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It was a Sunday night in March, 2004. I had
just settled into my chair on the porch in front of the TV. My
wife, Susie, had made some popcorn as a special treat. I was
ready for the show. It was a new HBO western mini-series
called Deadwood with Keith Caradine as Wild Bill Hickock. This
was going to be great! I figured we could even write a review
on it for the magazine and possibly interview Mr. Caradine for an
article later.
Was I right? Was it a great show?
Not by a mile! In the first ten minutes I heard more foul
language than I have in 95% of R-rated films I have watched. I
was absolutely flabbergasted and appalled.
The next day I talked with Smith ‘n
Jones who checked the SASS wire to see if there was anything on it
about the show. Yep, there was plenty, from people that agreed
with me to those who felt it was probably a true rendition of the
way it was and felt it was okay. Well folks, I have a couple
of things to say. First, for those that think it was the way
it was, I totally disagree. Sure, miners, cowboys, lawmen, and
others of the Old West probably swore with the best of them from
time to time; but every other word? I doubt it. Also
from everything I can find out, foul language was frowned upon when
around women, even the so-called soiled doves. This was
especially true during the move west as in many locations there were
not many women available. I believe this was the case with
even the roughest character though there was always the occasional
idiot. Respect for women, even a soiled dove, is a
characteristic that I believe the majority of men in Deadwood had.
I cannot for the life of me believe that almost every person that
had something to say could not speak without having a swear word in
every sentence.
I am not sure what perspective HBO has
when choosing Westerns to produce, but I bet they lost a lot of
potential viewers with what they did. They certainly lost me
after 15 minutes and I didn't watch it the following Sunday
either. It seems clear, based upon box office counts, that
good Westerns without a lot of foul language, like Open Range and
Quigley Down Under, make money. They also promote ethics,
examples, and morals that are good for our children. I like
being able to take all of my family to a good Western, including my
six-year-old grandson.
In starting this magazine, my staff and
I not only wanted to promote shooting with traditional 1800s
firearms and the Second Amendment, but also to promote the ethics
and responsibility of the cowboy way, in which you help one another
and friends and family are the most important aspects of life.
So, though I believe HBO certainly has the right to show such films,
and everyone must have the choice of being able to watch it or not,
I will thus boycott the movie Deadwood and probably any material
submitted relating to it. Send
your comments or letters to the editor to editor@shootmagazine.com.
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