Help support TMP


"The Making of the Cowboy Myth" Topic


4 Posts

All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.

Please remember that some of our members are children, and act appropriately.

For more information, see the TMP FAQ.


Back to The Old West Message Board


Areas of Interest

19th Century

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Link


Top-Rated Ruleset

They Died For Glory


Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star 


Featured Showcase Article

Blue Moon's Romanian Civilians, Part Two

Four more villagers from vampire-infested Romania.


Featured Workbench Article

CombatPainter Makes a Barbed Wire Section

combatpainter Fezian has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...


Featured Profile Article

Back of Beyond Photo Report

Reader Michael Thompson sends in these Back of Beyond photos from the club where he games.


712 hits since 16 Oct 2020
©1994-2025 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP16 Oct 2020 4:14 p.m. PST

"It is rare to find cowboys on the silver screen who spend much time performing the humdrum labor — herding cattle — that gave their profession its name. Westerns suggest that cowboys are gun-toting men on horseback, riding tall in the saddle, unencumbered by civilization, and, in Teddy Roosevelt's words, embodying the "hardy and self-reliant" type who possessed the "manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation."

But real cowboys — who worked long cattle drives in lonely places like Texas — mostly led lives of numbing tedium, usually on the fringes of society. They were the formerly enslaved, poor farm boys, and downtrodden Native Americans. They enjoyed little autonomy on the trail. It was Hollywood, and men like Roosevelt, who whitewashed the cowboy, elevating him to the epitome of personal freedom, manly courage, and rugged ­independence…"

picture


Main page
link


Amicalement
Armand

Dennis17 Oct 2020 8:50 a.m. PST

The films Will Penny and Monte Walsh (both versions, but more maybe in the 2nd one) show some of the everyday life of a working cowboy, which is about all you could expect from any sort of entertainment medium.

The boring typical events of a cowboy's daily routine don't provide much to attract a film audience. Nor, for that matter, do the routine events of pretty much any job I can think of. The art of storytelling involves emphasizing the rare exciting bits and glossing over the boring (at least to an outside observer) stuff that constitutes the majority of everyone's life.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP17 Oct 2020 12:32 p.m. PST

Agree!…


Amicalement
Armand

Dennis19 Oct 2020 3:21 p.m. PST

Kinda like wargaming; emphasize the exciting stuff like battles, and omit the boring stuff like medical (and vet) services and supply.

Sorry - only verified members can post on the forums.