When did the wild west stop being cool?

[CarlZog]

When I was a little kid, cowboys were cool. What happened?

I'm only 38, so it's not like I grew up with Gene Autrey or Roy Rogers, but we still played cowboys in the backyard. I thought Clint Eastwood and John Wayne were pretty cool, but Jim West was definitely the coolest. My brother and I would have killed for his railroad car.


TSRs Boot Hill was awesome! I was pretty bummed when they dropped it -- along with the original Top Secret. So with all the d20 stuff now, how come virtually no cowboys? Deadlands seems to be the only entry, and its allure must come as much from its magic and monsters as its western setting.

So what is it? Are there western games I don't know about, or is the Wild West just not cool enough anymore? Cowboys too cliche to play? Will any of this change with d20 Past next year?

zog

 

[Fate Lawson]

The Wild West is uncool? Funny ...No one told us.


Sidewinder: Recoiled = 3 ENnie nominations Worth of uncool Wild West goodness.


(Shameless plug alert: And on sale now at RPGNow for a mere $8.25).

 

[Whimsical]

Well, according to Toy Story 2, cowboys were cool until the moon landing in 1969. Then astronauts became the new hotness, and westerns were old n' busted.

Personally, I'm unable to romantisize the west when I know that a bunch of Native Americans were killed because of the crime of having something that we wanted. And that a lot of Chinese died building the railroad. And that Manifest Destiny made life hell for a lot of Mexicans. And so on...

But I do enjoy Deadlands. I have played the original and the d20 version, and The Wierd West fascinates and intrigues me. I know that there is another d20 Western product that is more toward what you are talking about. Sidewinder, I think. You may want to check it out.

But, yes. The stories of the American West was an American mythology that gripped the whole world for a time. And now, it has been replaced by...what?

 

[Alzrius]

...the Wild West was ever cool? I grew up with He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, so the idea of guys who just rode around on horses (for reasons I'm still unclear on), and used revolvers just always seemed to pale in comparison.

 

[Dark Jezter]

For myself, westerns never stopped being cool. The image of the lone American cowboy on his horse, wearing a stetson and a six-shooter at his hip is one that will never lose its appeal to me, and movies like High Noon, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and The Outlaw Josey Wales (just to name a few) are some of my favorite films ever.

While I don't know if westerns will ever again achieve the popularity that they did back in the 1950s and 1960s, I'm sure that they'll become big again someday, as movie genres rise and fall in popularity over time. In the early 1980s, fantasy films expirienced a great rise in popularity after movies like Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian were made, and remined popular for the rest of that decade. Fantasy films fell out of fashion in the 1990s, but now they're becoming popular again due to the success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises. Similarly, musicals (which were wildly popular in the 1960s) are expiriencing a revival after the success of Mulan Rouge and Chicago.

I'm sure that westerns will make a comeback someday. In the meantime, I'll be happy watching the classic westerns of the 50s and 60s.

 

[Professor Phobos]

I watched High Plains Drifter last night.

A whole bunch of guys bursts into a saloon, and they empty their guns into thin air, blindly firing forward at the spot where Eastwood's gunslinger was sitting a moment before.

Eastwood appears next to them, and says "You done?"

Most of them just run.

No, I have to say, Westerns never stopped being cool.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Personally, I'm unable to romantisize the west when I know that a bunch of Native Americans were killed because of the crime of having something that we wanted. And that a lot of Chinese died building the railroad. And that Manifest Destiny made life hell for a lot of Mexicans. And so on...

God, D&D must suck for you...

 

[JDowling]

Not to be too pedantic... hehe

/useless knowledge on

Interestingly enough cowboy is a translation of a spanish word, the origonal cowboys weren't american at all. Today there are still some who fill the role of Cowboys, but those are largely "non immigrant guest workers" or somesuch who are imported from south american countries with contracts lasting around 3 years (I think that's the amount of time). Also, some of them (if not lots or most) don't speak english when they arrive.

So, where as the thought of a cowboy is generally associated with white americans the origonal, and final, cowboys are hispanic.

/useless knowledge off

I think I saw a d20 product where a guy dressed as a confederate outfit was riding a dinosaur and waving a gun around... which reminds me that I think someone on these boards has a homebrew that was about cowboys and dinosaurs (but I could be mistaken).

personally - I enjoy cowboy themed things, and sometimes we played spelljammer sort of like "cowboys in space" and that was a blast

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

IMO, the west never was cool. When I see the old westerns, they're pretty bad. Except for Clint Eastwood. He can make any movie good.

The problem with westerns is there's not a whole lot that distinguishes them from one another. They all seem to be about the same thing.

And I agree with the previous poster about the racist portrayal of Native Americans. Especially in the old movies, it's pretty bad...

 

[Hand of Evil]

Want to see how cool the Wild West is, watch the History Channel, Wild West Tech.