Rick Grimes; Modern Cowboy

As we learned this week in Module 3 there are still ‘cowboys’ in our modern day popular culture. Although our “Cowboys” may not be your typical “standard role of a cowboy in the wild wild west to steer the cows in the right direction,” they are all around us in movies, television, and books. A modern day cowboy could have some traits of being a rough edged man, goes against the law, and follows his own sense of a code. 

A cowboy that is in one of our popular culture Television series that isn’t a straightforward cowboy in my eyes is Rick Grimes from the well know AMC television series The Walking Dead. Rick Grimes is the epitome of a modern day Cowboy. He embodies the traits of a rough edged man after all he has dealt with because of the zombie apocalypse. He follows a very strict code in the way he deals with life in every single episode. The other characters in the series also look to Grimes as a leader and he is highly respected by almost everyone. Before the zombies, Rick was a sheriff Deputy, which also connects him as being a modern day cowboy in a sense. A little side note, when the series began Rick was known for his beige and brown police uniform, which he paired with a brown cowboy hat. Later his son Carl, in the rest of the series, wears the cowboy hat. The irony of the cowboy hat is amazing to this week’s module and raw topic of a modern day cowboy. Zombies, Modern Cowboys, and Popular Culture are three topics that are truly a great mix. This show is one of my favorites and I encourage everyone to watch it!