Structuralism in the West(ern)

Whilst I was in the midst of final exams this past week, one of my many assignments happened to be about film. I was taking an introductory film course at the time, you see, so it made sense that I would be asked to write a paper on the topic of films. All of that aside, this paper was strictly to talk about the “cycles of genre” through Western films, starting with primitive Westerns, moving to classic, then revisionist, and finally parodic. “What,” you might be wondering to yourself, “the heck is Duncan going on about in our theory blog?? He is such a goof!” Well now, I assure you, I do in fact have a point and a direction that this blog post shall take. During my brief stint as a Western film expert, I, being the expert of course, was well versed in what it meant to be a Western and the different components and themes that are associated with the genre. What I later began to notice, as I naturally continue to think about recent papers, exams, and regrets, was how much I recognized the Western theme in films that I had not previously even dreamed could be considered Westerns and how much it related to structuralism!

The first film, or set of films really, that came to mind was local genius George Lucas’ Star Wars saga. Star Wars is most definitely and undeniably a science fiction film that incorporates fantasy, the future, and even political science. It is also, you guessed it, a Western. The frontier being explored, exploited, and merciless in this Western is what is believed to be man’s final frontier: outer space. The Republic, a nomadic, ragtag group of “good-guys” fight the evil that are reorganizing the Galactic Republic into the Empire which is to be run by the tyrannical Sith lord. Do you see ole Claude’s binary here or what?! It is all about that binary action! Man vs. wild, man vs. machine, old vs. new, and so on. The Western is not limited to Monument Valley, six-shooter revolvers, square buildings, and horse-drawn stagecoaches, what makes a Western a Western is the underlying STRUCTURE of it. The themes, the mentality, the morals and lessons learned, that is what constitutes a Western. Star Wars is a story of that same bravery and the strength of the individual over the power of evil in large numbers.

At first, it really is amazing how many films exhibit aspects and ideals that are associated with the Western, but upon second or third look, one realizes how natural such a connection actually is. Then I kept looking. I saw it in Ridley Scott’s film Alien, AMC’s popular TV show The Walking Dead, and even Orange Is The New Black, the namesake of this very blog! It is very exciting indeed! So, next time you’re watching a film, and you THINK you know what kind of film it is, chances are it is a heck of a lot more complicated than you think. Look out for that sneaky Western, you may find the structural elements of it floating around somewhere.