An evolution of heroism
To me, the most interesting aspect of this week's Western Writers of America conference in Cody was Louis Warren's speech on Buffalo Bill. Warren, author of "Buffalo Bill's America," explained that Buffalo Bill's Wild West show was hugely popular across social and ethnic boundaries. In an era when only those of English descent were seen as the true Americans, Cody's cowboys had Irish and German names. Thus, the Wild West was a story of America that ALL Americans could participate in -- one of the more democratic institutions of the time.
Warren noted that almost everyone in America sees Cody as either a hero or a fraud -- there's little middle ground. Another panelist suggested that of the 10-15 books published on Cody in the last decade, all have portrayed him positively. This is in marked contrast to the 1970s, when Paul Newman portrayed Cody as an idiot in Robert Altman's film "Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson."
The "aha" moment for me came when Warren characterized Cody as a genius comparable to Orson Welles.
He was, in other words, a genius as an entertainer. Storyteller, marketer, image-producer. I'd like to suggest that in the 1970s we were still uncomfortable with the transition of American society: from physical capital (making things) to intellectual capital (marketing, merchandising, image-manipulating). So in the '70s we tended to see Cody as the fraud who wasn't really a cowboy but only a marketer. In the '00s, more comfortable with the century-long trasition of society, we see him as a hero for our time.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks...
Warren noted that almost everyone in America sees Cody as either a hero or a fraud -- there's little middle ground. Another panelist suggested that of the 10-15 books published on Cody in the last decade, all have portrayed him positively. This is in marked contrast to the 1970s, when Paul Newman portrayed Cody as an idiot in Robert Altman's film "Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson."
The "aha" moment for me came when Warren characterized Cody as a genius comparable to Orson Welles.
He was, in other words, a genius as an entertainer. Storyteller, marketer, image-producer. I'd like to suggest that in the 1970s we were still uncomfortable with the transition of American society: from physical capital (making things) to intellectual capital (marketing, merchandising, image-manipulating). So in the '70s we tended to see Cody as the fraud who wasn't really a cowboy but only a marketer. In the '00s, more comfortable with the century-long trasition of society, we see him as a hero for our time.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks...
