In Defense Of The Contemporary Western (And Other Musings About ‘The Hateful Eight’)

The Hateful Eight, in all of its 70 mm glory, didn’t need to come about to assert the simple fact that westerns tend to polarize audiences. Some reviews are glowing, while others are skeptical and if you trekked out to one of the “Roadshow”-equipped theaters projecting the film as director Quentin Tarantino intended, you didn’t have to listen too closely to the snobbish cinephiles waiting on the popcorn line during intermission to get the gist: not everyone, even the biggest Tarantino fans, like the idea that he made another western following Django Unchained.

Not to mention, another western that happens to be much, much, slower (“molasses-like,” even), and somehow, even more packed with dialogue than its predecessor. Rotten Tomatoes, though certified fresh, rates the Panavision epic at just 75% and Metacritic offers an even less enthusiastic 69%. Currently, IMDb user ratings give the film 8.1/10 stars, which, believe it or not, is fairly average for the love him or hate him director. Django, meanwhile, ranks significantly higher at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, 81% on Metacritic, and 8.5 on IMDb.

But is it even worth comparing Django Unchained to Tarantino’s latest take on the genre? I vote no! Because realize it or not, westerns, whose heyday reigned supreme in the John Wayne era of the ’50s and ’60s, are still very much a part of our pop culture conversations. And Tarantino, whose voice is inarguably essential to this contemporary take on post-Civil War America, is just one of the many creators out there mixing old with the new.

The western, since its on-screen birth in the early 1920’s, has aimed to depict the plight, violence, and struggle for survival in unchartered and unpredictable territories. And though westerns are typically seen as literal representations of good vs. bad (and ugly), the genre features many unseen shades of grey. Ideas of Manifest Destiny and embarking on new frontiers are often clouded by fantasies of wealth and prosperity rather than settling for safety and stability. Perhaps the most recognized western trope, one that’s been played and parodied to death, is the all-too-familiar scene featuring the storming of an isolated town on the plains. The “bad” guys duke it out with the “good” guys and innocent townsfolk are caught in the middle, left to bury bodies of loved ones caught in the line of fire as those on horseback gallivant into the sunset. Hmm… no wonder no one feels they can relate to westerns these days. There’s no such thing as reckless gun violence anymore!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1EusucilTA]

But westerns, especially contemporary westerns (or neo-westerns as they’re also called), do much more than subtly comment on unnecessary violence, gluttony, and in the case of Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, racism. Often behind the bold soundtracks and raw production designs are shared themes of love, loss, and revenge as seen in recent westerns like Brokeback Mountain, True Grit, and No Country for Old Men. Yet, neo-westerns don’t have to feature open plains and Stetson boots to be considered new installations in the iconic genre.

Ever heard of Peaky Blinders? Available to stream on Netflix, Steven Knight’s hyper-violent period drama series follows the reimagined Peaky Blinders gang (led on the series by Cillian Murphy) that ruled over Birmingham, England during and after World War I. But swap out the cockney accents and newsboy caps for Midwestern twangs and cowboy hats and you essentially have the same story: mob of “bad” guys trying to expand their territory and influence at the mercy of vulnerable townsfolk. Or, if you’re a horror fan, you may have seen Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Set in the fictional wasteland of Bad City, Iran, Amirpour takes us on a western-inspired journey through the eyes of a lonely vampire who simply wants a companion to share her love of prog rock with when she’s not busy killing off the city’s violent men.

In essence, the western as we know it has evolved from its literal roots to more nuanced genre that allows it to be morphed in ways that comment on our current societal ails. Unfortunately for us, themes reflected in contemporary westerns — violence against women and minorities, racial tensions, the importance of social status — mirror those of yesteryear; made glaringly apparent in The Hateful Eight’s closing lines. As Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Googins) reads aloud the fake Abraham Lincoln letter to a wounded Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), he slowly recites, “We have a long way to go.” And whether or not you’re a fan of the western in its most authentic sense, it can’t be a bad thing to have a genre out there constantly reminding us of how we need to improve.

[Stream Django Unchained, Peaky Blinders, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night on Netflix. Rent Brokeback Mountain, True Grit, and No Country for Old Men on Amazon Video]

Photos: Everett Collection