How the western was lost- and why it matters - Essay Example

The Loss of the Western Michael Agresta reckons that the Western genre of films is actual in the American society of the XXI century. His reasons are grounded and make it possible to state that they are also to some extent obvious. Firstly, the American traditional self-vision as a global superpower and dominator (the author reasonably compares this to the image of a cowboy from the Western movies) positions the country as the freedom fighter and, therefore, a positive character similar to the ones from the Western genre.

Secondly, the feeling of nostalgia which is present when looking at the West which has been lost in the process of evolution has become felt more and more today – the relatively old Western audience considers Westerns to be the only source of recalling the past. The proof of the mentioned reasons is found in the realities of the present day. Westerns address history, and the history which is written today may be approached from the perspective of the Western genre movies – bad guys destabilize the world, whereas good guys try to make it safer and protect the suffering from global threats.

The XXI century becomes more and more dangerous day after day, and there is a growing need of a hero who would save everyone in his courageous effort, just like a cowboy. The relevance of this addressing to the history is that, as any time, the XXI century brings not only success, but also some unpleasant and disturbing situations which cannot be hidden whether we like it or not. From this point of view, Western movies provide a different view on the things that happen in the world and help everyone to define form him or herself who are good and bad in modern world.