Six Guns and Society PDF Download

Author: Will Wright
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520340787
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 228

View

Book Description
From the Preface: The purpose of this book is to explain the Western's popularity. While the Western itself may seem simple (it isn't quite), an explanation of its popularity cannot be; for the Western, like any myth, stands between individual human consciousness and society. If a myth is popular, it must somehow appeal to or reinforce the individuals who view it by communicating a symbolic meaning to them. This meaning must, in turn, reflect the particular social institutions and attitudes that have created and continue to nourish the myth. Thus, a myth must tell its viewers about themselves and their society. This study, which takes up the question of the Western as an American myth, will lead us into abstract structural theory as well as economic and political history. Mostly, however, it will take us into the movies, the spectacular and not-so-spectacular sagebrush of the cinema. Unlike most works of social science, the data on which my analysis is based is available to all of my readers, either at the local theater or, more likely, on the late, late show. I hope you will take the opportunity, whenever it is offered, to check my findings and test my interpretations; the effort is small and the rewards are many. And if your wife, husband, mother, or child asks you why you are wasting your time staring at Westerns on TV in the middle of the night, tell them firmly—as I often did—that you are doing research in social science. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1977. From the Preface: The purpose of this book is to explain the Western's popularity. While the Western itself may seem simple (it isn't quite), an explanation of its popularity cannot be; for the Western, like any myth, stands between individual human consc

Author: Will Wright
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520034914
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 232

View

Book Description
The purpose of this book is to explain the popularity of the Western film. The author, Sociologist Will Wright, studied the top-grossing western films from 1930 to 1972 and as a result of his analysis shows how the plots have changed correspondingly to the changes in American society. Applying structural analysis to Western plots, Wright distinguishes four historical periods of the sound Western: the classical plot, the transition theme, the vengeance variation and the professional plot. This book contains an appendix, bibliography, and an index.

Author: Will Wright
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520027534
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 230

View

Book Description

Author: Will Wright
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761952336
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

View

Book Description
Will Wright explores the continuing popularity of the myth of the Wild West, demonstrating how, as a cultural icon, it speaks deeply to a desire for individualism and liberty. The author discusses the myth through market and social theory.

Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1481444743
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 160

View

Book Description
A New York Times bestselling author offers a brilliant reinvention of one of the best-known fairy tales of all time with Snow White as a gunslinger in the mythical Wild West. Forget the dark, enchanted forest. Picture instead a masterfully evoked Old West where you are more likely to find coyotes as the seven dwarves. Insert into this scene a plain-spoken, appealing narrator who relates the history of our heroine’s parents—a Nevada silver baron who forced the Crow people to give up one of their most beautiful daughters, Gun That Sings, in marriage to him. Although her mother’s life ended as hers began, so begins a remarkable tale: equal parts heartbreak and strength. This girl has been born into a world with no place for a half-native, half-white child. After being hidden for years, a very wicked stepmother finally gifts her with the name Snow White, referring to the pale skin she will never have. Filled with fascinating glimpses through the fabled looking glass and a close-up look at hard living in the gritty gun-slinging West, this is an utterly enchanting story…at once familiar and entirely new.

Author: Sven Crongeyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781933502007
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
This account of the struggle to bring law and order to a city rich with gold rush money, at odds with Mexican bandits, and teeming with forty-niners and confederate sympathizers chronicles the chaotic early days of Los Angeles, which boasted the highest homicide rate in America by 1850. From profiles of the frontier-style lawmen hired to stop the initial mayhem to an analysis of the city's modern sheriff's office -- the largest in America -- this book draws comparisons between the uproar of the early days, the racial tensions that erupted during the Watts riots, and the safety issues that preoccupy the police force today.

Author: Steven Winn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Criminals
Languages : en
Pages : 414

View

Book Description

Author: Marc Eliot
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307405133
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 402

View

Book Description
The compelling biography of an American icon’s early years–as an aspiring actor, Hollywood star, and family man. Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popular American presidents. The key to understanding his political success and the remarkable likability and effortless charisma that made it possible lies embedded in his early years as a Hollywood movie star. Using never-before-published interviews, documents, and other materials, acclaimed writer and biographer Marc Eliot sheds new light on Reagan’s film and television work opposite some of the most talented women of the time; his starlet-strewn bachelor days; his tumultuous first marriage to Jane Wyman and his career-making second marriage to Nancy Davis; his controversial eight years as the president of the Screen Actors Guild; his place in the “Irish Mafia” alongside Pat O’Brien, James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, and Errol Flynn; and his friendships with Jimmy Stewart and William Holden, as well as with super-agent Lew Wasserman, who was instrumental in developing the persona that would prove essential to Reagan’s future as a world leader. Set against the glamorous and often combative background of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Eliot’s biography provides a nuanced examination of the man and uncovers the startling origins of the legend. “A fresh look . . . [at] the genesis of Reagan’s later public persona.” —New York Times “Film critic and historian Marc Eliot has dug up even more about young sportscaster ‘Dutch’ Reagan, his journey west to Hollywood, his B-movie career . . . his relationship with super-agent Lew Wasserman, and his rocky marriage to his first wife, actresss Jane Wyman.” —USA Today

Author: Raph Koster
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
ISBN: 1932111972
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 259

View

Book Description
Discusses the essential elements in creating a successful game, how playing games and learning are connected, and what makes a game boring or fun.

Author: Sam Knight
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 308

View

Book Description
Saddle up for a wild ride through the weird, weird west. As you ride our trails you'll want to keep one eye on the path ahead and one over your shoulder cause there's a bushwhacking monster creeping up behind you. If your horse gets eaten by a monster, you might be able to get a ride on the midnight train, as long as you don't mind sitting with ghosts. If you don't catch the train, maybe the devil can give you a lift back to town. Just be careful which place you head for, because the folks in one town are about to die. Staying on ranches ain't much safer, especially at one girl's birthday party. Then again, even going to outhouses can be deadly. If you happen to visit the local brothel, be sure and treat the ladies right or you'll pay dearly. And Tombstone is no place to get your picture taken if you want to keep your skin.