Western narratives. Firstly, guns do not deliver the swift deaths that they do in classical Westerns. One scene sees Davey Bunting shot through the stomach. Bunting calls for help as he slowly bleeds out behind a rock. Guns are not romanticised in Unforgiven , their impacts are portrayed with gritty realism. This differs significantly from the representation of the gun in classical Western narratives. Kupfer argues another way the representation of guns evolves is by “[subverting] the heroic sagas that have informed our understanding of the Old West”. 24 This is evident in the film’s final scenes, where William Munny, the character portrayed as the film’s heroic protagonist, admits to the vicious killings of “women and children” during his time as an outlaw. As a result, the basic idea of the classical Western, of a hero delivering justice is challenged. Guns are represented primarily as tools for killing, with the idea they were used to uphold values taking a backseat. Despite the challenging of the classical representation of the gun in Western narratives, the gun is still central to Unforgiven . The film ends in a shootout where justice is served for Ned Logan’s death. Their importance is also referenced when Bill Daggett bends the barrels of English Bob’s revolver as a final, lasting form of mockery. The inescapable nature of the gun in Unforgiven highlights how well established the importance of the gun has become in Western narratives. The gun has been represented as a significant component of Western narratives on screen for over a century. As a result, the association between the two has become unavoidable. During the evolution of the guns representation, certain mythical elements of the narrative have been exposed. Yet, the guns representation in Western narratives continues to be influential. This has created a dynamic where certain individuals and groups have shaped the myth for their own benefit, aware that the gun’s representation in their narrative need not be completely truthful in order to influence society’s perceptions. The leading example of this idea is the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA’s use of the classical Western narrative in its mission to defend the right to bear arms is clear. The NRA’s connection to the classical Western narrative is evidenced in Charlton Heston’s position as president of the association between 1998 and 2003. 25 Heston had a direct connection to the classical Western narrative, having starred in Westerns throughout the 1950s and 60s. Sociologist Scott Melzer has gone as far as to claim “today’s NRA relies on an image of the American frontier”. 26 The way the NRA does this is by continuing to represent the gun as a tool for upholding American values, in line with the 24 Kupfer, p. 105. 25 National Rifle Association, NRA Tribute to Charlton Heston , online video, YouTube, 23 May 2008, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0297_ha8zXE> [accessed 9 December 2020]. 26 Scott Melzer, Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War (New York: New York University Press), p. 35.
44
Made with FlippingBook HTML5