September 6, 2023
When we delve deep into the history of the Old West, sometimes it's hard to fathom the times they lived. On one level it was very stuffy and formal and yet. . .
"Life On The Line"
Still got a thing going for the old style Mexican tapaderos.
"Vaquero Taps Out"
When I was a kid, the Old West was fifty years in the rearview and today my youth is fifty years in the rearview—and, to be honest, going on sixty! Yikes! So, what does that mean in terms of subject matter in True West? For one thing it means a recalibration of our timeline and scope of coverage. We have some features coming up that are going to stir that pot.
Daily Reworked Whip Out:
"Paso de Vaquero"
As you might imagine we have some very spirited discussions about what should be on our cover. This Next issue (November) we had a particularly robust debate because of a young upstart from Australia. That would be Mr. James B. Mills, who dared us—no he implored us!—to run the highest grossing Western ever on the cover.
When I mentioned our debate to another editor at a sister historical publication, he said, "I can't stand Quentin Tarantino, or his movies, and I wouldn't even run the article much less put him on the cover." I have a hunch he is not alone, but, in the spirit of taking a new and broader look at the Old West, we felt the kid deserved a chance to speak to the elderly members of our tribe.
And it isn't just "Django". We have a historic feature on a new movie that portrays a dark chapter in our history and that is "Killers of The Flower Moon," the new film by Martin Scorsese. Besides the fact that it's three hours and twenty minutes long! (I hate long movies!)
Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:
"Poor Anna of The Osage"
And, finally a friend from the Old Pueblo cuts loose on life in that University of Arizona town.
"College is becoming synonymous with indoctrination. You go into debt handing over a fortune to people who don't like you, and think the history and values you were raised with are all wrong and need changing."
—Leo Banks, from What History Has Taught Me in the November issue of True West magazine
Django is not exactly what one would classify as "Old West." It's more of an "Old South" story. Careful on making the old west "new and broader" for expansions sake, especially when the story isn't even true.
ReplyDeleteThe young man from Austrailia needs to come visit the 'old west' of the United States, before classifying what he considers "Old west."