Scenario: You have been asked to contribute to a specialist online film journal, and have been asked to write an article on a specific genre which explores how and why audiences respond to genre cinema. As this is an academic journal your target audience will be comfortable with inclusion of terminology and theory and the editors of the journal will be expecting your copy to be an educational and informative piece.
TASKS
The assignment will take the form of written article, separated into three sections. Each section should clearly and comprehensively explain the sub headed areas, supporting a full exploration of how media audiences develop responses to a specific genre of your choice.
SECTION 1: GENRE CHARACTERISTICS
- Research into and explain the codes and conventions of your chosen genre. These could be filmmaking styles (like camerawork or sound), use of settings/costumes/props, iconography etc.
- Discuss/analyse the impact and significance of these codes and conventions:
- Why are they used?
- What is their impact?
- How do they link with the types of audience that enjoy this particular genre?
SECTION 2: GENRE NARRATIVES
- Research into and explain the common narrative devices of your chosen genre.
- Discuss/analyse the impact and significance of these:
- Why are they used?
- What is their impact?
- How do they link with the types of audience that enjoy this particular genre?
SECTION 3: CHARACTER REPRESENTATIONS
- Research and explain how characters are represented in the genre. This could be representations of gender, age, ethnicity, class etc.
- Consider if they are stereotypes or if the representations are positive or negative. Consider how this might link to the types of target audience that watch the films.
- In all areas ensure clear examples are provided to support/illustrate material, and subject terminology should be used consistently and accurately.
- Integrate relevant theory where relevant in order to support/explain points made.
Include some visual material when appropriate (e.g. images that highlight points made, referenced within the body of the text).
SECTION 1: WESTERN CHARACTERISTICS
The codes and conventions of the western film genre can vary, from how the film is shot, edited and presented. Location matters also, look at all the following trailers and ask yourself: What do they all have in common?
The western setting itself is iconic. Without it, can it be truly considered a true western? Of course, there are other movies that share this location that are not necessarily typical western films, but regardless have a western feel to them due to this location alone. A recent example would be the movie Logan, the trailer itself showing off that western iconography. Other movies can include the Mad Max franchise, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The colours of the landscape are earthy; barren wastes of brown, grey and even red sands that encompass the visual of what a western film looks like. When it comes to shooting a western, an emphasis on landscape and environment can be expected.
Below: three images showing off wide/establishing shots typical of a western movie.
Audiences naturally expect such a setting/location for filming when it comes to the western genre, due in part to its iconography, as well as the land being a reflection of the nurture and nature of the people who inhabit it i.e. settlers, townsman, prospectors, cowboys, indians, lawmen, marshalls, outlaws etc. The semi-sepia tone reflecting the hard exterior of the people who inhabit such a near inhospitable land due to the United States’ Manifest Destiny. The setting can be seeing as an example of hypodermic needle audience theory, as it is placed upon the audience without question, as they often not question it.
However, moving away from just the location, you can also find that in those trailers that the various props and outfits are similar in each movie. Western movies are often set in a contemporary time period that is usually associated with the genre, meaning the the mid to late 1800s. This comes with the time periods expected fashion and technology, particularly an emphasis on the west’s obsession with cowboy hats and revolver pistols, both iconic props in their own right in any given western movie. Because of the presence of weapons in such movies, particularly revolvers, you can often expect a gunfight reminiscent of the romanticized events often associated with incidents like the shootout at the OK Corral. This is an often bloody, action-packed genre, so weapons are expected.
Above: a collage of images from the listed nine movie trailers, showing off the landscape, style and dress codes of various western characters from the genre’s films.
The music and sound of these trailers also share similar traits in that they all encompass a western feel or atmosphere, notably drum beats accompanied by guitar chords and a piccolo. These sounds are familiar with the audience, as they have been made iconic through their use with the genre since near its inception during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema, and are reflected again in the familiar setting that is the west. The most famous example being The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme song. The genre’s audience predicts and expects such similar sounds and themes from their westerns, mostly due to the Dollars Trilogy impact and significance on cinema and the genre itself, remaining within the mind of every fan of the western ever since.
SECTION 2: WESTERN NARRATIVES
Common narratives found within the western genre can often be expected of it, as they have existed since the early years of the genre’s pioneering in the genre. Britannia.com gives its take:
“The western has always provided a rich mine for stories of adventure, and indeed a huge number of purely commercial works have capitalized on the basic appeal of gunslinging frontier adventurers, desperadoes, and lawmen. But the western has also furnished the material for a higher form of artistic vehicle, particularly in motion pictures. This was perhaps because the historical western setting lacked the subtly confining web of social conventions and mundane safeties that typify more settled societies. The West’s tenuous hold on the rule of law and its fluid social fabric necessitated the settling of individual and group conflicts by the use of violence and the exercise of physical courage, and the moral dramas and dilemmas arising within this elemental, even primeval, framework lent themselves remarkably well to motion-picture treatment.”
The rule of law in the west, or lack thereof, has gained notoriety for the western genre over the years, as tales of violence and crime made its way into the media world for tales to be told. Often, these depictions can be romanticised versions of the west: a lone lawman must fight a band of criminals on his own while torn between his duty and to his newly wed wife (High Noon). However, other depictions can also be not so pretty, such as the movie Unforgiven, which sees an aging outlaw turned farmer turn back to the life of crime and murder he once knew in another life. We tend to think that western movies, especially classical westerns, are filled to the brim with stereotypes and cliches as you’d expect from such a genre, and for the most part they are. Still, some of them can be surprising in how they subvert genre conventions and narrative.
Take for instance The Searchers, a 1956 western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, both whom collaborated on many movies together. In this movie, John Wayne doesn’t play the same archetypal western characters he had or would come to portray after this movie. Instead, he plays that of a morally complex man with flaws. The character of Ethan Edwards is that of a former soldier of the confederacy, as well as a veteran of the Mexican revolutionary war. The narrative of the movie follows him and his search for his kidnapped niece by Comanche warriors after they had murdered his brother’s family; however, it runs deeper due to Edwards’ need for revenge, and the white settlers racist tendencies come through. It comes so close that it no longer matters to him about saving his niece, but rather committing himself to genocide against the natives, who are not so one sided either. Throughout the movie, characters also exhibit themes of miscegenation, with many opposing the ideas of races mixing. This is why Wayne’s character, and even the gentler Vera Miles Laurie, advocate for the “mercy killing” of Debbie (Natalie Wood), should they find her having become one and living amongst the natives. This narrative strips away many romaticisations of the west as was depicted at the time, and instead offers very real prejudices and instances that happened during the time period.
How does this all tie into audience though? The western film genre has such a diverse taste in narratives that it can be hard to pinpoint what exactly audiences want from their audiences. And over the years, the western film market has dropped significantly, and no longer saturates the market like it use to during its hay days in Hollywood. But if we look at the highest grossing western movies compared to the flops, we may get a general sense or idea of what audiences expect or want from their narratives.
- Dances with Wolves
- The Revenant
- True Grit (201)
- Django Unchained
- Rango
- Wild Wild West
- Maverick
- Unforgiven
- Cowboys & Aliens
- The Magnificent Seven (2016)
That right there is a diverse list, and not all those movies necessarily received critical acclaim. For example, Wild Wild West, an action comedy starring Will Smith and Kenneth Branagh, was panned by critics as being unfunny and a poor adaptation of the TV series it was based off of. Likewise, Cowboys & Aliens received mild reviews. What is ironic about both products is that despite being listed among the top ten all time best box office westerns, they were both considered financial disappointments after just making enough money to cover costs. This just goes to show how far the western genre has fallen with its affinity for audiences.
Marketing could very well play a big role into how much an audience will get involved and go see a movie in theaters. A recent western that received critical claim, yet flopped financially, would be the horror-esque western Bone Tomahawk. The films pacing is slow and deliberate, different from other westerns in that sense, as well as being more gritty and grounded in realism. It can be aptly compared to the Coen Brothers version of True Grit, in a sense of realism and more harsh depiction of the west, though certainly less gore and mutilation. When talking about the financial success of True Grit, the Coens attributed the film's success partly to its "soft" PG-13 rating, which helped broaden audience appeal. Paramount anticipated that the film would be popular with the adults who often constitute the Coen brothers' core audience, as well as fans of the Western genre. But True Grit also drew extended families: parents, grandparents, and teenagers. Geographically, the film played strongest in Los Angeles and New York, but its top 20 markets also included Oklahoma City; Plano, Texas; and Olathe, Kansas. It became their highest grossing movie, surpassing No Country For Old Men, another movie with elements of western codes and conventions.
SECTION 3: CHARACTER REPRESENTATIONS
Character representations in westerns are often typically stereotypical, but can also be capable of being atypical. When it comes to westerns, you often expect the characters to be a reflection of their environment; a hard exterior and stubborn personality nurtured by the nature of the environment, and vice versa by their upbringings around similar individuals. As aforementioned, the character of Ethan Edwards, played by John Wayne in The Searchers, was a more subversion of the genres typical heroes he played, as he was a vengeful, racist white man bent on killing natives more so than saving his niece from captivity, even going so far as to believe that it would be better to kill her than let her live amongst them, adding to his perceived notion that the natives are animals and savages, and that to become one of them makes you less human.
Of course, that is just one of many character representations found throughout the western genre, and a unique one at that. These movies often centre themselves around the nomadic lives of gunslingers and outlaws, with other characters including Native Americans, bandits, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, soldiers, settlers (both farmers and ranchers), and townsfolk. Their ages and ethnicities vary, from American, native, Mexican, Irish, English and even German characters being portrayed on screen, making up a variety of roles. As one Christina Marie Cook once put it in her thesis, The Hero and Villain Binary in the Western Film Genre:
As put forward in the thesis, the idea of masculinity was prevalent in these characters depicted in much of the early films of the genre, and is still present today. The Native Americans are seen as an obstacle to be overcome in order to settle the land, and the settlers are a majority white, God-fearing folk who are just going about their lives, often treated as victims. As times changed so did original opinion and interpretation. After WWII, postmodernism entered the fray and led to many retrospectively looking at various aspects of our culture and past, questioning a variety of things and going against preconceived notions. In the case of the western genre, you got such films as The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford, which deconstructed the such myths and legends surrounding the romanticised life of the legendary lawman, as well as the revisionist history of the west. This was in direct contrast to films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where both our heroes are outlaws.
Above: Casey Affleck’s Robert Ford (left) from The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Paul Newman and Robert Redford as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, respectively.
Of course, with the diverse pool of western movies, subgenres and character portrayals, audiences can simply take what they will from any given film. The Uses and Gratifications model theorizes that media audiences testifies that the audience of a product is free from its influence, and may take whatever moral lesson or pleasure from it. They need not necessarily like the product, or in this case, the characters portrayed, and just move on with their lives; however, others may take something far greater from the movies and its characters than others, or simply act passive in consumption. More active audiences will deconstruct, debate and discuss the movie, it’s themes, narrative and characters.
One such movie that challenged the norm of what western movies were at the time, as well as what it’s characters represented, is Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence. Released in 1968, its lead character is a mute known as “Silence”, who fights in defence of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow, against a group of ruthless bounty killers led by "Loco" and the corrupt banker Henry Pollicut. In this movies, the good guy and bad guy roles are reversed. The violences is not glorified, but instead gritty and real. It is a politically charged, left-wing movie that gave contemporary commentary on the political winds of the time, criticising capitalism. The film also boasts a strong willed and independent female protagonist who, although becomes romantically involved with the protagonist “Silence”, does so on her own terms, having turned down becoming a mistress to a wealthy man and seducing “Silence” at her own agency. The movie also ends in bleak form, with most of the heroes dead and the villains having won. This spaghetti-western is an anti story of traditional westerns, and the character roles and representations shine through.
Breaking away from this however, for every complex character you may encounter, you can come across an array of stereotypes found in the western genre. There is of course the quintessential cowboy, most famously portrayed by actors John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. These are often the heroes of their stories, and as leading stars, have great affinity towards the audience and act as a drawing power for the box office. They serve as the perfect American heroes: macho, masculine, hard working etc. The gunslinger stereotype can also lap over into this idea of the cowboy, perhaps most famously depicted by all seven of The Magnificent Seven, who serve as the movies good guys, defending a small Mexican town from bandits, protecting the innocent. Outlaws are always to be expected, and can even be portrayed as the anti-hero such as with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Other stereotypes include the lawman, also known as the U.S. Marshal, as can be seen in Tombstone, depicted through the character of Wyatt Earp, a real life U.S. Marshal.
Above: Image from Dances With Wolves. In the movie, Kevin Costner’s character befriends a Sioux tribe and learns their culture, ways and beliefs.
All in all, the stereotypes are vast and vary in portrayal; however, the native american stereotypes are by far the most sensitive. They can be done to great effect in such films as Dances With Wolves, which handled the people of the Sioux Nation with great care and respected, so much so that the Sioux Nation made actor Kevin Costner an honorary member of their clan. These portrayals have had a great impact on their culture, ensuring it with last forever so long as the film survives. Meanwhile, portrayals of native americans as uncivilised savages have been prevalent in film before, with 1920’s The Last of the Mohicans, being portrayed entirely by a Caucasian cast, and the notion of a noble savage is prevalent. Even outside the western genre, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, is an infamous example. In the movie, she is unconsciously compared to a wild animal running amok. It contains a classic scene of an inferior Native American woman doting over her white-European surroundings while Europeans view her as an excited savage enamored by their world. The movie was criticised for such.
Looking at this, you can see how negatively an audience will react to such stereotypes and how it can hamper a movie in the long run, especially so in retrospect. Classical westerns are filled with the contemporary time period’s casual racism its movie was set in, and has remained so as a reminder of sorts of what went on in the real history of the so called Frontier. Active audiences have discussed and debated the portrayals, especially the stereotypes of characters, in western movies. However, a majority of westerns are often assorted into that classical action-packed, gunslinger territory of movie. A vigilante or lawman on the hunt, a one versus all mentality, and a hatred for any “city slickers” they perceive as weak and unfit for the land that is the west. What an audience expects from their westerns and their characters are the archetypes of the lawman, gunslinger, bounty hunter, vigilante etc.
