Post by topbilled on Nov 12, 2022 19:57:59 GMT
How do you define a western?
Here's how I define it:
A drama along the American frontier between 1864 and 1890.
I do not think Civil War films are westerns. Those are part of a sub-genre of the war film. But if something is set in the west during the post-war period and references the Civil War, that's okay.
Also, I do not count "colonial westerns" which means anything set along the frontier before the Civil War. Those would just be plain old historical dramas, or historical adventures.
Anything set in the last decade of the 1800s (1890 to 1900) tends to be about the industrial age, and while traces of western life may still exist, those would not be pure westerns.
Stories set in the countryside from 1900 to 1939 I consider rural dramas. Things like horse racing dramas or depression era dramas.
If there is a story set after WWII in the countryside, I just consider it a rural drama or a contemporary western.
Basically my idea of a western, again, is a frontier drama set in 1864 to 1890, where automobiles and telephones do not exist and we see how the American west and southwest are being settled after the Civil War. If characters travel into Mexico that would be okay, provided most of the action takes place north of the border, in the United States. A story that is set entirely in Mexico during this time period, I would not consider a western about life along the American frontier.
Frontier westerns include mining stories, stories about fugitives, stories about mail order brides, stories about the U.S. Army's dealings with the native tribes, stories about lawless towns that find law and order, those types of things.
What do you say? How do you define a western?
Here's how I define it:
A drama along the American frontier between 1864 and 1890.
I do not think Civil War films are westerns. Those are part of a sub-genre of the war film. But if something is set in the west during the post-war period and references the Civil War, that's okay.
Also, I do not count "colonial westerns" which means anything set along the frontier before the Civil War. Those would just be plain old historical dramas, or historical adventures.
Anything set in the last decade of the 1800s (1890 to 1900) tends to be about the industrial age, and while traces of western life may still exist, those would not be pure westerns.
Stories set in the countryside from 1900 to 1939 I consider rural dramas. Things like horse racing dramas or depression era dramas.
If there is a story set after WWII in the countryside, I just consider it a rural drama or a contemporary western.
Basically my idea of a western, again, is a frontier drama set in 1864 to 1890, where automobiles and telephones do not exist and we see how the American west and southwest are being settled after the Civil War. If characters travel into Mexico that would be okay, provided most of the action takes place north of the border, in the United States. A story that is set entirely in Mexico during this time period, I would not consider a western about life along the American frontier.
Frontier westerns include mining stories, stories about fugitives, stories about mail order brides, stories about the U.S. Army's dealings with the native tribes, stories about lawless towns that find law and order, those types of things.
What do you say? How do you define a western?
