that the classical romantic depiction of guns “that has bombarded generations of movie and TV viewers” is accountable for modern American attitudes towards guns. 19 Due to the chronological imbalance and the common representation of the gun as the tool of cowboy heroes such as Shane, Americans formed a tight connection not only with the mythical cowboy, but also with the idea that wielding a gun for justice was heroic. During the 1960s and 70s, a trend began which saw Westerns, and the messages they were conveying become darker. Part of this transformation included a more realistic depiction of the gun in Western narratives. The portrayal of gun violence became more gritty. As well as this, a risk began to be associated with the gun, which had previously been absent. It was no longer guaranteed that the heroic cowboy would defeat the villain using innate marksmanship. Although the representation of the gun in Western narratives was evolving, their significance was still inarguable. Despite the fact the major shift in the representation of the gun in Western narratives occurred in the 1960s, The Gunfighter (1950) had already begun to look more critically at the role of the gun on the frontier. 20 The story centres around Jimmy Ringo, a gunfighter famous for being quick on the draw. Despite his skill, Ringo meets his demise at the hands of Hunt Bromley, who shoots Ringo in the back as he is leaving town. The film offers an intriguing dynamic. Due to the gun, Ringo is simultaneously totally powerful and totally vulnerable. Cultural historian Richard Slotkin explains this was an impact of a newly emerging “nuclear world”. 21 A world where Americans lived with the reality that America could destroy, or be destroyed at any given moment due to the harnessing of nuclear power by America and the Soviet Union. This representation of the gun diverged from that featured in the classical Western. An evolution was beginning which later led to the emergence of the Post-Western. Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award winning Unforgiven (1992), is the epitome of the Post-Western. 22 Unforgiven challenges a wide range of aspects of the classical Western, whilst simultaneously unravelling its own distinctly Western plot. This dynamic has led to philosopher Joseph H. Kupfer defining the film as “a story about stories”. 23 As guns are central to Westerns, Eastwood’s Unforgiven dissects a number of the ways guns are represented in classical 19 Jennings, p. 9. 20 The Gunfighter , dir. by Henry King (20 th Century Fox, 1950). 21 Slotkin, Richard, Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998), p. 383. 22 Unforgiven , dir. by Clint Eastwood (Warner Bros., 1992). 23 Joseph H. Kupfer, ‘The Seductive and Subversive Meta-Narrative of Unforgiven ’, Journal of Film and Video , 60.3 (2008), 103-114 (p. 103).
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