I got into this a while back because I liked Westerns, plain and simple. Now I feel like I know a little bit more about them, like I’ve become a part of a larger conversation that I hadn’t previously known existed, and I had fun in the process.

Speaking of process, the structure and design of this course forced me to see writing as an ongoing process of immersion rather than as an exhausting, singular task. Instead of racking up quotes in an effort to prove a thesis statement, I spent for the first time more than a small handful of days in the library. I experienced the anxiety that came with being knee-deep in more text on the Western than I could fathom, and I experienced the pleasure that came from narrowing my focus successfully (I hope, anyway) to form an explorative analysis rather than simply trying to meet page length requirements.

Touching on time management, if I could change anything, I would go back and work more regularly on the project. There were time periods (usually no more than a week) after turning in a portion of the project where I would kick back just a little too long. I usually did this to avoid burning out on my subject matter, but by taking just a little too long, I lessened whatever momentum I had built up. In the future, the line between burning out and slacking off is still going to be a tricky one to walk, but it will be one that I walk with slightly more ease and experience.  I’m really looking forward to more research like this, to more exploration and more discovery.

"A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, "O.K., I'll be part of this world." " - Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men"

It was my intuition as a lifelong reader and watcher of movies that told me the Western wasn’t dead. Sure, there hasn’t been a big hit Western since “Unforgiven,” and I wasn’t familiar with any recent Western lit outside of McCarthy and McMurtry, but I knew for damn sure the Western wasn’t out for the count.

It’s fitting now in Senior Seminar that it’s the analytical skills I’ve picked up over close to 4 years as an undergrad at YSU that tell me the Western isn’t simply “not dead,” but that it’s alive, and should be made more alive.

That’s what I want to say with this project. I’ve been spouting off variations of the same thesis for a while now but I’ll let the words spill again, if only since they’ve become my mantra: the Western is a genre not only capable of reflecting American history and ongoing sociopolitical concerns, but it’s a genre that should be employed for such purposes.

In that sense, I’m writing more of a call to action than a call to awareness. I want to use “No Country,” a relatively popular piece of fiction that my audience is likely familiar with, and “The Three Burials,” one which (and maybe I’m wrong here, but judging by the scarcity of scholarly material on the film, probably not) is largely overlooked, to illustrate the potential of the genre. The critical material I examined on both works leads me to believe that this is a reachable goal, and that in posing my call to action, I should pose a question to my audience.

Nearly every source I’ve encountered so far either laments or touches on lamentation of the loss of the Western as a genre, or yearns for the “good old days” in which westerns were being pumped out on the screen or page on a regular basis. Why though? The lamentation is excessive to the point of parody. These scholars and critics are addressing the Western as if it’s dead, or as if we live in a world where it’s not possible to craft one. Again, with this project, I want to say not only that it’s possible, but that it should be a responsibility for at least some artists to make use of the genre. The pleasure for me is going to lie in blending the critical material I have on the film and book I selected with American historical and sociopolitical accounts, a great deal of which I’m still hoarding as I wrap up my research. I want to honor the Western with this project and remind folks that it’s a genre left stranded out there for the taking.

While reading an article on the production of The Three Burials, I found it near impossible to imagine actor / director Tommy Lee Jones conceiving his Western as something novel, or more importantly, as something particularly rare in terms of genre in general. Instead, I imagined the crafting of a Western as something plain as day to him, and as something natural. That’s when I got scared.

Jones, a mainstay in Westerns, is 63. Michael Mann, the only filmmaker this side of James Mangold who seems to grasp the genre (see urban Westerns Heat and even his 2006 Miami Vice reimagining) is 65. Who’s going to take over for these guys?

The good news for me in considering the prompt for this blog is that there is a conversation, and I do fit into it. While there isn’t a whole lot on The Three Burials given its limited release (what little there is, however, is excellent), the wealth of critical material on McCarthy’s novel informs me that people do seriously consider the Western as a both a reflection of American life and politics and as a transmitor of sociopolitical ideas and concepts. The sad part, I’ve found, is that the great majority of these critical pieces speak largely in the past tense, linking No Country for Old Men to a tradition that has well passed. This is evident too in all of the reviews of Jones’ film that I’ve read, likely out of necessity and the impossibility of referencing a recent, notable Western. The Three Burials seems most aptly compared to Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and though it’s compared fondly, I get the sense that critics approaching the film are writing more of a eulogy than a review.

Where I want to differ in approach is intention. I’m hoping that by researching the history of the Western and its successes in reflecting and communicating American sociopolitics that I’ll be able to not only provide a portrait of an important genre but a reason (for the few poor souls who might stumble onto my paper) to consider reviving the Western and saving it from extinction.

So there it is: I’m hoping to provide critical analysis of the genre, but also a reason to believe. I’m hoping, as much as an undergraduate suffering from senioritis can, to shape a directive.

The wealth of critical material available on No Country for Old Men has been intimidating. While I found a great deal on McCarthy during my research of All the Pretty Horses, it’s clear that the Coen’s film as well as the mainstream success of The Road have led to a resurgence in examination of McCarthy’s work and, thankfully, the Western genre itself. That being said, I wouldn’t necessarily call this mass amount of critical information a block, but a challenge remains for me in sorting through the many articles I have found. The most rewarding so far have contrasted the themes of McCarthy’s novel with violence and morality in modern society. An analytical piece by Lydia Cooper titled, “He’s a Psychopathic Killer, but So What?: Folklore and Morality in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men” has been especially helpful, as have more generally the extraordinary amount of reviews of both the book and the film.

Again, nearly every critic who has examined McCarthy’s work has displayed cult-like knowledge of the genre as it’s expressed on the screen and page and its significance to American history and politics. This is beyond refreshing. It’s also a relief to know that I’m not the only person outside of my dad and my friends’ dads who feel at home with the Western.

While there aren’t as many critical pieces available on Tommy Lee Jones Three Burials picture, the film’s connection to the real life shooting of Esequiel Hernández Jr. along the US-Mexico border has reinvigorated my sense that any Western can serve successfully as a politically relevant piece in modern society. I located a documentary film on PBS’ website titled The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez. Narrated by Jones, the film explores the sociopolitical implications of Hernandez’ murder at the hands of US Marines. It’s my hope that by taking stock of the history that inspired The Three Burials that I’ll be better able to present it as a case example of the Western as both a mirror of ongoing, culturally significant American events and as a means of political expression.

It’s also worth noting that Richard Slotkin’s Gunfighter Nation has proved a mainstay in my research experience. At 700+ pages, I haven’t had the time to draw from it as much as I’d like, but whenever I have free time (a rarity these days) I’ve returned to the text, skimming at random and digesting a great deal on the ways in which myth and history intertwine, something I’m sure will continue to influence and shape my writing on this project a great deal.

 In researching criticism on The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, I discovered that the film was based on the real-life 1997 killing of 18-year old Esequiel Hernandez, a Mexican-American high school student who was shot by United States Marines along the US-Mexico border. This discovery, combined with interviews with filmmaker and Texas native Tommy Lee Jones as well as screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, has reinvigorated my initial belief that the Western can still offer commentary on current American sociopolitics.

 I’ve also uncovered some excellent interviews with author Cormac McCarthy where he discusses various themes in No Country For Old Men in terms of modern America. He specifically addresses his concern regarding violence in America and how that issue worked its way into his now notoriously tense novel.

Ultimately, the research I’ve completed so far has led me to feel much better about my approach to this assignment.

Recently, I was struck by Roger Ebert’s review of the recent 3:10 to Yuma remake.  Ebert wrote that, “In hard times, Americans have often turned to the Western to reset their compasses. In very hard times, it takes a very good Western” (Ebert np.)  What strikes me as I’m attempting to draw up a research proposal is that Ebert, an outspoken leftist, wrote those words during the waning years of George W. Bush’s presidency.  Being familiar with Ebert’s commentary on the Western, this led me to compare Ebert’s idealistic interpretation of the West with the Western persona adopted and ultimately abused by Bush.  This, along with my meeting with Dr. Linkon in which she suggested contrasting the mythic West with the real-world West, has led me to consider tackling the subject of the relevance of the Western genre in film and literature.  Does the Western still have its place, or has it fallen altogether towards parody?

There’s certainly plenty of opportunity for research in this arena.  I’ve read some striking Western short fiction recently and new, relatively overlooked films in the genre, among them The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and the 2007 3:10 to Yuma, seem ripe for an in-depth critical approach.  Analyzing these works in relation to both real-world opinion of and real-world utilization of the Western as a genre intrigues me.  Is the Western as crucially relevant as Ebert suggests in spite of the literal disappearance and manipulation of the actual physical American West?  If so, how?  These are questions that I feel this assignment would allow me to tackle.  The challenge for me would lie in exposing myself to the genre beyond film and embarking on an analytical quest that blends literature and film as well as American history and politics.

While I’m confident that the Western genre is a fine topic for a paper, I feel as if I have miles to go in terms of researching fiction written on the American West, and I worry that I might not have the time to read as much material as I would like.  I’d certainly like to finish McCarthy’s works as well as other literary contributions to the Western genre.  In addition to time limitations, I also fear that I might be taking on a topic altogether too broad.  I can clearly benefit from, at the very least, a more focused approach.  My goal in these next few days is to narrow things down.