Blog # 6---Option 2

The similarity between westerns and science fiction films are striking. You can see the obvious attempts of Hollywood to suck in every possible demographic. After taking a more serious look at the two I have noticed that to me it seems as though there is a great difference between the audiences for a good hearted sci-fi and a cold hearted sci-fi such as Alien. Star Wars had a much wider base in age confirming the direct correlation between westerns and sci-fi. Before sci-fi people in the states used to watch westerns which had action, love, and always ended with a horse ride in the sunset. People had a fear of technology and the future. However, when America needed a thrust in technology to keep up with the Russians it produced a couple of generations of people not afraid of technology and these people needed entertainment that they were not getting from westerns.
Hollywood obliged with the sci-fi. At first the films were scary and unappealing to much of America except for the kids. Hollywood had to do something to please the masses so it started to incorporate western themes and icons into the new sci-fi films that it was creating to bridge the gap and it worked. Films such as star wars and close encounters were box office smashes for their time. Planet of the Apes was an even earlier movie that had a lot of western ties. The apes rode horses and carried rifles, the backdrop of the forbidden zone was a desolate desert wasteland. The apes also lived in dwellings which were similar to Indian adobes. Star Wars had the sand people which were treated as and were savages. In a later Star Wars movie Anikin Walkers mother is killed by sand people and he proceeds to slaughter them. The sand people lived in caves in a desert region of the planet much like some native Americans used to.
I think the image of the native American in the westerns although mostly savage, was more romantic than the image displayed today. When I think of an “Indian” today, I think of a casino owner. This is the new stereo-type presented by Hollywood and TV. Also in Star Wars Han Solo was a cowboy. He rode around the universe smuggling and being chased by bounty-hunters. He had a today’s “me” attitude, but was as John Wayne as anybody when it came to rescuing the princess. In closing I think I have shown how there is a link between the two genres.