Modern day cowboys

Today many of the movies, TV shows, video games, and books have had an underlying influence from the traditional western and cowboy style films. I Immediately thought of the film the Book of Eli which gives a modern spin on the classic western. It takes place in a post apocalyptic world where a war has left the world in ruins with very few lives remaining. Eli must take matters into his own hands and save humanity by traveling only with a machete, pistol, and the last bible on earth. He has been walking for 30 years trying to find a safe place where its message can be shared. This is to give people something to believe in because life isn't really great in the post apocalyptic world.  He finds a town which seems to be well established and decides to stay there before he continues his journey but is faced with a power hungry dictator who has declared himself as the mayor of the town. The mayor is searching for the bible and figures out Eli has it but the mayor wants it for himself. I do not want to spoil the movie but things get complicated for Eli and who knows if he will ever make it to his destination. 

The main character Eli shows very familiar aspects to a cowboy-esque type of character. In the beginning scenes he is shown as this lone warrior machete wielding badass who will let nothing stop him from reaching his goal. It just reminds me of a cowboy riding through towns on his horse weilding a pistol and a whip defeating all the bad guys. The protagonist in this movie being the mayor shows comparison to a classic western leader such as mayor or sheriff. He shows disregard for the people and will do things that only help himself. Throughout this Eli and the mayor deal with a power struggle as the townspeople start to realize how corrupt the mayor is and that Eli is just trying to help them. 

The video has been deleted so I am unable to watch it to pull out specific points. The overall character attributes show an influence of the western genre as well as the physical setting. The setting takes place in a world that has been left in ruins but is slowly rebuilding itself, there is nothing but dried out land for miles with the exception of these ramshackle settlements. These settlements are deteriorating not from the war but from the corrupt leaders of the town. This is very similar to what you would see in a traditional western with very few towns with corrupt leaders and nothing but dried out land. Eli is similar to a cowboy in the sense that he is this self-sufficient badass who just wants to bring order to the community. 

Is Wolverine a Cow Boy?

When looking at cowboys from past generations when black and white films were popular there were many similarities in characters between Johnny from Rebel and Wolverine. The characters of cowboys tend to be demanding, separates himself from civilization, masculine, self sufficient and adventurous.  So when comparing cowboys traits to modern pop culture films such as the Wolverine from the 2017 film Logan, is he considered a cowboy? 

Logan was released in 2017 and directed by James Mangold. Wolverine was apart of the X men team and known for the steel knives that come out of his hands. He was apart of the X men team until the love of his life passed. He then became depressed and isolated himself from society and became alone wolf.  The leader of X men Professor X discovered a young girl with the same powers is in need of Wolverines help and thats when the trouble beings. Wolverine is also very self reliant and he is stubborn does not like to team up with anyone. As for Cowboys in the black in white films they also tend to keep to themselves as did Johnny from the short film The Rebel. The main character Johnny is always seeking off into the wild west by himself.  Even though the environments are different Wolverine represents characters of the cowboy series by showing the same characteristics such as masculine, protector, self sufficient, demanding, and dealing with enemies. 

In the short lecture of The Cowboy and Western in popular culture professor Eaton talks about the different types of cowboys such as seekers and explorers vs visitors and wanderers.These two main character Jonny and Wolverines are visitors and the trouble seems to find them. When Johnny was visiting a town for a stop he was targeted by other men the moment he arrived. As for Wolverine he was targeted the moment people knew he had super powers. These two characters from these two films are outsiders and other people felt threatened by them which caused the violence. If you really think about our generation today a lot of the movie characters in action films are in a way cowboys by the traits and characteristics they contain, they both just have different way of presenting the characters. 

Movies

Movies have been around since the late 1800s. They have grown from 7 minutes
to hours long. In today’s world, movie franchises have become a huge part of pop culture. Star
Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Marvel Cinematic
Universe are just a few to name! These movies help us to feel hope, empowerment, and outside
the movies themselves comes a community of others who connect from them and have a sense
of inclusion by being apart of that.

These movies influence pop culture tremendously. So many people today find
characters within movies they relate or look up to. Often times they’ll dress up like that
character for Halloween or have them as the background on their phone. Movies impact
people constantly and can be an outlet for people to fully immerse themselves and forget
about whatever they’re going through for a little while.

The feelings movies give us and the way we get so engaged is something that is
indescribable. When you’re an adult, sometimes you lose that sense of imagination, but
movies can help us to feel that all over again if only for a brief period in our day. Movies
have the ability to open up our eyes and see something through someone else’s shoes.

Movies help connect us through social interaction. They bring others together whether
that be online groups, costume parties, or showing up to the movies with a bunch of
people in costume on the day a movie premieres.

Movies also can affect how we act. Many people quote popular movie phrases all the
time. They are even referenced in other TV shows, movies, or books. These references
can help bring others closer if they know that they are referring to and if that quote is
relevant to them.

Films are always influencing and will forever be relevant in pop culture.

Hegemony & Sex in Popular Culture

I was reading an article in last week’s New Yorker and it reminded me of  the topic of hegemony and the back and forth negotiations between the general public and elites. The article was on the Hays Code, a guideline which dictated how much sex could be shown and discussed in movie during the 1930’s. Prior to the Hayes Rule movies were generally more open about the topic of sex and contained “sardonic bluntness” and “suggestive dialog”. Some people were concerned about this and instituted a set of rules which Hollywood followed for many years. Sex was such a taboo topic that married couple were new shown sharing a bed rather they slept in separate twin beds. Movies would replace sex with jokes and the genre of the romantic comedy.  Later, in the 1952, movies became protected by the 1^st Amendment and as the rules loosened, sex in movies became more accepted (and probably expected) by the public. Movies would again treat sex as less of a taboo topic. As time went on the depiction of sex in movies and in popular culture in general has become pretty much mainstream. There have been time, though, over the years that the self appointed moral police has tried to scale back the amount of sex allowed in certain media. In the 80s Tipper Gore pushed for and got records to place warning labels on “explicit” record and the 90s Senator Jesse Helms tried to block funding to any art which he deemed immoral. This back and forth concerning the issue of sex in popular culture has been continually progress in the direction of less censorship.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/what-the-hays-code-did-for-women

http://www.publiceye.org/theocrat/Mapplethorpe_Chrono.html 

The African American Cowboy

A famous aspect of American culture is the myths of the taming of our wild west. Another famous although less fortunate aspect of our culture would be our spoiled past with the slave trade. When combined these two faucets of American culture make for quite the breaking of stereotypes. DJango: Unchained, a film by Quentin Tarantino is a breaker of such stereotypes.

In the mythological American West most cowboys were white men, sometimes you would have an occasional Mexican or Native American, but the majority of the heroes of the wile west had pale skin.

Django turned that all around. As a former slave he becomes a bounty hunter, hunting down white men for the bounties placed on their heads. Instead of him being the one running from the white man, he is the one chasing them down. An ironic scene in the movie is when Django is hunting down a group of brothers who are hiding out on a plantation. Well Django takes the opertunity to show one of the brother just how much the leather whip hurts. He turns the tables on slavery and takes charge.

Django is doubly surprising because he is an African American cowboy. The towns people are all shocked and confused when they see him riding about on top of a horse. At the plantation they visited, the owner even mentioned that it was illegal for a black man to ride a horse. Django didn't care, he was a cowboy and he had earned his freedom. He had just as much a right to be a top a horse as any man.

Spike Lee, the director of Bamboozled, would probably appreciate the originality of Django. He would like how the character strikes back against his oppressors and how he does not get used. Django fights against his suppressors and a society that sees him as a lesser. Django does not give up although the odds are against him, he keeps moving on because he must accomplish his goal and free his wife from the same oppression he so luckily escaped. Django is the image of a strong black man far from the bumbling buffoonery of minstrelsy, Spike Lee would definitely approve with pride.

Western Themes in Mad Max: Fury Road

The first film with a western narrative that came mind was one of the best, in my opinion, to come out last year, Mad Max: Fury Road. Set in a post apocalyptic world, Mad Max tells the story of Max, an outsider and loner, as well as a group of very strong women, who escape captivity from an evil leader of a corrupt society and his "war boys". The movie then becomes an extended chase scene (with amazing cinematography). Underlying this action is the group’s desire to free this society and give back control of its resources, most importantly water, to its people. 

I think this movie has many western themes and motifs. Replacing the American frontier is a post apocalyptic world. Its desolate landscape conjures up images of the American southwest. Water is scarce and there’s a battle for control of limited resources. This, I think mirrors the cowboy in the American west securing its resources and land. Through this battle Max and the women attempt to bring order to the constant chaos of an uncivilized place. He and the society he finds himself in are under threat from corrupt and hostile forces. Max’s character has all the elements of a cowboy. He’s white, self-reliant, strong, stoic and very independent. He’s also at heart a moral character. At one point he wants to set out into the landscape on his own. In the end, however, he decides to protect those in danger and accompany the group of women in order to follow through with their plan to bring order to what’s left of society. As Jennifer Moskowitz point’s out in The Cultural Myth of the Cowboy, or, How the West Was Won the myth of the cowboy began as a need to pull together a fractured nation. The world in which Mad Max takes place is also fractured and chaotic. Its in need of a figure around which a community can coalesce. One of those figures is Max.

http://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2006/moskowitz.htm

http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2015/06/19/the-road-western-the-mad-max-series-and-its-latest-installment-fury-road/

Photo: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/bs0a2p6jyovlotmmwlre.jpg

Why Pop Culture?

Why Pop Culture? Because It's Everywhere!

I really hate to admit that I am keeping the stereotype "bad" pop culture alive. I have a confession. I am the pop/country music loving, bad horror movie watching, reality TV junky. In fact, I am probably single handedly keeping the Kardashians in the news and on TV.

But I'm also not sorry. And that's what's so great about pop culture. There is a little bit of everything for everyone. That's why pop culture is so important. It is involved everything we do in life.

Music is a huge part of my life. If you ask anyone what I do all day, I'm sure they'll answer :SING! Not that I'm the best singer, I just really enjoy it. Music is my daily motivator. Though I tend to gravitate towards today's country, or Top 100, I listen to a large variety of music. My playlists contain all genres to go along with any mood I am in.

 As for TV, as I stated before I love reality TV. The junkier the better. We're talking "Kardashians", "Love and Hip Hop" ... you name it. I also REALLY love crime shows, to include "Criminal Minds," "Law and Order," and documentary crime shows like "Snapped." I also am at the top of my game with kids shows due to my 2 year old.

Admittedly, I am not too big of a fan of movies. Luckily, my husband is. This means I watch a lot of movies NOT by choice, but it does make me expand my horizons, so why not! Also, I have NEVER been a reader, but my New Years Resolution was to yet again try to venture into the world of books. I decided to start with one I knew I would like (because I am in love with the movies) which is to start the Harry Potter series. I read the first 2 a while back and really enjoyed them, but It has always seemed like a chore to read them. Any tips on helping me get into reading? Anyone?

The value of pop culture is so dominant in our world. One of the most important aspects to me is the underestimated value of social media. When I moved from my family away to Missouri I was ecstatic that is was so easy to keep in touch. Social media allows people from all over the world to share their culture, ideas and values all within minutes. This a huge advance in technology, and we are so fortunate to be living in a time where these major advances are taking place.

I'm really excited to be in this class. Looking at the syllabus I know I am going to be pushed out of my comfort zone, and I am really excited. I think it will be so interesting to be reading and studying more in depth topics of pop culture. Pop culture forms the way we think and act, and I wonder how these studies will make me have a different outlook on pop culture - and life itself.

Good luck all!