The Western Genre

The Western Genre Many movies come out and pertain to a certain genre. The western genre is an example of that. But then there raises a question, what exactly makes this movie a western film? There may also be the question, what can the viewer expect to see in a western film? We’ll to start by answering the first question. Western films all have similar plot lines, objects, and elements within the genre that will be extend to most if not all other western movies. For example, true westerns typically have the same type of setting, which is usually in a rural part of North America. “This indigenous American art form focuses on the frontier West that existed in North America. Westerns are often set on the American frontier during the last part
Not only are Indians a theme to the film, but they are an element as well as they very much a strong indication that you are watching a western film. “The conflict between white pioneers and Indians forms one of the basic themes of the western” (Editors 2). Other elements that make up a western include: guns, cowboy hats, and horses. All of these elements gave an action packed adventure of a film. “The western has always provided a rich mine for stories of adventure, and indeed a huge number of purely commercial works have capitalized on the basic appeal of gunslinging frontier adventurers, desperadoes, and lawmen.” (Editors 3). Now the question remains, what can the viewer expect to see in a western film? What will be seen will be all the elements tied together, with a plot taking place in early North America. There will be a protagonist, antagonist, and a usually violent conflict between those two within in the movie. “The West’s tenuous hold on the rule of law and its fluid social fabric necessitated the settling of individual and group conflicts by the use of violence and the exercise of physical courage, and the moral dramas and dilemmas arising within this elemental, even primeval, framework lent themselves remarkably well to motion-picture