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Part two of the Western
As a western screenwriter you must incorporate the elements of right and wrong. The western is a moral play. The bastard child, the half white Indian these characters compound the western and lead to great character arc.
A staple of westerns is the character of the lonely widow. Lost and alone on the prairie she is confronted by a vicissitude of badness. Cate Blanchett played this role in the recent film " The Missing." Alone with two children her character must make do with the harshness of the west. Unfortunately the bad guys don't care.
That is the western, like a Greek morality play it reflects the bad side of life. Who will help the widow? Who would dare? Last month we covered " Unforgiven" that film is on the American Film Institutes' list of best films of the 2oth Century. In "Unforgiven," the protagonist sought gold. One thousand pieces of gold from hookers. His quest was semi heroic. In " The Missing, Tommy Lee Jones plays the interracial want to be Native American. He seeks to restore peace to the world of the lonely widow who happens to be his daughter.
To accomplish this you must clearly separate your characters when writing the Western. Their must be conflict greed or hatred to motivate the actor. Cate Blanchett's character hates her father. This is revealed in the first act of the movie. Yet, she must accept his help, that is the tragic drama of the western. Accepting what you do not want but need to survive.
In " Unforgiven, Clint Eastwoods' character has to accept that he once was a killer. The protagonist killed people because he was drunk. But the writer portrays the character as evil. In the opening of the second act in " Unforgiven", Clint Eastwood must accept a beating from the antagonist. The screenwriter does this to deflect character arch. The screnwriter has shown us through pretext another character was defeated and accepted a beating ( English Bob). This Character deflection is and effective technique, it allows the writer to confused yet entertain the audience. . For at the end of Act 2, Clint Eastwood's friend ( Morgan Freeman Oscar winner 2005) someone whom he has asked for help is killed.
Revenge, is at the heart of the western and this is Bill Muny's destiny. He must fulfill his destiny. But why did Bill Muny start the quest? Who would take on such a heroic quest? The good guy is always the answer. Like in Homer's, "the Iliad," the protagonist in the western seeks to correct a bad situation. Despite, the Gods, the Natives and the rich standing against him the cowboy has a job to do.
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