Module 3 Example: The Cowboy of Mars

PROMPT
Explore and discuss a cowboy or Western motif in a narrative (film, TV series, novel, comic, video game, etc) that isn't a straightforward cowboy or Western.  In your post, you should

• Briefly explain the narrative (1-2 sentences).
• Discuss how a character is a cowboy and/or how the narrative fits the Western genre.
• Identify specific aspects of the narrative that connect with the ideas in the video on The Cowboy and the Western in Popular Culture.

Relevant Tags:  Cowboys, western, 

Example:  The Cowboy of Mars

As I mentioned in the video, cowboys and westerns do not have to take place in the West or in the past.  They can take place in the future and The Martian is a good example of that.  In this movie (adapted from a novel), the main character, Mark Watney finds himself unexpectedly stranded on Mars when his crew takes off without him.  Stuck in a hostile environment with very little food and shelter, he must find ingenious ways to survive long enough for a rescue team to capture him.  




Initially, you might not think Watney (played by Matt Damon) to be your typical cowboy.  After all, he is not saving townfolk and he is not fighting "bad guys." However, let's look at some of the things that character does.  First, he is existing in a place where life (for humans) is still being worked out and Mars is largely a hostile world--he cannot survive without his spacesuit.  Add to this the many long shots of sand and rocks and it feels very much like "the west" but with a red tinge.  As for Wattney, he is white, male, and certainly masculine (in earlier parts of the film, we see a very buffed Damon--mostly to contrast with the second half of the film, but it's made clear--he's quite strong and a very capable man).  Now in the film, he doesn't deal with foreign threats per se, but as the botanist, he is the only person among the crew that could make life or sustain life in the long run, so in that capacity, he is there to tame and bring order to the planet.  Though he is ultimately in need of rescue, he needs to be the fully idealized man to survive on the planet long enough to hitch a ride from his cremates and his ability to survive against the hostile Mars renders him a cowboy.