Gunfighter World, Criminal Survival, No. 164, September 16, 2020

The theme of the American frontier birthing the American character runs potently through American literature and is perhaps no more potent than in Western films.

From James Fenimore Cooper, through Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, and etched deeply within my cohort of professional criminals (those who commit crimes for money, have served time in maximum security prisons, and are neither an informer nor sex offender) by Western—and their cousins, the gangster—films, the struggle for survival by the lone individual against an oppressive world and the eventual and gloriously transcendent victory or bloody though honorable defeat, brings great solace to our troubled souls.

Richard Slotkin describes the emerging and very American perspective of ‘the arts’ of violence as poetic within the birth of the outlaw/gunfighter mythic template:

“In the postwar decade two variations on the “town-tamer” and “outlaw” Western emerged: the “psychological” or film noir Western, in which pathological elements in the hero’s character are emphasized at the expense of his character as lawman or social rebel: and the “gunfighter” Western, in which professionalism in the arts of violence is the hero’s defining characteristic. These new takes on the Western were shaped by the internal logic of genre development, which fostered a certain kind of stylization of the Western and its hero, and by the pressures and anxieties of the postwar/Cold War transition, which gave that stylization a particular kind of ideological significance. The consonance between the formal character of the gunfighter Western and its ideological content is a genuinely poetic achievement. It gave the gunfighter films ideological and cinematic resonance and made the heroic style of the gunfighter an important symbol of right and heroic action for filmmakers, the public, and the nation’s political leadership. (pp. 379-380)

Richard Slotkin. (1992). Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. Atheneum: New York.

“This poetic violence is further reinforced through many films, but most potently in those directed by Sam Peckinpaugh—The Wild Bunch being memorable—films dearly beloved by professional criminals and for whom the heroic aspects of the frontier mythology has been incorporated into the carceral/criminal culture from the larger American political culture; a culture also noted by Slotkin in the political campaign of JFK:

“For Kennedy and his advisors, the choice of the “Frontier” as symbol was not simply a device for trade-marking the candidate. It was an authentic metaphor, descriptive of the way in which they hoped to use political power and the kinds of struggle in which they hoped to engage. The “Frontier” was for them a completely resonant symbol, a vivid and memorable set of hero-tales—each a model of successful and morally justifying action on the stage of historical conflict. (Ibid. p. 3)

 “Deepening resonance, religion is present as noted in the article, The New Testament Mythology of James Fenimore Cooper:

“Indeed, what Cooper—probably subconsciously—recognized was that an “American Adam,” was not quite as compelling without an ‘American Jesus’ to clear the way. For Americans to construct a “passing away” of Native American civilization they were best served by a godly character that could function as a “sponge” for their sins, who could then disappear into the sublime. In this manner the people of the United States, who not incidentally at this very moment were undergoing religious evangelical revivals, could become a Christian nation with Native Americans playing the role of the old people of Israel who, tragically, could not adhere to the teachings of Christian civilization. In mythological terms it proved far more useful for the Daniel Boone mold of the stoic frontiersman to disappear from the scene rather than function as the offspring of American civilization. In this vein, the white pioneers that would start American civilization were more of the Peter and Paul variety than in the mold of Adam or Abraham, as some literary scholars have had it. This was the synthesis of providential nationalism and romantic language that two decades later would become known as “Manifest Destiny.”

Retrieved August 27, 2020 from https://s-usih.org/2017/02/the-new-testament-mythology-of-james-fenimore-cooper/

The professional criminal survives, emotionally and morally, within these parameters as shaped within the carceral/criminal world.

Finally, a new study, as reported by Daily Mail, indicates how persistent the personality traits from the frontier remain:

“People who lived hundreds of years ago during the ‘Wild West’ era have been called inquisitive, restless, dominant and inventive – and a new study reveals remnants of this pioneer personality still exists today.

“Using an algorithm, researchers at the University of Cambridge found those living in mountainous areas have distinct blend of traits that fits with ‘frontier settlement theory’.

“These individuals tend to be less trusting and forgiving, traits known to benefit territorial, self-focused survival strategies that helped early settlers survive the unknown and rugged terrain.”

Retrieved September 7, 2020 from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8706985/Wild-West-mentality-early-American-deemed-rebels-todays-population.html

Another story, from the magazine Scientific American with a little different focus, reports on the study, see at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mountain-peaks-seem-to-shape-personality-traits-in-the-american-west/

Be well everyone, and pray the old school rosary in the old school way, see https://catholiceye.wordpress.com//?s=15+decade+rosary&search=Go

____________________

David H. Lukenbill, President, The Lampstand Foundation                                                                                    

Post Office Box 254794   Sacramento, CA 95865-4794

Website: https://davidhlukenbill.wordpress.com/                                                

Blog: www.catholiceye.wordpress.com  

E-Mail: Dlukenbill@msn.com

With Peter to Christ through Mary