The Cowbloytation Movement

The Misfits (1961) Dir: John Huston Wr: Arthur Miller DOP: Russell Metty

Junior Bonner and The Misfits aren't westerns. People wear cowboy hats, alcoholism runs rampant, and horses get more screen-time than cars, but when the day is done things just don't add up. There's no bad guys, only bad moods. We're not post-civil war, we're post-world war II. And last but not least, the cowboys aren't cowboys--they're entertainers.

That's the genius of the sub-genre I hereby dub the "cowbloytation" film.

In all cowbloytation films the cowboy becomes entertainer, servant to the people. In almost all cases, including both films discussed here, he is a rodeo star. In others he may assist in the operation of a tourist-trap (City Slickers, Urban Cowboy), be a country singer (Tender Mercies) or even take his service of the people to a whole other level (Midnight Cowboy). Regardless, when the image and ideals of the classic cowboy are transposed onto the modern landscape, he inevitably becomes a commodity--somebody people would pay to see.

Clearly, in the modern world cowboys are viewed more as artifacts than heroes. The only aspect of their lives still celebrated is the machismo. Beginning with the spaghetti western, the cowboy has been slowly stripped of all his honourable qualities (eg. work ethic, dedication, loyalty) and been left exposed as a cartoon.

What else can today's cowboy be but a rodeo star? The only opportunity the modern-day cowboy has to gain a modicum of the respect he imagines his ancestors once knew is through the virtual-reality of spectator sport or lyrics in a song, or something like an "adventure holiday." After all, for the jaded modern viewer, the cowboys depicted in Red River could never have existed. They were always idealized, always just as much fantasy as Frankenstein or Dracula. If you think you're going to be a cowboy today, you better stick with the rest of the dreamers--the entertainers. We civilians don't have room for you in the real world.

Much like the best gangster films, the best cowbloytation films investigate their disconnection from society. The cowboy attempts to understand why the morals and lifestyle he admires and strives for are shunned by the rest of the world. Just like everyone else he desires respect, but the only place he can find it is amongst his peers.

Junior Bonner and The Misfits are great films. They paint their cowboy protagonists a pitiful shade of beige, halfway between dirt and sky. They do everthing they can to avoid the real world. The Misfits' Montgomery Clift hates the prospect of coralling wild mustang, but tells partner Clark Gable: "anything's better than pulling wages." Junior Bonner's Steve McQueen is offered a respectable job selling land for his brother but refuses, despite a desperate need for money. They are both rodeo men, and they know in their hearts that's all they'll ever be.

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