What we honor about the cowboy of the Old West is his willingness to stand up to evil and to do it alone, if necessary. The cowboy is a symbol of the crucial virtues of courage and independence.
—Andrew Bernstein
After watching the first TV episode of the Lone Ranger, I couldn’t help but wonder what George Bush watched when he was a kid. I would be surprised if it hadn’t included cowboy movies/programs. If so he didn’t absorb the values the Lone Ranger. The episode I just watched was the first one, about the how the Lone Ranger came to be and how he vowed to dedicate his life to bringing outlaws to justice. He wanted to make the West safe for law abiding citizens, but he expressly said he would never kill an outlaw — that would be taking the law into his own hands.
It helped that he was a perfect shot and could shoot guns out of the outlaws’ hands. The program seemed a bit preachy with its idealism at times, and it was clearly hopelessly naive. But still, I’m glad he was one of my heroes. I could have done a lot worse.
Did you have any heroes when you were a kid?
May 1, 2014
The TV and movie characters were fun to watch, but I can’t say that any of them were heroes for me. Some “heroes” that come to mind were Daniel Boone — the man, not the TV character –, George Armstrong Custer, Will Rogers, Glenn Cunningham, the distance runner, and others. All of these “heroes” came from my reading, not watching TVs or the movies.
William “Buffalo Bill” F. Cody’s persona was a constant presence in North Platte, as he made his home there for a number of years, developing his Wild West Show there. His ranch is now a state park just outside of town.
Later, of course, some of those heroes were a bit tarnished as I learned more about them.
How old were you? My interest in cowboys was no doubt because they got to ride horses. My interests changed about the seventh or eighth grade.
I would guess that these were hero-figures for me from about age 7 or 8 to about 14 or 15.
I saw a lot of the old westerns at the Fox Theater in town. They had Saturday double feature matinees during the summer, mainly for kids. I think the admission was about a quarter. For some reason or another, it was just good entertainment. Same for the characters on TV.
So far as home-grown heroes, I would have to say my uncle, who very much influenced my interest in reading and learning, my grandfather, and my grandfather’s brother and his wife, who had a large ranch north of town.
My mother and father influenced me the most, even though they weren’t my heroes. My father was an alcoholic, who could be very happy and fun to be around when he was high. My mother was the serious, conscientious one. My father once told me to watch what he did and do the opposite. It was probably a throwaway line, but I still remember it. I was very serious for a while as a kid, but in late high school I decided I wanted to figure out how to experience as much joy as my father without drugs or alcohol. He hated the fact he was addicted, and he died of cirrhosis of the liver when he was 74.
i honestly think my own dad was my hero. he always seemed ‘bigger than life’ to me as they say.
he was handsome. and he was a horseman. and actually had much of the cowboy ethic about him. he was a texan. and he had a very definite code of honor he lived by.
… if you remember him… in the post i wrote about him on the peanut.
he was made of the same cloth as gary cooper and jimmy stewart. or… at least the characters they always played! LOL. after all. a man is just a man.
but as men go… i think he was one of the best. he stood tall.
You were lucky that way, but not that he passed away so young.
http://rummuser.com/?p=3602
Thanks.
I didn’t go to movies as a kid. I was a girl & not allowed to go to town by myself. Tom walked to town every Sat. to see a movie. They cost 12 cents. Ever since then he has always liked movies.
My hero was my father. During WWII I knew Hitler would never get me because Daddy would always take care of me.
Therefore I’ve always enjoyed being taken care of—in spite of caring for 4 children. I do have to fight for my rights 😀 I accuse Tom of “Father knows best” attitude.
Yes, that’s the downside of being taken care of. My sister and I went to a lot of movies because they were great babysitters. When we were little my mother would go too. Later my folks would drop us off and pick us up.
Supercar and Mighty Mouse
I’ll have to look up Supercar. Sounds like fun. 🙂 It’s been years since I thought of Mighty Mouse. I liked Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck. After we bought the land and tried to garden we had more sympathy for Elmer Fudd.