Between reverence and rejection: Age and youth in the Vietnam era Western | Intellect Skip to content
1981
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2-3: Lonely Are the Brave
  • ISSN: 1466-0407
  • E-ISSN: 1758-9118

Abstract

The Western’s central theme of historical progression, the transition from the old to the new, is often symbolically paralleled in the relationship between ageing and youthful characters. This contribution offers a cursory overview of Westerns that illustrate the range of relationships between young and old at a time in American history which was characterized by generational clashes over the Vietnam War and wider (counter-)cultural movements. The focus will be on three films in particular. (1972) is in many ways the culmination of John Wayne Westerns in which the star takes over the role of a tough but benevolent grandfather figure teaching the youngest generation the ways of violence so as to defeat a wayward middle generation (standing in for a radical counter-culture), thus signifying a conservative ideal. In (1972), the youth is abandoned by their parent generation, victimized by their elders, and the ways of violence forced upon them to ensure their survival, thus signifying liberal disillusionment. In (1976), finally, disillusionment and nostalgia are fused in a complex portrayal of the ageing protagonist’s simultaneous doggedness and recognition of his own outmodedness and the youth’s simultaneous rejection and veneration of his mythic status.

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2023-10-24
2024-05-03
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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/ejac_00104_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Bad Company; Don Siegel; John Wayne; Mark Rydell; Robert Benton; The Cowboys; The Shootist; Western films

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