What's revised in a Revisionist Western?
The critically-acclaimed comic book film, Logan (2017) altered the Western genre by its reinvention of Shane (1953) and the classic Hollywood stereotypes, as its eponymous protagonist finds conflict from the dangerous society and his uncertain future.
Shane follows the classic Western trope of the ranch story: the titular character stumbles upon the Starrett family and helps them deal with the greedy locals, the Rykers. The opening and final shots of the film place Shane (Alan Ladd) in the mountains, which symbolize the obstacles ahead in his picaresque journey. Shane portrays several common Western elements, from a vulnerable wooden fence separating civilization from nature, to the gun, which acts as the arbiter of justice and skill. Shane says, “a gun is a tool...a gun is as good or bad as the man using it,” which describes his character. This laissez faire approach helps distinguish the heroism and justice of Shane, who never draws his gun first or seeks violence. Characters in Shane and pre-revisionist Westerns are one-dimensional: villains appear dirty, slim and dressed in black (Wilson), whereas heroes look handsome and clothed in white (Shane). Masculine characters gravitate towards violence: the young Joey Starrett (Brandon DeWilde) idolizes Shane and wants a gunslinger life more than anything. Although Shane advises Joey to “leave a thing like this alone,” he teaches him to shoot nonetheless. Joey fulfills a sidekick role in the end, as he points out a villain aiming to shoot Shane, who vanquishes all the evil in the town before setting out on his next journey. After his climactic stand-off, Shane leaves wounded, but not killed, riding off into the mountains and vanishing into myth.
Logan opens in 2029 at the El Paso-Mexico border and follows Logan / Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) as he tries to find shelter in a violent world set against his genetic race of mutants. Logan spends his days as a limo driver and cares for his elderly superhuman mentor, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), as he saves money for a boat to leave civilization. Soon, Logan gets hired to transport a young girl, Laura (Dafne Keen), to safety from a biotech company searching for her. Logan discovers that Laura is one of the world’s last mutants, created from his own DNA, which elevates the film beyond convention in its emphasis on character. Reflecting on their situation, Logan tells Charles, “There are no new mutants...maybe we were just God’s mistake,” indicating his somber outlook. His ability to heal diminishes, too, in addition to his depression, and his friend, Caliban points out, “Something’s happening to you, Logan. On the inside,” after discovering a bullet in Logan’s possession. Logan struggles to accept the modern world’s obsession with superheroes, remarking, “In the real world, people die.” Over the course of the film, Logan learns to care for Laura and ultimately sacrifices himself so that she and her fellow mutants can survive. Logan functions as a Western in theme, but not substance, ending in a funeral rather than a triumphant walk into the sunset.
Logan and Shane both emerge as solitary and damaged foils searching for meaning in a violent world. While Logan clearly honored Shane in its similar structure, it blatantly pays homage early on when Laura and Charles watch the final scene of Shane in which Joey unsuccessfully pleads for Shane to stay. Joey and Laura appear as foils of the sidekick character: Joey desires gunslinger glory and leaving his normal life, while Laura desires normalcy and leaving her superhuman life. The Starrett family in Shane gets mirrored by the Munson family in Logan, as both provide sustenance and shelter to the traveling protagonists on their ultimate journey to the afterlife. The villains both dress in black, from the dirty and lanky Wilson in Shane, to the menacing mutant X-24 in Logan. While Shane encourages the masculine violence in training Joey, Logan tries to teach Laura to defy it. After learning Laura has hurt people, Logan says, “You’re gonna have to learn to live with that…[bad or good,] all the same.” In terms of their destination, Shane asserts he’s traveling to “someplace I’ve never been” in classic adventurous form, while Logan seeks isolation, since “bad shit happens to people I care about.” Logan asserts this to Laura near the end, saying, “I never asked for this. Charles never asked for this. Caliban never asked for this...And they’re six feet under the ground,” defining his characteristically-bleak approach.
The final scenes in Logan and Shane represent capstones to their respective eras, offering different interpretations of the Western. Shane ends amiably, as he saves the town from greedy despots and assassins and heads out on his next journey with only a wound to show for it. Logan defies this convention to heartbreak effect: Logan faces off against a heartless clone of himself (a literal foil) and dies horribly from impalation on a tree stump (which Shane cuts down in the Starrett’s land in Shane). Before dying, Logan tells Laura, “Take your friends. They’ll keep coming. You don’t have to fight anymore. Go. Don’t be what they made you,” which completes his tragic evolution from careless to compassionate. After a lifetime of suffering, Logan feels peace with his final words: “So this is what it feels like.” Amidst a swelling musical score, the children erect a burial monument for Logan, with Laura reciting the lines from Shane’s ending: “there’s no living with a killing. There’s no going back from one. Right or wrong, it’s a brand. A brand sticks.”
Revisionist Westerns, like Logan, depict realism over romanticism and question common Western themes, such as violence and the closeness of death. Shane presents an exemplary hero who uproots evil in a masculine-driven world where bloodshed and gunslinging enact respect. Logan follows a damaged soul who sacrifices himself for the proliferation of a new, diverse generation that can be better than he was. Death in Logan and Revisionist Westerns reflects real life, and Logan dies knowing his legacy lives on, as he was the end of an era.
Sean Kelso is the founder & editor-in-chief of Greyscale.
