The Last Cowboy

Recently I was hanging out with my dad and watching tv. He has his favorite channel which airs older shows from the 1950s and 60s, shows he would watch as a kid. With the nostalgia factor kicked up and the black and white scenes flashing across the screen I listen to him as he excitedly explains characters and what it was like to see these shows during their original airtime. Smiling as he talks enjoying the time spent with him and feeling good to see him so happy I absorbed the moment. As we watch I pay attention to characters and set up of the story. The traditional white hat versus the black hat, moral tales derived from the Bible, and the demonstration of typical American values personified by the various characters. Often I get the feeling that I can’t connect with what I’m watching, mostly because of the depiction of certain groups. But this is not what I want to talk about, we all know how women and minorities were depicted in these old shows. No it is more about the way that the values of American culture at the time was depicted and the rather simplistic development of moral issues. In show after show it was the same thing, a morality split between good and bad, a strict duality between the white hat and the black hat. Now when you zoom out and look at the climate these shows were created in it is clear why there was such a strong split. The world was being divided (at least in American minds) into two ideologies, capitalism and communism. Additionally, as already mentioned, many storylines were inspired or derived from the Bible which itself divides the world between good and evil. Many shows too were set in an idealistic old west; the bad guys were there but the good guys always won and American culture improved upon the wild and savage world of the uncivilized country. Simple put it became clear that these shows championed the superiority and “correction” of the American way. I was considering this and comparing it to contemporary shows, realizing as I did so that I did not watch network tv. The entertainment industry has expanded into something far greater and larger still than it was even in the sixties. With literally thousands of channels and so many networks comparing the entertainment media of today to that of 1960s America seemed well like comparing two very different flavors of the same fruit. So I settled on a show recently aired which I also enjoyed watching with my dad. Longmire A suggestion on my Netflix home screen introduced me the show Longmire. Set in Wyoming in the changing America of the last decade this show provides an exciting opportunity in the context of this reflection piece. Being prompted to this reflection by the old western shows its fitting to discuss Longmire a show which about the extinction of the old American cowboy and the disappearance of the old American West. Since my purpose here is to compare the old shows to the new let’s begin by discussing formula fiction. In writing formula fiction there is a bullet point list with recommendations on the structure and content of the story with the expressed goal of selling copies. TV writing is much similar with the goal being viewership in place of copies sold. That TV from the 50s and 60s followed formulas is obvious to all who’ve watched it. Characters reveal aspects of their personality by their dress, intentions are hinted at in dialogue, situational settings recur regularly and the attentive viewer can often figure out what to expect early on. Of course television from this era was painfully limited and writers had to present a story which was entertaining and resolvable in a half hour. That formulas should have been employed is not only sensible it is in a way unavoidable. It only takes a few movies and episodes of the old westerns to get the formula down. The protagonist is always the White Hat, a man (almost always of European decent) who is skilled with weapons but uses them only when necessary and only when provoked. Often a stoic loner with a strong moral code and strong self sufficient independence which usually results in him being alienated in some way. Hard working, humble, honest the White Hat is just trying to have a simple peaceful life in a land of plenty. The White Hat wants a quite life but is drawn into conflict by the Black Hat. The antagonist of the story the Black Hat is the shady contrast to the upright White Hat. Selfish, deceitful, arrogant, and violent the Black Hat challenges the White Hat’s principles. Often a Damsel is foil to the story, her virtue the object of the Black Hat’s desire and the protection for which the White Hat must get involved. The Black Hat is the heel in the story even before the virtue of the Damsel is threatened. There will be clashes between the WH and BH building up to the final conflict. These clashes can begin as a taunting by BH or a competition of skill. Either way the clashes are meant to contrast and set at the odds the BH and the WH while also usually exhibiting the WH moral virtue. The role of the Damsel need not always be female and can at times be the family as a whole, or even the community. The formula always has the WH coming out on top; either they were the better fighter all along, or their moral codes guide them to triumph. It is through this formula that Longmire creates a show which illustrates the changing world. Walt Longmire is the classic White Hat, a widower living alone on his pristine piece of land, in a log cabin which he fixes himself using hard tools. Hard working self-sufficient longmire is the law upholding all the citizens of Absaroka county to his standards. Longmire wonderfully uses this White Hat archetype to create a hero who is right but at odds with the world that he exists in. The west has been tamed, the land is all claimed, and Longmire is the cowboy sheriff presiding over a changing county. The series as whole explores many concepts related to a changing America for example depicting the relationship between the local Native America tribes and the people of the county. There are many times where the reservation police force and the sheriffs office butt heads over jurisdictions. For example the police chief of the reservation police department is the corrupt Malachi Strand. Being the typical White Hat Walt arrests Strand for his crimes, most of which occurred on tribal lands. Walt Longmire is upholding principles of justice which for him supersede the limitations of jurisdiction lines in the face of such an evil actor. But this action rather alienates the Native community as a whole who see as the continued oppression of their people. Breaking other laws to enforce justice is acceptable for a White Hat but this does not absolve Longmire. Who is right ? Who supercedes? The federal law is supposed to protect the rights of citizens but gets in the way of longmire pursuit of justice. The federal mandates that he not get involved in tribal affairs and, unlike other shows, his suplido moral compass does not vindicate his actions in the eyes of the locals. Throughout the series Walt Longmire operates in grey regions regarding the law itself. This goes to show that the legal policy of America does not necessarily reflect moral principles. When Longmire does go counter to the appropriate channels it is because he either trying to avoid or root out corruption. Being a stoic character he does not take the time to explain his actions or even present a good public image. Instead he relies on what his actions say about him, relying on his moral compass which would surely prove him in the right should all comes to light. But again this is contemporary America with mass media and public relations and lawyers and agents. A smear campaign depicts him as a corrupt sheriff who runs a department of favoritism inefficiently. The fact that he is morally superior does not matter because he hasn’t convinced the people in the community of the right of his actions. This is important because is the original formula all the good town folks knew and could recognize the moral principles guiding the White Hat even if he a rough fellow. In contemporary America morality is not subjective but it’s interpreted in various degrees of subjectivity. All it takes is for some people to effort into telling a bad story which Walt ignores because it’s obviously untrue. But that falsehood is not as apparent to everyone. Not all American are following the same moral compass and thus the quintessential White Hat hero is misunderstood. Walt Longmire is a relic to some in Absaroka county, the old cowboy who should be retiring. In season 4 there is a scene of him working with old hand tools to fix his porch after Barlow dies. He saws and sands his wood by hand, using no power tools at all. Remember the White Hat is a hardworking so such a task is not even a chore for him but something pleasant. Around him is the pristine land he owns, natural and undeveloped. It is this land that we learn makes him a target. A civil suit is brought against Longmire for the way he runs his department. He becomes the focus of a FBI investigation and media scrutiny. The fact that the civil suit is just the attempt of the old boys to steal his land. They are coming for his job and his land. Who? The rich men who want to develop. A casino resort is built on the reservation and developers see the opportunity to build a golf course near it. Walt is a hold out who does not want the land spoiled, campaigning against the casino itself which he sees as a corrupting presence. Walt appreciates the land, the old school way of things and thus doesn’t use all the new tech, doesn’t pay attention to the trends. Thus he is a relic to be removed by the developers and politicians who do not want his moral meddling.