So we’ve been playing Red Dead Redemption in our house lately, and it’s got me on another cowboy kick. And with all this talk about Cowboys & Aliens and Jonah Hex, well, I’m in a bit of a tizzy. I love cowboys. I truly do. And I have them to thank for many of my geekier endeavors.
At first glance you might not think that cowboys have much of a place in geek culture, but I’m out to prove you wrong. Like the wizard, the knight, and the damsel in distress, the cowboy has grown to prominence in the geek community, especially in pop culture. Sometimes it’s with success… other times? Not so much. Here’s a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of cowboys in geek culture.
Captain Malcom Reynolds, Firefly/Serenity. Browncoats, where would we be without Joss Whedon’s nod to the Wild West? Sure, it’s in space. But you can’t tell me there isn’t a whole lot of cowboy in Mal Reynolds. It’s not just his outfit, or his way with the gun. Mal oozes the clever cowboy archetype, by turns brave, sarcastic, and witty—and of course, very good with the ladies. Mostly, anyway. Well, he’s certainly got the appeal going, even if he’s perpetually messing up his relationships. But that’s charming, right? Personally I find that Firefly embodies the perfect synthesis of geek and cowboy culture. That it was so short lived is certainly still a sore spot, but that’s how cowboys live sometimes: hard and fast. The good news is that the Browncoats endure! Just visit any convention to see them in action.
How about you? There are plenty of other cowboys in geek culture, good, bad, and ugly. There’s Brisco County Jr, for one, not to mention Jonah Hex. Any ones you’d like to sound off on or challenge to a shoot out?
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