Article 1
Changes in the
thematic characterizations of the virtuous Sheriff in the Western genre.
The aim of this
work is to describe the new profile of the virtuous sheriff stereotype,
which is observed since 1990 in American films belonging to the western
genre. In order to do this, two periods of time were compared: one related
to films shot in the fifties, and the other related to films carried
out since the nineties. Through systematical observation of every film
and the later comparison of such periods, the new profile of the virtuous
sheriff was determined, principally based on the observation of a major
quantity (and a more violent treatment) of violence, revenge, concession
and threats motives characterized by the mentioned sheriff. Moreover
this paper aims at establishing a theme rift in the western genre, at
least in the mentioned aspect.
Key words: Movies
- Western - Theme Breakup - Genre Motives - Sheriff.