Gunfighters and Cops

Note GUNFIGHTERS AND COPS Editor, WAL: We are flattered by Robert L. Berner’sreference (WAL, Vol. 21, Summer 1986, 131-34) to our note concerning Shane and Witness (WAL,'Vol. 20, Fall 1985, 253-54) in his treatment of similarities between the classic westerns and the modern cop shows, but we are not sure we are in agreement with all that he contends, although we may be less in disagreement than in need of a clarification of some points. It seems, for instance, that the Star Wars space operas and the medieval (or pseudo-medieval) fantasies show more parallels to the classic westerns than do the cop shows. Of course it could be argued that space is future and fantasy past, whereas the cop show is at least set in the present, but then again the western itself traditionally deals with a West either gone or going. Furthermore, the major difference that Professor Berner iso­ lates—that the modern paladin finds himself helpless to deal a permanent blow to the evils of a civilization in not merely crisis but chaos—seems to outweigh the similarities he describes. And when the paladin disappears altogether . . . well, does Hill Street Blues really remind us very much at all of Shane? Certainly not as much as Witness does. And Outland was clearly a remake of High Noon in space. We suspect that very few cops shows are as close to westerns as Witness is to Shane, and so we would hate to have the resemblance buried in what might be too inclusive a category. Certainly very few films or videos of either genre are of the quality of Shane and Witness, and there are special circum­ stances, such as the frozen time of the Amish setting, which allow for this highly successful transformation. Theoretical problems are also raised by the shift in Berner’s note from the generic to the experiential, from a Heroic Period that may never exactly have existed to a precinct that we are asked to accept as a microcosm of societal impotence. We would not argue with the example of Death Wish, which was the work of a prolific western writer, Brian Garfield, who had the inspiration to set a vigilante drama in Central Park and who would later protest that the movie version reversed his own anti-vigilante message. Nor would we deny the helplessness that millions of Americans feel in the face of modern crime. We are, though, uncomfortable with the notion that all modern cop shows 52 Western American Literature resemble the classic western models. Dirty Harry, for instance, seems simply more cop than cowboy; he is not even particularly reminiscent of Eastwood’s spaghetti prototype. We might more usefully question whether the “adult” western is, in fact, the denial of the mythic westerns which precede it and whether the first adult western was perhaps Tennyson’s Ulysses. Or maybe we need to watch fewer Lakers’ games and more prime-time cop series. GERALD LOCKLIN and CHARLES STETLER California State University at Long Beach CORRECTION Nominations for the 1987 J. Golden Taylor Award for the best graduate paper delivered at the annual conference, should be sent not to Martin Bucco, as suggested in the February issue, but to Susan Rosowski / English Department / University of Nebraska / Lincoln, Nebraska 68588. ...