Very rarely is there anyone in today’s world who has never heard about the protectors of Western culture? Currently, cowboys are perceived to represent the epitome of autonomy and liberation. Although cowboys have been around for centuries, their image has evolved as the years went by.
Perception of Cowboys
In both the 18th and 19th centuries, the perception of cowboys was they were corrupt individuals as they were thieves who heartlessly lied in wait for colonial farmers to attack them. These notions of cowboys continued to persist until the chapter following the Civil War which caused the term cowboy to receive a positive meaning. Now cowboys were being affiliated with rugged men on horses who herded cattle. As time moved forward, the cowboy character not only became glorified, but it was regarded as a representation of the true American spirit.
The Creation of Motion Picture
At the conclusion of the 19th century, when the motion picture was created, a few of the original silent movies were documentaries about the cowboys’ lifestyle, personifying the country spirit of the American society, which has perpetually been equated to the western development of civilization and the conquering new unfamiliar regions.
Development of Narration
With the rise of narration, to be Western stories seemed to captivate the viewers and take the world by storm. In the subsequent years, Western movies became the most beloved amongst the public and were accordingly manufactured in vast quantities. Even to this day, westerns still persist among the most well-liked movie genres. Even though the Western genre did not always remain at the height of prosperity, however, they made a great comeback on a more massive scale in the 1950s.
Changes That Shaped Western Series In the 1950s
To the extent where the Western genre is regarded, the period of the 1950s was formed by drastic changes. First and foremost, even though some of the Western depictions had not perceived the Indian to be an enemy before, many Westerns twisted the narrative and became pro-Indian and even recorded high numbers of vicious whites. Westerns both revealed a new perception of the American culture and emanated a growing fascination with history.
More importantly, the grand Western genre was in tip-top shape, which meant both the producers and directors chased commercial interests which allowed them to capture Westerns in an artistic way.
In opposition to the success of these alleged A list shows, the demand for B list movies, which were produced by independent organizations with more modest budgets, ultimately decreased. Considering the fact that horse shows in the western movie niche also declined, there was an eruption of cowboy-inspired series on television. The fifties established the most famous Western TV series of all time, which was broadcast from 1955 until 1975 for nearly twenty years, it was TV’s longest-running ซีรีย์ฝรั่ง. The series was rated first for several years in the fifties and eventually sparking more shows about Western heroes to be made.