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Why Are Old West Figures Portrayed in Such Black-and-White Terms—Either They’re All Good or All Bad?

by | May 28, 2017 | Ask the Marshall, Departments

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Why are Old West figures portrayed in such black-and-white terms—either they’re all good or all bad? W.W. Reed Chandler, Arizona Hollywood has given us a sterilized and romanticized image of the real West because audiences want their history to be uncomplicated, to be easy to take in and to take sides. We all do it, including me. I’d rather see Sam Elliott take on the bad guys than some foul-smelling scoundrel with rotten teeth. A movie has only an hour and a half to present a crisis a


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