I grew up with a deep affection for western movies….any western. They mesmerized me. They entertained me, and in my mind they even transported me to another era and time. Whatever it was, they were addictive.
I could watch westerns for hours and hours and then repeat the process. Even to this day, I can watch the same western I saw years ago with the same enthusiasm as if seeing it for the very first time. Westerns have a way of electrifying my mind that any other movie genre can rarely accomplish. Perhaps, the quintessential western transformed me and taught me meaningful life-long lessons and helped shape me into the person that I am to this very day.
It was the older westerns that invariably taught me some of the best lessons; there where good guys and bad guys in this world, right and wrong, and you were honor bound by your work and a hand-shake. Back in my era, good guys always wore the white hat and bad guys wore the black hat; and the good guy would always overcome the bad guy in the end. For me as a child or any other child for that matter, picking out the good guy was generally very easy. One just had to look at their hats. The townsfolk generally were very supportive of the good guy and always helped fight the bad, sometimes after some sort of persuasion.
The guy with the white hat would always do good things. He was honest, he loved his horse and he would always put the bad guys in their place. Every once in a while he would even kiss the girl, but only if absolutely necessary! He sometimes played the role of the town marshal, a banker, a barkeep and then other times would fill the shoes of the common man, often meek, humble; the man who would finally “get the message”, rise above others and eventually stand up to the evil guys; the guys who wore black hats. All in the name of some good, old fashioned “I’m sick of this” injustice.
In the western movie, “High Noon”, considered by many film critics as the greatest western ever produced, we are drawn into the life of an aging lone marshal who shortly must stand up to several dastardly evil villains. It was relatively easy picking out the good guy from the bad guy in most other western movies; this one can leave you guessing. I had a pre-conceived mental image of Gary Cooper. He had always played a good guy in previous movies, and he was a personal hero of mine. I myself would have helped him “whoop” any villains, anytime.
However, this western was altogether different. This movie displayed something I hadn’t noticed in other westerns. For the very first time, “High Noon” succeeded in showing me there are different shades of white hats and black hats; shades of gray were actually showing up all over the screen right before my eyes. Bear in mind, I was only six the first time I saw “High Noon”. Gary Cooper was not acting the part of a marshal who was paid to protect the town; he was too busy running around town try to get others to help him, when in fact it was his duty. I remember thinking that the townsfolk would come around in the final scenes, that somewhere in their desperation they would come to their senses and see that it was their obligation also.
There was something else very different in this movie; the good guy was actually wearing a black hat. How was this possible? How could this be?
At the time, I hadn’t noticed or realized this evolution was taking place right before my very eyes. In fact, most of the townsfolk, those that wore hats, generally wore dark or black hats – even the circuit judge, a symbol of justice, wore a black hat. The townsfolk displayed signs of cowardice, caring for their own self-interests rather than the well beings of those around them, generally at the expense of others. They also refused to help the marshal at every opportunity, some even to the point of scorning the marshal calling him a killer himself and believing that he should be run out of town on-a-rail. Others began to extol and portray the bad guys as victims, even going so far as to believe that by some sort of confusion these VILLLIANS had been forced to commit their dastardly deeds – by the marshal nonetheless.
Then, low and behold, I noticed the bad guys were wearing lighter colored hats then the good guys. What was happening here?
As the movie progressed individuals from the towns completely refused to help the good guy; they either shirked or ran away from their moral duty which was to confront evil at all cost. There just had to be one or more I thought, perhaps by the end of the movie, they would realize the error of their way and come to support the good marshal. This never happened before!
In fact, in the final scene of the movie, the marshal did something quite unusual. He actually threw his badge; the one symbol of law, order, security and justice; into the dirt in total disgust of the townsfolk. This symbolism would forever change my perception of the marshal whose sole sworn duty was to protect them in the first place. It also made me realize that sometimes people cannot find it in themselves and are not willing to rise up and overcome evil when evil comes-a-calling.
I see this played out often. Even today, there are those who feel they do not need to stand up to evil. “It’s someone else’s job”, or “it will go away”, they say. They think someone else has that responsibility.
Even our world leaders often fail to unite themselves and stand up to tyranny and lawlessness. We shut our eyes and think it will go away by itself.
I can only imagine what the townsfolk in the movie could have done had they united. Each and every one of us has been guilty of believing that someone had the responsibility. We all question our ability to make a difference on our own. Therein lays the problem. We tend to want to pass the responsibility onward. It can become a never ending, vicious cycle. Can you envision our world if we all had the courage to stand together and fight against evil and tyranny? I believe it would look much different than the world we see today. Trust me, evil is out there! Many refuse to see it. They close their minds, cover their ears and shut their eyes. It is there nevertheless!
Just as westerns would evolve over time, so would the color of the hats worn by the good guys or the bad guys and the way we view the wearers of the hat.
I often wonder, did time evolve with the western, or did the western change us? Has it had some effect on us and changed the way we look at good versus evil? I believe so. I realize over time this change was slight. In fact, it has been just barely noticeable, but change has taken place nonetheless.
I think often of another time, of another era, of a people referred to as “the greatest generation”; this was a generation with courage who stood up to tyranny. Imagine now where we would be, what we would be doing, if they had not stood up and said enough is enough. It did take time for them to stand, but eventually, they got up.
I am fervently honored and humbled that there are still men and women in this country who proudly stood up, wear a uniform, and shield us from evil. As for me, they will always wear a white hat. God bless them and their families!
I could watch westerns for hours and hours and then repeat the process. Even to this day, I can watch the same western I saw years ago with the same enthusiasm as if seeing it for the very first time. Westerns have a way of electrifying my mind that any other movie genre can rarely accomplish. Perhaps, the quintessential western transformed me and taught me meaningful life-long lessons and helped shape me into the person that I am to this very day.
It was the older westerns that invariably taught me some of the best lessons; there where good guys and bad guys in this world, right and wrong, and you were honor bound by your work and a hand-shake. Back in my era, good guys always wore the white hat and bad guys wore the black hat; and the good guy would always overcome the bad guy in the end. For me as a child or any other child for that matter, picking out the good guy was generally very easy. One just had to look at their hats. The townsfolk generally were very supportive of the good guy and always helped fight the bad, sometimes after some sort of persuasion.
The guy with the white hat would always do good things. He was honest, he loved his horse and he would always put the bad guys in their place. Every once in a while he would even kiss the girl, but only if absolutely necessary! He sometimes played the role of the town marshal, a banker, a barkeep and then other times would fill the shoes of the common man, often meek, humble; the man who would finally “get the message”, rise above others and eventually stand up to the evil guys; the guys who wore black hats. All in the name of some good, old fashioned “I’m sick of this” injustice.
In the western movie, “High Noon”, considered by many film critics as the greatest western ever produced, we are drawn into the life of an aging lone marshal who shortly must stand up to several dastardly evil villains. It was relatively easy picking out the good guy from the bad guy in most other western movies; this one can leave you guessing. I had a pre-conceived mental image of Gary Cooper. He had always played a good guy in previous movies, and he was a personal hero of mine. I myself would have helped him “whoop” any villains, anytime.
However, this western was altogether different. This movie displayed something I hadn’t noticed in other westerns. For the very first time, “High Noon” succeeded in showing me there are different shades of white hats and black hats; shades of gray were actually showing up all over the screen right before my eyes. Bear in mind, I was only six the first time I saw “High Noon”. Gary Cooper was not acting the part of a marshal who was paid to protect the town; he was too busy running around town try to get others to help him, when in fact it was his duty. I remember thinking that the townsfolk would come around in the final scenes, that somewhere in their desperation they would come to their senses and see that it was their obligation also.
There was something else very different in this movie; the good guy was actually wearing a black hat. How was this possible? How could this be?
At the time, I hadn’t noticed or realized this evolution was taking place right before my very eyes. In fact, most of the townsfolk, those that wore hats, generally wore dark or black hats – even the circuit judge, a symbol of justice, wore a black hat. The townsfolk displayed signs of cowardice, caring for their own self-interests rather than the well beings of those around them, generally at the expense of others. They also refused to help the marshal at every opportunity, some even to the point of scorning the marshal calling him a killer himself and believing that he should be run out of town on-a-rail. Others began to extol and portray the bad guys as victims, even going so far as to believe that by some sort of confusion these VILLLIANS had been forced to commit their dastardly deeds – by the marshal nonetheless.
Then, low and behold, I noticed the bad guys were wearing lighter colored hats then the good guys. What was happening here?
As the movie progressed individuals from the towns completely refused to help the good guy; they either shirked or ran away from their moral duty which was to confront evil at all cost. There just had to be one or more I thought, perhaps by the end of the movie, they would realize the error of their way and come to support the good marshal. This never happened before!
In fact, in the final scene of the movie, the marshal did something quite unusual. He actually threw his badge; the one symbol of law, order, security and justice; into the dirt in total disgust of the townsfolk. This symbolism would forever change my perception of the marshal whose sole sworn duty was to protect them in the first place. It also made me realize that sometimes people cannot find it in themselves and are not willing to rise up and overcome evil when evil comes-a-calling.
I see this played out often. Even today, there are those who feel they do not need to stand up to evil. “It’s someone else’s job”, or “it will go away”, they say. They think someone else has that responsibility.
Even our world leaders often fail to unite themselves and stand up to tyranny and lawlessness. We shut our eyes and think it will go away by itself.
I can only imagine what the townsfolk in the movie could have done had they united. Each and every one of us has been guilty of believing that someone had the responsibility. We all question our ability to make a difference on our own. Therein lays the problem. We tend to want to pass the responsibility onward. It can become a never ending, vicious cycle. Can you envision our world if we all had the courage to stand together and fight against evil and tyranny? I believe it would look much different than the world we see today. Trust me, evil is out there! Many refuse to see it. They close their minds, cover their ears and shut their eyes. It is there nevertheless!
Just as westerns would evolve over time, so would the color of the hats worn by the good guys or the bad guys and the way we view the wearers of the hat.
I often wonder, did time evolve with the western, or did the western change us? Has it had some effect on us and changed the way we look at good versus evil? I believe so. I realize over time this change was slight. In fact, it has been just barely noticeable, but change has taken place nonetheless.
I think often of another time, of another era, of a people referred to as “the greatest generation”; this was a generation with courage who stood up to tyranny. Imagine now where we would be, what we would be doing, if they had not stood up and said enough is enough. It did take time for them to stand, but eventually, they got up.
I am fervently honored and humbled that there are still men and women in this country who proudly stood up, wear a uniform, and shield us from evil. As for me, they will always wear a white hat. God bless them and their families!
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