It wasn’t that long ago that I pretended to be Annie Oakley. Okay, 40 years is long in a lifetime but it feels like yesterday. I’d ride my pony, Socksey, at a gallop while balancing my pop gun. I played alone but never felt lonely.
As part of the first generation of kids with all day TV , the Wild West filled our airways and Cowboys were our heroes. From the modern perspective, these shows were violent and raw. How’s that modern perspective working for y’all?
teen suicide
school bullying with apathy from bystanders
random gun violence
deadbeat dads
laziness
sleep disorders
eating disorders
To name a few more modern pervasive ailments.
I started looking for videos to attach to this post. My eyes are still filled with tears and my heart with the pride from revisiting my ‘ol pals. Then I found the perfect video. A new movement to instill the virtues that I aspired to from my cowboy heroes. Food for thought people. I’m going to get some old westerns and watch them with my granddaughter.
BTW- I added guns to my title just to make this post “scary” and controversial enough to get you to consider it. 🙂
There is no doubt where my ideals came from when you realize how “big” the cowboy and western culture was when I was a kid.
My grandparents sent me a shiny metal pair of six-guns (cap guns)in a black leather double holster for my 6th or 7th birthday. The finely tooled leather sported the knight chess piece emblem from “Have Gun Will Travel”. (Wish I still had them today!)
They were heavy and looked real! I don’t believe I have ever felt more awesome than when I buckled on those peace-makers. The smell of leather and sulfur still make goosebumps.
Most of my heroes were male since females, in those days, were portrayed as weak and vain.
I never thought of hurting anyone with those guns. I find the present culture is blaming guns for violence when they might due well to focus the blame on the break down of the family unit and the crumbling morality in this culture. There are “good guys” and “bad guys” whether it is politically correct to say it or not.
Larry the Cable Guy said it best,” If guns can be blamed for killing people then my pencil can be blamed for bad spelling.”
So I was watching a Western movie last night. It is a genre that I really enjoy. Those cowboys were my heroes when I was a kid.
The chase scenes in westerns are exciting. It was a very long time before I realized that movie horses were bullet proof. Yup, they are easily three times a bigger target than a man and rarely do they get shot.
The bullets were a blarin’ , the riders were a bouncin’ up and down and the horses never got a scrape! Gosh, they must be bullet proof. When you think about it, many horses must have been injured or killed if those chase scenes were ,at all, accurate in real life. A true “bad guy” (the guys who wore black hats, except for Hopalong Cassidy and Adam Cartwright.) would take the option of shooting a large target like a horse. PETA was nowhere to be seen in them days.
I have fun watching actors change horses in mid scene. Silverado was a fun western to notice this about. At one angle, the hero is racing up a hill on a black horse and as he rides down the other side…presto, it’s a brown horse with a white stripe on its face. Amazing!
Guess you know what interested me most while I watched?
The old Roman movies were also cool and, the horses were spear proof even then. My favorite game was to watch the horses. When the impaled men fell from these magnificent beasts, I’d decide which animal that I’d jump onto and ride off with, if given the chance.
Even TV westerns were full of horsey stunt doubles. I got so used to watching these horses that I’d notice them in every western of the time period. Especially, Nick Barkley’s horse Cocoa. That horse had a brown mane and black body with a very unique blaze of white on his face. He made appearances in John Wayne movies too.
Luckily Lassie had long hair. She was always portrayed by a male dog. I was on Grandpa’s farm enough to know the difference. They couldn’t fool me.
Did you know that Moose, (of Fraiser fame known as Eddie),had his son take over his role? As Moose got older, Enzo took his place. Heck,I knew Eddie was different!
In closing, I must get a really big irritation off of my chest.
Have you ever watched the cartoon called Back in the Barnyard? All of the cattle have udders! Most of the cattle are males.
If cartoons decide to be anatomically specific, get it right, will ya! Poor kids are confused enough about nature these days…
Mensen maken de samenleving en nemen daarin een positie in. Deze website geeft toegang tot een diversiteit aan artikelen die gaan over 'samenleven', belicht vanuit verschillende perspectieven. De artikelen hebben gemeen dat er gezocht wordt naar wat 'mensen bindt, in plaats van wat hen scheidt'.
Sillyfrog's Blog 