Three of the very biggest shows on right now (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian and Yellowstone) are western inspired

Submitted by RusevReigns t3_11b3nc1 in television

May have been obvious to some but it finally clicked to me last episode that the Last of Us is a western, joining those shows as western inspired smashes.

Does this mean anything? Is there something about our current era that's making people long for attach themselves to this type of storytelling? Pedro is also the perfect guy to lead those of those, he looks so much like an old school Western actor (and a lot like Burt Reynolds, who himself was a guy that would've been the #1 western actor a few decades earlier and ended up succeeding most doing the same stories with a car substituted in, but still did some horse westerns too I think)

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jeremy-o t1_j9vqeh9 wrote

I'd say that TLOU is less broadly "a western" than the particular setting of this part of the game/show leans into that. Though I would say the spare lawlessness of most American post-apocalyptic media finds Western tropes easy to appropriate.

What does it mean? Look out for Red Dead Redemption on premium streaming soon.

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AashyLarry t1_j9vr6ny wrote

Why/how is The Last of Us a western?

Keep in mind I haven’t seen the show at all yet - I’m just curious because I thought it would be a zombie show similar to Walking Dead or World War Z.

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WACK-A-n00b t1_j9vrtzo wrote

Replying to AashyLarry (#1,977,775)

They ride horses.

But to defend the point, western genre is about the struggle against a frontier without a justice system, with disjointed or no support of authoritative body, hostile locals, tryically set in the American West which is usually depicted as hostile difficult to live off of land.

Yellowstone is not a western, I think.

Mandalorian and Last of Us would be I think.

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acosmichippo t1_j9vtgoz wrote

Replying to WACK-A-n00b (#1,977,883)

> But to defend the point, western genre is about the struggle against a frontier without a justice system, with disjointed or no support of authoritative body, hostile locals, tryically set in the American West which is usually depicted as hostile difficult to live off of land.

you could say that about any post-apocalyptic media.

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cityonahillterrain t1_j9vud9m wrote

Very excited for the Taylor Kitsch project coming American Primevil

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9vuv4j wrote

Replying to WACK-A-n00b (#1,977,883)

I agree Yellowstone may actually be the least western, it's more of a mob show at heart and appealed to the people watching Godfather reruns on the former Spike TV. But it still has a lot of horsey and cowboy hat guys so I think it's still a bit of a western.

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9vv6hy wrote

Replying to AashyLarry (#1,977,775)

I think the western hero on horseback with a girl he's saving is a trope that has been used in the genre. Joel in general is very western lead character-y I think with his rugged old school loner vibes. Maybe I'm putting too much on episode 6 being western like compared to the early ones.

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SlimShadyM80 t1_j9w0ba5 wrote

I definitely get the 'western vibe' you are describing with The Last of Us. It might not tick off the boxes for what technically makes a western, but it definitely has that same sombre tone as a Johnny Cash song.

Maybe 'western' isnt the right word, but it definitely feels 'country'.

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VelvetElvis t1_j9w3ldu wrote

So far, The Last of Us is more like a post-apocalyptic road trip movie. Easy Rider with zombies.

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Shotgunsamurai42 t1_j9w4nf0 wrote

Mandalorian is a western, in that westerns are largely influenced by Japanese Ronin movies. Mandalorian is pretty much Lone Wolf and Cub like Magnificent Seven is Seven Samurai.

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9wjjfh wrote

Replying to Shotgunsamurai42 (#1,980,123)

Mando is definitely due a western/samurai thing. D+ likes old school tv homages as seen by Wandavision's sequence of them, and some other stuff like Willow feeling like a 90s fantasy show, Andor has some noir elements, etc.

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CheesyObserver t1_j9wlvjy wrote

I wouldn't say Last of Us is western inspired.

I also wouldn't say Yellowstone is one of the very biggest shows on right now, either.

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Negligent__discharge t1_j9x3s1z wrote

Replying to RusevReigns (#1,982,786)

>lLone Wolf and Cub like Magnificent Seven is Seven Samurai.

Magnificent Seven is a great Westren, totaly based on Seven Samurai.

Dude is saying you think it is western, but it is not.

Lone Wolf and Cub is great, check it out.

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Lil_Mcgee t1_j9yjsgk wrote

Replying to jeremy-o (#1,977,648)

Yeah people are equating Mandalorian and TLoU because both feature Pedro Pascal travelling while protecting a child but the former is far more western inspired than the latter.

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nomorepartiezz t1_j9zkqpm wrote

Replying to AashyLarry (#2,001,337)

i think its something closer to the road. not to spoil but the show takes place a lot further in than most shows. its not about the fall of civilization its a very intimate/character focused story about how people deal with their trauma and learn to live again after spending a long time just surviving. its not super action packed. i know that makes it sound cheesy but its not lol

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ReadyProposal t1_j9zs9so wrote

No, all it means is there was a long lull with no western stories and a bunch of screenwriters thought, "Maybe I can make something cool with those tropes from that show I liked when I was a kid." Hollywood has been like this for literal decades, in many genres and sub-genres. This is, by my count, the 3rd or 4th time there's been increased interest in westerns just since the 80s.

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chicagoredditer1 t1_ja1wmi6 wrote

Isn't Yellowstone just Dallas or Knots Landing (or any 80's prime time soap) but set in the west, not in any way an actual western?

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