Buffalo Bill's West Wild Show - Essay Example

Abdulla Al Sulaiti Srimati Mukherjee English 0802 01April Buffalo Bill’s West Wild Show The nick for William Frederick Cody was Buffalo Bill. He was given the nickname due to the work he did in supplying workers with buffalo meat after the American Civil War. William Frederick became famous for his Wild West Shows. In the show, participants from horse-culture groups including the US and other militaries displayed different distinctive horses in colorful costumes. For many years, Americans and people from around the world were fascinated by the Wild West Show as they enjoyed conquest, violence and control that the shows depicted. Consequently, there has been a debate regarding the Wild West Shows and how it documents the Native Americans. At one hand, it has been argued the Cody’s shows were “not right to evoke a sense of wonder and excitement when referring to a region that had seen carnage and bloodshed” (Tompkins “West of Everything” 33). In addition, it has been argued that the spectacles in the shows reduced the meaning of the landscape and the people for purposes of entertainment. This paper argues that it is not right to evoke a sense of wonder when describing a region that had encountered bloodshed because it reduces the meaning of the landscape and the people for purposes of entertainment. Opposition to the Wild West Shows was due to the injuries and deaths it caused to many native performers in the 1890. Many of the deaths had occurred due to infectious illnesses and because many of the performers had no access to primary medical care. Momaday reports that regarding the dances by performers, “were surely an ignisfatuus, and the cause of frightful suffering and death” (628). The fact that these issues arose to only one group of the actors raises questions regarding the genuineness of claims by Cody that he intended only to show the West as it was. His negligence shows that he did not consider equality with the Caucasian Americans, African Americans, and the Native Americans as a possibility even after the Civil War. As a result, the show emphasized on the differences of these Americans groups. No wonder Bobby Bridgeralleges claims “Indian performers in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West were literally prisoners-of-war” (16). Moreover, the divisions he may have caused in the work environment were like a time bomb that would soon erupt especially considering that the shows were immediately after the Civil War. Therefore, this formed one of the bases by which it appears the Wild West Shows though entertaining, still reminded people of the divisions that had caused the war and hence it was not right. Contrary, W. de Jong states, “there were some positive testimonies from some native performers and also an unsuccessful investigation by authorities into the charges of negligence causing deaths allowed the shows to continue” (15). Moreover, there was no deaths not reported on the television, and hence it might have been a means of the critics of the play to attack it. This position based on suspicion may, therefore, not have been the right cause to justify that the Wild West Shows instigated acts of violence. However, reasonably, there seems to be no incentive for the performers to cheat either way when talking about their source of income. It is expected that they should tell the truth about the work they do, the salaries, and other benefits. Therefore, those that reported deaths occurring in the shows were probably accurate. Tompkins affirms this by stating, “all that remained of Company C, the naked bodies of the dead, fallen in their blood, and their glory as fighting men should” (“ West of Everything”56-57). As a matter of fact, however, the statistics for deaths can be true. The point of contention was whether they had been caused by Cody’s negligence and mistreatment of the Native Americans or not. To this end, the suspicion is evident from two lines of reason. One is that it seemed a little suspicious that the deaths of the performers had occurred only to the Native Americans while they were in the same environment with the Caucasian Americans. Secondly, the reason the television did not report the deaths shows that something was being covered up. On the other hand, the Wild West shows did a good thing to unite the Caucasian Americans and African Americans with the Native Americans. As a result, the two cultures no longer fought in the open conflict, but were reconciled and co-existed well in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. This compliment, however, does not consider that only the Natives would have played that role of victims better so as to represent the true West as Cody intended. McNenly highlights that “what the show needed was now a draw, something that could bring in audiences and thrill them” (25). It may be true that the show brought harmony between Caucasian Americans and African Americans with the Native Americans. Nevertheless, it might not have been the intention of Cody to reunite the two cultures, but he did it out of necessity so that the show would be realer. In addition, some of the episodes of the Wild West Shows consisted of lots of violence. After the assassinations of Martin Luther King and other prominent politicians, the government formed a National Commission to investigate the causes of violence and how to prevent violence (Tompkins “West of Everything” 76). This commission recorded for investigation the Wild West Show as one of the action series that included excessive scenes of violence despite its popularity. The theory of the Congress was that television shows that featured a lot of acts of violence, especially in a nation that had not fully recovered from the wounds of a war, were prone to starting other real-world acts of violence. The Congress, therefore, sought to examine whether it was right for a show to make fun of major historical divisions that had caused wars for the sake of entertainment. This suspicion confirms that the show instigated acts of violence, and that was risky in a society that was healing from a civil war. Among the executives summoned for investigation were those from ABC, CBS, and NBC. The CBS was particularly implicated for showing programs that featured sadism and were primetime and, in this case, the Wild West Show was implicated as an example (Jong 43). Considering the environment in which the shows were created, it seemed inappropriate to display such acts of violence even if in acting, that would trigger back the thoughts about the war. Wars leave people with tremors; therefore, a simple act may bring back the senses of violence and obviously bring back conflicts in the affected communities. Further, the fact that other Television stations were not showing any violence related shows leaves the Wild West as the only suspect. In this regard, one had to show that if it was true that show of violence in movies contributed to real-world acts of violence. Therefore, the Wild West show despite its popularity and high rankings by viewers was propelling violence in a sensitive era. There was a subsequent nationwide poll on the Congress’ concern that was shared by the public. It indicated that 67.5% of the Americans agreed with the theory that movie violence and other shows of violence caused or propelled violence in a real world situation (Craske 29). This survey may have confirmed the theory that had been proposed to explain the reason the government was against violent shows on the televisions. As such, if it was confirmed that the show caused increased incidences of violence, it was not a right means for documenting the history of America because it was at the same time propelling violence. However, the fact that the Wild West Show was ranked the best of all television shows puts doubt on the assertions by the government survey. Moreover, the survey that had ranked the Buffalo Bills best show had been conducted for more than three years yielding the same result. Likewise, the one related to acts of violence and television shows was a one-time survey. As a result, the government would have conducted the survey specifically by relating the Wild West with the real world acts of violence. Contrary, the loss of lives to any nation should be discouraged by all means. Therefore, there was no need to risk showing a program that was suspected to cause violence as there was no evidence it led to violence. Further, by the fact that the Wild West was the only television show that featured violence acts meant that there were other means of entertainment that had no issues. Finally, the fact that the show was ranked best as a means of entertainment does not imply that it did not cause violence as many of the opinion regarding violent shows had suggested. Another issue from the Buffalo’s Wild West shows arises in the selection of characters. At one hand, the government commended Cody for considering Native Americans even though he was Caucasian American. There is a concern of how Cody presents the natives. McNenly states that “how native peoples are depicted by non-natives is an important topic because sites of cultural representation and performance are ideological and political arenas” (9). In this regard, the fact that mostly the non-natives played the role of African Americans did belittle not only theAfrican Americans in their roles, but also the Native Americans who played the roles. The show gave Caucasian Americans roles that were always superior to those of Natives. The picture he painted on the African Americans as inferior to the Caucasian Americans remained for a long time as much of the later American Literature was based on the Wild West Shows (Jong 34). In conclusion, the Wild West Shows apparently united two different and opposing cultures that were healing their conflicts after the wars. In addition, they formed a thrilling piece of entertainment that was attractive to many while at the same time served as a record of historical happenings. However, the point of contention is whether this was the only means of achieving the respective desired ends. This paper finds out that the negative impacts of the Shows overwhelmed the advantages. It could not have been right, even today, to emphasize on differences between conflicting cultures for entertainment, and more so to belittle one culture so as to achieve personal interests. It could never have been right to risk violence for the sake of popular entertainment. Furthermore, the Wild West Shows were a business investment made to yield profits for Cody. Works Cited Bridger, Bobby. Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing the Wild West. Austin: U of Texas P, 2002. Print. Craske, Nikki. Women and Politics in Latin America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U P, 1999. Print Jong, W. de. "Adoration on Stage, Assimilation at Home Buffalo Bill’s show Indians, Reformers, and Manifest Destiny during the Late Nineteenth Century." MA thesis. Utrecht U, Netherlands, 2014.Print. McNenly, Linda S. Native Performers in Wild West Shows: From Buffalo Bill to Euro Disney. Norman, OK: U of Oklahoma P, 2012. Internet resource. Momaday, N. Scott. "The American West and the Burden of Belief."Cultural Conversations: The presence of the past. Eds. StephenDilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt, Boston: Bedford-St. Martin’s, 2001. 626-639. Tompkins, Jane. West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns. New York: OUP, 1993. Internet resource. Tompkins, Jane. “At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1998”Cultural Conversations: The presence of the past. Eds. StephenDilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt, Boston: Bedford-St. Martin’s, 2001. 587-603. Read More