The Western, according to many critics, has seen its day in American cinema. Now boiled down to a static form of revenge drama, it features the same cast of characters in various, jumbled roles—the rancher, lawman, natives and settlers, cowboys, bankers, bounty hunters, land grabbers, cavalrymen and, of course, the lone gunslinger. Paramount’s Yellowstone and spin-off prequel 1883 follow many of these same roles, but with a uniquely modern spin and a dash of grim believability.
THE GUNSLINGERS REBORN
The Western tropes have lasted as long as we’ve formed modern legends, and, whether we like to believe it or not, the ethos has become so deep running that our most popular new Westerns aren’t even set in the American West, yet we have an immediate understanding of them because the characters are ripped straight out of Dodge or Tombstone.
It’s a shame that, up until Yellowstone recently gained its (well deserved) popularity as the stand-out modern Western, the best gunslingers on television were in Star Wars. One could easily say the most recognizable cowboys of our day are the Mandalorian and Boba Fett. But, in the past few years, the Western has come roaring back to planet Earth and focuses on Kevin Costner’s John Dutton, arguably his best role ever.
“Yellowstone came around at just the right time to correct the scope and appeal of the modern Western.”
A believable modern Western is hard to come by—even the classics are largely fantasy and were never meant to be taken literally. While I dare not speak a word against
