Learning to Love Cowboys, or To Be a Hero

[A Note: To those who enjoy cowboy movies well, or looked at this post merely because it's on the link-up, you may be surprised at my rather harsh initial opinions on Westerns. For my opinions, I cannot lie that they are strongly felt, but for my language on them, I apologize. As it is generally my custom to warn readers when I feel there is something unexpected contained in a post, let this be a warning now, and an assurance that the post is meant in good humor. All opinions expressed are my own.]
If I am the only one here who, at the title above, thinks of a certain song from the cartoon The Princess and the Pauper, then this is indeed a sad day. However, I am not here to talk about how much I love old Barbie movies - old movies, yes, but of a different sort. As it is, it is currently Legends of Western Cinema Week over at Hamlette's Soliloquy  (thank Megan Chappie for this post, who alerted me of the goings on by her own lovely post here). And I am not a big Western person; in fact, I usually hate Westerns (or did, at least). I disliked John Wayne and Burt Lancaster, could not stand Western aesthetics or setting (usually), and generally had no enthusiasm for cowboys... except in a few specific cases - the cases that transcended the title of "cowboy" or "non-cowboy." And those cases are why I felt I had to get in on this.

The first Western I ever watched and enjoyed was Gary Cooper's High Noon (1952), and I was surprised. Even though Coops has long been my favorite actor, he certainly doesn't have a perfect score with me for the sake of that. But the fact is, one aspect of the movie transcended both Coops and my personal tastes - the heroism. If there was one thing that stuck with me through the whole movie, it was the sheer heroism of its hero, Marshal Kane (Gary Cooper's character).

The movie took a setting of three long-unseen roustabouts coming back to the town that sent them to prison with the motivation of revenge, particularly on Kane, who has just resigned from his long reign as sheriff there. There's a hitch, though. As much as Kane would like to go away peacefully with his new wife and forget about those three outlaws (his wife, a Quaker, requested his resignation from the gunslinging duties), the new marshal hasn't arrived yet. That would leave the town unprotected - completely unprotected. As it is, those three are incredibly dangerous, incredibly good shots, incredibly angry, and their leader is incredibly nuts. They would fill the town with bullet holes without a second thought, even just passing through.  Kane isn't going to let that happen.

At first, Kane tries to get other men to aid him in the fight - after all, the three won't give up easily, nor be beaten easily. And every single man in the town refuses to help him because they're scared, or they dislike him, or - in the case of Kane's deputy - because Kane can't give them anything in return. So, it seems, Kane will have to stay himself and battle it out alone. His wife, Quaker that she is, cannot allow this. She threatens that he will either leave this town to its own defenses, or else she will leave him right then and there - she won't have any husband of hers gunslinging or endangering his life before their honeymoon. What else could Kane do but refuse, though? The town needs protecting.

The three have a particular grudge against Kane. If any one of them ever saw him, he'd probably be dead in less than a minute. By himself, he'll likely die defending the town anyways. And yet... he won't leave. The town needs protecting, and even though he risks losing his wife, his freedom, his friends, and his life, he stays - why? Kane stays for no other reason than it's the right thing to do. All of the townspeople have snubbed him, left him on his own. A few have gone so far as to curse or wish death by the three upon him. Obviously they are no friends of his. And he's not staying out of guilt - he rightly and justly put the three in prison in the first place, and rightly and justly had the right to leave and no longer any obligations of the sheriff's office. But he stays only because he thinks any righteous man would do the same. If he gets out of the situation, he would have nothing - he'd be alone in the world, without much money, no home, and no wife. If he dies in the process, he'll have gained nothing - the town will still be threatened, he'll have gained no honor in anyone's eyes, and it won't change the minds of the three. But it's just the right thing to do.

This character embodies everything I love about cowboy movies. He's man enough that nothing matters except the right and wrong; there is no gray in the truth. Everything I hated about cowboy movies, I realized then and there, was summed up in what Marshal Kane wasn't - thinking of John Wayne's often rude characters, or Burt Lancaster's ulteriorly motivated, double-dealing hotshots always made me uninspired by the movies. But here was a hero who was not like that - everything he did, he did openly, everything he believed, he said, and everything he did, he did for no other reason at all than he believed it was right. That was why I hated cowboy movies - because I didn't realize that there was more than one facet of them. I thought all the cowboys were John Waynes and Burt Lancasters, and there were just a bunch of dust-covered, selfish, gunslinging drinkers who didn't care about much. But, as in many cases, when you're proven wrong once, you are soon after proven wrong again.

The next cowboy movie I really fell in love with was Along Came Jones (1945). I'm ashamed to say, that stubborn as I am, I did not pick up this other cowboy movie for the reason of my having been proven wrong about them, but rather because, once more, ole Coops was in it. (How much thanks I owe to Gary Cooper for being in cowboy movies!) This time, I enjoyed it mostly because it was Cooper, Young, and Duryea's splendid acting, and because it made fun of cowboy movies in general, being slightly on the comedic side. But afterwards, it struck me yet again. The main character in Along Came Jones, Melody Jones, is a humble sort-of fellow, and, like Marshal Kane, lands himself in trouble when he is not only allowed but encouraged to keep out of it and mind his own business. And for what reason? Exactly like Marshal Kane, once more, just because there's something more about than his own hide. Jones stays around against the urging of his best friend and his ladylove merely because he suspects that she is in some kind of trouble and needs help - not even because she's being shot at or anything, but just because she's in enough trouble to lie and cheat. And, ever humble, he forgives her every little lie she tells to help herself out, even though he sees through every one. In this, Jones actually made rather a Christ-figure out of the dusty old cowpoke (which is material for another post entirely).

Others among Coop's reportoire came later on to prove me wrong some more: They Came to Cordura (1959), with its repentant and striving protagonist had a theme outwardly showing humanity's sinfulness, revealing the inward beauty of the things that human beings must strive for; Man of the West (1958) had a hero that saved the heroine without even the motivation of being able to have her - he was tied down, and, unlike many married figures in romance movies, returned to his wife without anything to regret by the end of it; Vera Cruz (1954) had a hero who despised even the thought of lying, and ended up facing against and even shooting one of his only friends in the world merely for the sake of preventing lies and the deaths those lies would cause; The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) featured a man who so loved goodness that he would give everything he had just to make someone he thought was a good and struggling woman his wife.

Finally, I supposed I'd give up my stubbornness - I like cowboy movies now. Don't get me wrong - I still cannot stand the rude and nihilistic John Wayne, nor the amoral and whiny Burt Lancaster, nor a lot of similar cowboy heroes. But Gary Cooper's heroes showed me that that's not what cowboy movies are about - the other side is the side of the real heroes, the men who risk everything, and often lose everything, just to do what they believe is right. Perhaps Coops isn't the only good cowboy out there. Now, I'll watch those cowboy movies I've avoided for so long. In fact, I think I'll watch them with a vigor, knowing that they could prove me wrong yet again.

What do you think? Do you enjoy cowboy movies? What are some of your favorites? Have you ever seen High Noon? Is there a cowboy hero you like best?

Concerning the Old South...

If you are offended by the picture above, I suggest you stop reading this post. For I am about to embark on a journey of revelation - revelation of the truth. I shall not go into great depth, but I am about to merely myth-bust about our poor old heritage, in particular, the Old South. Lovely, old, antebellum culture, so oft tainted with the sin of slavery, against the pure and courageous Northerners, who, by the way, were totally against slavery and deplored any such horrendous trade... let us explore those notions a little by way of quotes from the people themselves and some informative pictures (for the title of "meme" doesn't quite suit) courtesy of Pinterest...

Hmm. Now there's a strange thing. There is a different in the matter of slavery between a Union and Confederate, and the Confederate's is to the effect of approving the freeing of slaves. Aren't we told that the Union is the party unanimously in favor of abolishing slavery, without the slightest reserve or ulterior motives...? And if leaders on the two sides seem to have differing views from what is common knowledge, how does history work out...? Why would they fight a war for slavery if they didn't necessarily even have strong convictions on it (or even had the opposite convictions of their side!)?

The fact is, friends, that the Civil War was just not about slavery. Holler all you like, or bring up a million contemporary authors, but slavery was simply not the cause of the War.

In fact, as you can see by this quote comparison, both Lincoln (the president residing over the Union) and Davis (the president residing over the Confederacy) said very blatantly that slavery was not only an unessential element in the war, but, rather irrelevant to its motivations and cause as a whole. 

In fact, guess what else? If we are to believe yet another quote (below), the Old South did not even allow the shipping-in of slaves at all (see the Confederate Constitution on that one - you'll find that it's the truth). And the two best-known leaders of the Confederate cause were both against slavery (and Robert E. Lee was also against cessation - I am not positive as to Davis' opinion on the matter). 

Would it surprise you to know that the Union, in fact, attacked the South? Or that the South planned peaceful, diplomatic cessation (a right guaranteed by American law), and that was only in the case that they were not given the representative rights that they were being denied by the Northern States at that time (the real reason for the Civil War)? The reason the Civil War was fought was because, due to trade inequality, population inequality, and prejudice in the military and government, the Southern States were not being diplomatically represented according to the ratio that would have been fair for their influence, people, and part in the Union. Their influence had sunk within ten years from having almost half the representation of the Union to having less than a third (see Chapters One and Two of The Lost Cause, an historic overview on the subject of the Civil War). And, this, may I remind you, was not due to land ratios in North and South, but due to politics begin conducted mostly in and by the North, as well as because of the city condensations there.

Even beyond the fact that the War was not about slavery, many Southerners were staunchly against slavery. Many Southerners favored the unanimous freeing of slaves, in fact, which was more than could be said even for the leaders of the Union (as seen by the fact and quotes below and the Lincoln and Lee quotes above).

So slavery was a "moral and political evil in any country," mmm? At least, that's what Robert E. Lee says. And Lincoln says that our American republic was "meant for homogenous people," and, even more, that "[a]s long as blacks continue to live with the whites they constitute a threat to the national life.... may... challenge the supremacy of the white man." So which is the racist one, may I ask...?

Once more, to disregard even that above fact, the difference in moral character between the North and the South was phenomenal. The Northerners were often secular by comparison, and often reputedly worshippers of the Constitution and American democracy, leading many Europeans to comment that Americans thought themselves the cleverest and best people in the world (see once more The Lost Cause, as well as G.K. Chesterton's Heretics). While there were Northerners who disapproved of slavery, and for and with good reason, those Northerners who owned slaves and those Southerners who owned slaves differed greatly in their treatment of them, even to the point of many African-Americans fighting for the Southern cause (without force many times, I might add). 

Even if I were to pay no heed to that fact as well, the cold, hard truth of the matter is that the Southerners did what they believed was right. And according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, as well as many, many other philosophers, ethicists, and moralists of all types, one must always act according to one's conscience, or else risk doing what one believes wrong; if one believes a thing to be wrong and does it, then, regardless of the actually material morality of the action, one has indeed done wrongly. So, the Southern leaders, in acting according to their consciences (trying to break from the Union, and then defending Southern ground), they were merely avoiding what they firmly believed to be wrong (permitting the underrepresentation of their people and then letting their lands be possibly taken, burnt, and raided). 

The Northerners seemed as invaders to the Southerners. The South had only wished for the peaceable leaving of the Union if they were not given their rights (this was, in fact, what they had requested from the start). And the North declared military attack on them, as if they had rebelled in arms, even earning them the historically incorrect title of "rebels." The Southerners merely saw themselves as acting in self-defense due to this fact.

In the end, what the Civil War comes down to is a cultural fight, between the different sensibilities and politics of the North and South, and a fight over Constitutional rights and the administration of them. Every Southern leader firmly believed this as surely as every Northern leader knew it to be true. Slavery is merely a subplot in this large story arc, I'm afraid, and, wrong or right in their association with it, the South was not ever disillusioned that slavery was what it was fighting for.

There were good things and bad things about both sides of the Civil War, and about the War in general - my focus on defense of the South is only to uproot old rumors. There were bad people in the South, as in the North, and there was slavery in the South, as in the North. But next times you think about the Civil War, do not be so quick to condemn our boys in gray - they are as much a part of our history and our heritage as the blue boys are, and they were not villains, but only human beings fighting for a cause that they believed it... a cause surely not wholly condemnable. 

What did you think? I daresay I have likely bored with three rather politically incorrect posts in a row, but I hope that this one was enlightening. Tell me your thoughts in the comments!

Dream of Summertime - A Poem

“Lay down and dream of summertime,

Of Georgia blossoms, memories,

And close your eyes to let sweet sleep

Draw you on the breeze…”

Thus I was told so long ago,

By mother true, with heart benign,

And, young, I did as I was told,

Not to see the signs.

But when I woke, alone was I -

And gone were all, and lands I knew,

And nothing lived to tell me how

Summer mine was through.

How many years did pass away, 

And I remembered, living on,

But war lasts more than just a day,

And suff’ring past the dawn.

Still I would dream of summertime,

Of Georgia blossoms, memories,

And wonder why I was alone,

A leaf upon the breeze.

One day she came, and took me, true,

With heart and face like peace of old,

And then my dreams of summertime

‘Spite wartime, sweetly lulled. 

Taken, we married, never feared

Of Yankee fire so far away,

And happy for it both were we,

Though war yet had the day.

But I told her of summertime,

Of Georgia blossoms, memories,

A dream that had to have defense -

A dream upon the breeze. 

And, with her leave, I left again,

To fight for what I knew so well,

And thinking to her, waiting there,

I saw through smoke, war fell.

One battle then, one wintertime,

Took all that it had left before, 

I did not see, nor hear the fire,

Nor know what was in store.

I never saw the North go down -

I never heard the victory,

But knowing mine, I asked that words

A comrade write for me.

I said, “Write her of summertime,

And what I gave, that it be free,

And never fall to flame and ash, That peaceful blow the breeze.”

And when ‘twas through, I sighed and laid

My weary head upon the ground,

And, praying only we could win,

Old words my mind found -

“Lay down and dream of summertime,

Of Georgia blossoms, memories…,”

And then I gave to let sweet sleep

Draw me on the breeze…

***

Why We Need the Fourth of July

In an America that is often hard to live in - one that is so violently against logic, ethics, and religion in our own day, having problems upstairs and ignorance downstairs - we Christians tend to think that our country is a lost cause. After all, what is America to us if it loses us Heaven? All the political turmoil that constantly is about throws us into doubt about our beautiful land, making us identify it with the immorality that inhabits it. If there is one thing we need right now, though, it is not resignation to America's doom - we cannot give up on our country.

So many times recently have we seen attempts to deny our history in favor of a whitewashed one - in favor of a new code of law, and of thought and ethics, a modern secular's religion, if you will. Many people disagree with the past, and so try to erase it and pretend that it never existed. Sometimes, I feel the same way. Doesn't everyone wish they could erase their faults of the past? In the all-too often case, however, that I do not agree with the code of law that these aforementioned populaces try to uphold, it is hard to realize why exactly they so wish to alter America's memory.

Today is one mark in our history, however, that no one wishes to erase - or, if they do, have not managed to. Why? We are Americans - let that mean something to us. Occasionally in these troubled times, we become so concerned with justice and help for all those who are not Americans that we forget our own country. Independence Day marks our country's first step as a child - a new country. To disown it is to disown the quality of being an American. But it is not the only mark.

Our country and its culture are so incredibly diverse and many-faceted - bad and good alike, many things make it up. But we cannot deny one in favor of the other. To do so is to deny the truth. As people, are not all of our journeys marked by dark and light, by failure and success? To deny our mistakes and only recognize our triumphs is to make the latter obsolete, for our triumphs are only possible in learning from our mistakes. America is not a perfect country and never has been - it is, in this respect, the same as any other country. It has had good times and bad times. For instance, we once allowed slavery here - there is a low of America. For another example, we abolished slavery - there is an American high. To smooth over the former and only speak of the latter is to make no sense - how could we do good without knowing not to do wrong? We could not have abolished slavery, amending our mistake, if there had not been a mistake to amend in the first place. And did not this amendment of a mistake lead to greater rights for those who had previously been enslaved in years to come?

So much of American culture is increasingly at stake because of this wish to deny our past for the sake of a idealistic future. We need to today remember all of American culture - the Revolution and slavery, Fred Astaire and Golden Age Hollywood, the Civil War and the Old South, Star Wars and Davy Crockett, tarring and feathering and patriotism, the Wild West and Laura Ingalls Wilder, Shirley Temple and the World Wars and all the many, many various things that make up our culture. Good or bad, shameful or empowering, failed or successful, they all are a part of our culture, and they are all a part of the truth. We cannot deny them - they happened, and our duty is to remember our culture, and not let it die, and pray and fight for our country, aiding it to stand on its feet. Today is a very important marker, and it may serve as a reminder of all these things. Do not lie about the past, even in the hope of a greater future - all of these things were and are true. Remember all of them today, for this is the reason that Independence Day exists; we greatly need to be reminded of our past, so as to honor, know, and learn from it. This is the truth that is America - don't let it die.

The Pain of a Memory - Part XIV

It's about time for another excerpt for TPoam…! Here are the links to all the previous excerpt posts:
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII

***

Errius glanced ahead. Finally, there it was, after almost four whole days of walking through sylvan wilderness. The town! He fingered a lock of Elystra's hair as she walked by him. She looked over at him. Errius nodded ahead. Elystra looked ahead as well, and her silver eyes widened . 

She turned back to Errius and flung her arms about him gleefully. "We've made it!" 

Then, suddenly, and unanticipated by Errius, she broke out into a run for the village ahead. Errius stood still a second in surprise, and then laughed a little. Elystra... She never changed... He shook his head smilingly, and then ran after her. 

It must have looked a rather odd spectacle as they got into town, Elystra coughing from the cold air, and Errius just finished running up. 

Errius smiled down at Elystra, and shook his head again, trying not to be too stern. She was clearly exhausted just from that. It worried Errius, but he tried not to show it. "You know, I don't believe you've changed much since you were four years old, bolting off like that" 

Elystra looked up at him innocently, then breaking into a little grin, despite her obvious weariness and the breathlessness of her voice when she spoke. "Of course I've changed, Errius. I'm taller, aren't I?" 

Errius rolled his eyes, smiling, and ever-so-slightly tempted to laugh. "Let's hurry, Elystra. We have no time for banter" 

Elystra's smile became a little less teasing, and she nodded. "Yes, let's go" 

"Do you still have the money?" 

Elystra nodded again. She pulled a small bag from inside the bodice of her dress. She handed it to him. 

Errius nodded, then gestured for her to come with him. They both walked through the town, and Errius looked out for a stable. Finally, they came across 

Errius scanned the area for some attendant. there was a stable boy inside. Errius strode over to him. "Is it possible to buy a horse here?," he asked the boy. 

The boy turned to face Errius. "You are a foreigner." 

My accent. Errius sighed and nodded. "Yes. But my sister and I need a horse." 

The boy looked over Errius' shoulder. "What sister?" 

Errius whirled around in worry. Elystra was gone. Oh no. Errius looked around frantically. She wasn't anywhere! He ran through the town, eyes scanning desperately for any sign of her. There didn't seem to be anything to indicate what had happened to her. 

                                                                       

                                                 

Errius stepped back into an alley. There was a sound from down the alley suddenly, like a muffled scream. Errius ran in the direction of the sound. He sprinted through the alleys of the village, eventually coming back into its center. No! He'd lost them! 

Then there was a sound of quickly moving horse's feet from the direction of the stable. Errius turned around quickly and went to the stable. He got there just in time to see a steed ride off... with a man, and Elystra, mounted upon it. 

Errius glanced at the stable boy. He handed him the money bag he'd been holding. "Here."

Then Errius hurried inside the stable and let out one of the horses. Not caring that it was totally unprepared for being ridden, he mounted it and quickly sped out of the stables after Elystra and her captor. 

Errius rode through the village and out of it, onto the river road. The other rider was ahead of him, a silhouette against the forest. They wouldn't be able to stay ahead, though. There were two riders on that horse, whereas Errius had only himself. 

Within minutes, Errius was catching up to them. He rode his horse alongside of them, and pulled the reins of the other rider's horse hard. Then 

Errius pulled his own reins, and kicked the other rider off his horse. Errius himself soon replaced the rider. He pulled the reins tighter. Once the horse with Elystra had stopped, Errius helped her down, and dismounted himself. 

Errius turned to Elystra worriedly. "Are you alright?" 

Elystra nodded, her eyes still a little wide in fright and her face pale. 

So Errius turned to her would-be captor. It was one of the bandits from the cave! Errius held the man's wrists and pulled him up forcefully. Then Errius noticed a satchel at the man's side. That meant... It wasn't just any of the bandits... It was the ransom messenger! 

Errius looked down at the man grimly. "And, how, may I ask, came you by the right to apprehend an innocent girl, much less take her with you?" 

The man didn't answer. He merely glared back up at Errius. 

Errius nodded to the satchel at the man's side. "Give me that and I'll let you go" 

The man shook his head. 

Errius shrugged. "So be it" Then Errius swiftly released the man's wrists, whirled around him and swiped the satchel. Then Errius backed away with it, going back to Elystra.

The bandit only smiled. Then he ran to one of the horses, and took off on it. 

Errius opened the bag quickly. There was nothing in it but some traveler's bread and some money. Blast! This was surely why the man had been so willing to run and let Errius take up the bag. 

He helped Elystra up on the horse, and then mounted himself. "You are sure that you're alright?" 

Elystra smiled a little shakily. "Yes" She looked a little confusedly at Errius. "Why on earth did he try to...?" 

Errius sighed. "He was the ransom messenger for the Silver Forest Bandits. He must have recognized you as a prisoner escaped, and seen your presence as a threat to his own mission"

Elystra looked out ponderingly. "I had thought he was ahead of us?" 

Errius nodded gravely. "So had I..." 

Errius gazed out silently, in the direction that the man had gone. Why had the bandit even been in this village? Errius had guessed that the man would be ahead of them... And, even if the man had only set off shortly before Errius and Elystra, why would he take this road? The forest road was on the robbers' doorstep, and the mountain road was equally as close as the river road, and easier to find. Why would he take this one? It just didn't make sense... 

Well, Errius thought, At least it gives us hope for one thing. If we travel correctly, we can make it there before the ransom note. Errius nodded determinedly, but looked back at Elystra. He wouldn't be able to travel without stopping, not while riding with her. It wouldn't allow her any rest. But then, if he didn't he might not catch up with the ransom note... Errius sighed. He'd just have to press on, and only stop when most necessary. It was a choice between letting his queen down, and letting his sister down. He would just have to moderate his stops, because he couldn't choose either. 

Elystra sighed softly, and placed her chin on Errius' shoulder. "I wonder, Errius...?" 

Errius broke himself from his thoughts. "Yes?" 

Elystra lifted her face and looked away. "Errius, maybe you should leave me back at the village, while you go and catch up with the ransom messenger. Once you reach the capital and get aid, you can come back for me... then I won't slow the journey down, Errius" 

Errius shook his head grimly. "I'm afraid not, Elystra" He reached a hand back and stroked her hair, smiling a little now. "With an encounter like that, you think that I would leave you alone in a small town for days, leagues away from me, with no one to protect you? No, my little maiden, I'm afraid not..." 

Errius heaved a deep breath. He only hoped he was making the right choice... 

***