When I was a youngster a prize possession of every boy was a set of toy cowboy six-shooters and, if you were especially blessed, a belt and holsters as well. In the pre-television days we all went to the Saturday matinees to see our heroes and to learn what it meant to be a man.
The ultimate icon was John Wayne and, for me, one of his finest films was his last, “The Shootist.” In that film after he instructed a boy on how to shoot, he responded to a question of why he had become known for his skills, “I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people and I require the same from them.” The fundamental morality of why he defended himself was self-explanatory.
My generation grew up with many cowboy heroes. By the time television arrived in the 1950s they became a staple of shows featuring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy, and Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger, a character from radio. Television gave us James Arness in Gunsmoke. There were others. I can’t think of a major Hollywood actor who did not portray a cowboy in films.
The Westerns were miniature morality plays. There were the good guys in white hats and the bad guys in black hats. What passes for films and television these days is often far removed from any moral content or intent. Much of it is just an excuse for exaggerated cartoonish violence.