Editing Western (genre) (section)

===Themes===
[[File:Lone ranger silver 1965.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The [[Lone Ranger]], a famous heroic [[wikt:lawman|lawman]], was with a cavalry of six Texas Rangers until they all, except for him, were killed. He preferred to remain anonymous, so he resigned and built a sixth grave that supposedly held his body. He fights on as a lawman, wearing a mask, for "Outlaws live in a world of fear. Fear of the mysterious".]]

The Western genre sometimes portrays the conquest of the wilderness and the subordination of nature in the name of civilization or the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original, Native American, inhabitants of the frontier.<ref name="kimnewman">{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Newman |title=Wild West Movies |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=1990}}</ref> The Western depicts a society organized around codes of [[Honour|honor]] and personal, direct or private justice–"frontier justice"–dispensed by gunfights. These honor codes are often played out through depictions of feuds or individuals seeking personal [[revenge]] or [[wikt:retribution|retribution]] against someone who has wronged them (e.g., ''[[True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit]]'' has revenge and retribution as its main themes). This Western depiction of personal justice contrasts sharply with justice systems organized around rationalistic, abstract law that exist in cities, in which [[social order]] is maintained predominantly through relatively impersonal institutions such as [[courtroom]]s. The popular perception of the Western is a story that centers on the life of a seminomadic wanderer, usually a cowboy or a gunfighter.<ref name="kimnewman"/>  A showdown or [[Duel#United States|duel]] at high noon featuring two or more gunfighters is a stereotypical scene in the popular conception of Westerns.{{citation needed|date = December 2024}}

In some ways, such protagonists may be considered the literary descendants of the [[Knight-errant|knights-errant]], who stood at the center of earlier extensive genres such as the [[King Arthur|Arthurian romances]].<ref name="kimnewman"/> Like the cowboy or gunfighter of the Western, the knight-errant of the earlier European tales and poetry was wandering from place to place on his horse, fighting villains of various kinds, and bound to no fixed social structures, but only to his own innate code of honor. Like knights-errant, the heroes of Westerns frequently rescue [[Damsel in distress|damsels in distress]]. Similarly, the wandering protagonists of Westerns share many characteristics with the ''[[ronin]]'' in modern Japanese culture.{{citation needed|date = December 2024}}

The Western typically takes these elements and uses them to tell simple morality tales, although some notable examples (e.g. the later Westerns of John Ford or [[Clint Eastwood]]'s ''[[Unforgiven]]'', about an old [[contract killer]]) are more morally ambiguous. Westerns often stress the harshness and isolation of the wilderness, and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape. Western films generally have specific settings, such as isolated ranches, Native American villages, or small frontier towns with a saloon. Oftentimes, these settings appear deserted and without much structure. Apart from the wilderness, the saloon usually emphasizes that this is the [[Wild West]]; it is the place to go for music (raucous piano playing), women (often [[Prostitution|prostitutes]]), gambling (draw poker or five-card stud), drinking ([[beer]], [[Whisky|whiskey]], or [[tequila]] if set in Mexico), brawling, and shooting. In some Westerns, where civilization has arrived, the town has a church, a general store, a bank, and a school; in others, where frontier rules still hold sway, it is, as [[Sergio Leone]] said, "where life has no value".{{citation needed|date = December 2024}}