It’s Western Wednesday, so hide the sheep and mount up…yes, in that order…Since there are a number of character Westerns on the horizon, Jonah Hex and The Lone Ranger most notably, along with a couple remakes of older films, I wonder—do Western fans, especially long-time fans really look forward to seeing their beloved characters re-envisioned on the screen, given today’s emphasis on blockbusters? Can we really trust Hollywood to respect and present our favorites as we’d enjoy, and not simply as fodder for a line of action figures and lunchboxes?
The Lone Ranger is a good example. Most of us fans have fond memories of either the Brace Beemer radio show or the Clayton Moore TV series. Both were perfect for their time. Can The Lone Ranger be handled for today’s market, which seems to be mostly teen focused?
Previous attempts, both on the big screen and on TV, have seen the Ranger fare not so well. Not only were they poor movies with mediocre acting, but they suffered from typical Hollywood PCism. Both were forgettable and many folks likely don’t even know they existed, which is a good thing.
The upcoming movie is reportedly going to star Johnny Depp as Tonto. He’s an accomplished actor and of Native American extraction, so I don’t doubt he can pull it off. But will we get a bunch of apologetic garbage? The Lone Ranger was/is a great character. He does not need to be screwed with. Sure, he can be made “relevant” (and God I detest that term as it applies to movies and music), and a good example of that is Dynamite’s Lone Ranger comic book. The writers of that book have taken what made the Ranger special and presented it in a fresh, compelling manner. Purists will quibble with some things, as they always do, but the essence of the creation is there and the writing is very good.
Of course, many will point out the older movies and shows were a product of their times and inaccurate in many respects. And they will be right. Some of the mores presented might strike a modern audience as silly, outdated, whatever. But what these movies and shows had was strong story-telling and compelling portrayals, not marketing gimmicks and the underlying snicker that seems to come with far too many adaptations of heroes, Western or otherwise, nowadays. They also had charm that transcended the medium and time period.I am hoping the new Ranger movie will be that good (and not done the way I am expecting his related character, The Green Hornet with Seth Rogan, will be). I am hoping it won’t be this brooding bleak commentary on the early West. I am hoping it will bring The Lone Ranger back for a new generation of fans, as well as reviving the magic for the older ones.
“From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse, Silver!” Oh, yeah, time to hear them again. So, Hi Yo, Silver, and Git ‘em up, Scout! The Lone Ranger rides again…
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2 comments:
Me too, Howard!
For those of us old enough to be considered a product of those same times, the golden age of the western is a connection to our past. Sure, there were flaws, but they amount to nothing when stacked against a bond formed in childhood, for a genre that inspired and showed the way between right and wrong. The affection endures. Good post.
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