http://www.spacewesterns.com/sideshow/2009/10/27/more-influential-space-westerns/ The most pernicious suite of fiction on the Internet Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:48:22 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://www.spacewesterns.com/sideshow/2009/10/27/more-influential-space-westerns/comment-page-1/#comment-5229 nelilly Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:16:32 +0000 http://www.spacewesterns.com/sideshow/?p=68#comment-5229 Which of the 10 do you think don't qualify (and why)? What <em>does</em> it take for something to be considered a "true" Space Western? After reading several books of Western-genre criticism, I felt that if I could find the same themes in these science fiction works that are prevalent in Westerns, then they qualified. I just didn't go by my own opinion either. For example, in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879727861?ie=UTF8&tag=greententacle-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0879727861" rel="nofollow">The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=greententacle-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0879727861" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> John G. Cawelti specifically cites <em>Alien</em> which, to be honest, isn't a connection I would have made on my own. After re-watching it (with an eye towards Westerns) I saw that the primary conflict wasn't actually between the crew and the alien (who was just a pawn) but between the crew (homesteaders/miners) and the corporation (industrialists), which is a classic Western conflict. Which of the 10 do you think don’t qualify (and why)? What does it take for something to be considered a “true” Space Western? After reading several books of Western-genre criticism, I felt that if I could find the same themes in these science fiction works that are prevalent in Westerns, then they qualified. I just didn’t go by my own opinion either. For example, in his book The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel John G. Cawelti specifically cites Alien which, to be honest, isn’t a connection I would have made on my own. After re-watching it (with an eye towards Westerns) I saw that the primary conflict wasn’t actually between the crew and the alien (who was just a pawn) but between the crew (homesteaders/miners) and the corporation (industrialists), which is a classic Western conflict.

]]> http://www.spacewesterns.com/sideshow/2009/10/27/more-influential-space-westerns/comment-page-1/#comment-5227 Joshua Gage Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:14:02 +0000 http://www.spacewesterns.com/sideshow/?p=68#comment-5227 While some of these may be historically important, I'm not sure the content is enough to be considered truly a "space Western," as opposed to something like the anime "Cowboy Bebop" or "Trigun," or even cult hits like "Battle Beyond the Stars" or "The American Astronaut." While some of these may be historically important, I’m not sure the content is enough to be considered truly a “space Western,” as opposed to something like the anime “Cowboy Bebop” or “Trigun,” or even cult hits like “Battle Beyond the Stars” or “The American Astronaut.”

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