genre\u2019s core elements. Many rightly praised Clint Eastwood\u2019s 1992 classic \u201cUnforgiven,\u201d a look at a gunslinger reflecting on his violent handiwork. Some genres need a nip and\/or tuck to bring them back to life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Other revisionist classics include \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d (1969), \u201cLittle Big Man\u201d (1970), and \u201cDjango Unchained\u201d (2012).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">American audiences always crave the Western essentials, though, which means classic Westerns will find new generations to delight. Let\u2019s hope they can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/does-hollywood-want-to-wrest-the-western-out-of-conservative-hands\/\" title=\"Does Hollywood Want To Wrest The Western Out Of Conservative Hands?\">enjoy newer versions alongside<\/a> the classics. One might come from Mr. \u201cYellowstone\u201d himself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Costner is set to direct \u201cHorizon,\u201d a sprawling Western set before, and after the Civil War. The large cast, including Costner, Jena Malone, Luke Wilson, and Thomas Haden Church, promises to tell its story through multiple perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chances are there\u2019s enough Dutton left in Costner to make \u201cHorizon\u201d a worthy addition to a deeply American film genre.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tinsel Town has turned some of the biggest movie genres against Heartland USA. Science Fiction? James Cameron\u2019s \u201cAvatar\u201d franchise doubles as a climate change screed, while his \u201cTerminator\u201d franchise diminished Arnold Schwarzenegger in favor of a Girl Power aesthetic with the 2019 \u201cDark Fate\u201d installment. Recent Marvel Cinematic Universe films hyper focus on LGBTQ themes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":1920060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[4914,6307,4361,13782,25280],"class_list":["post-1920059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-conservative","tag-hands","tag-hollywood","tag-western","tag-wrest"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1920059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1920059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1920059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1920060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1920059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1920059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1920059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}