The End of the Trail: How the Western Movie Rode Into the Sunset

The Western was America’s bedrock mythology – and greatest movie genre – for the first 70 years of film history. But, during the age of the counterculture and Vietnam, the “revisionist” western took up a fiercely critical argument with the past - you could no longer distinguish heroes from villains by the color of their hats. Robert Horton will lead a discussion asking how movies reflect the history and culture of their times. Why do we need the clarity of “good guys” and “bad guys” at certain times? How do these movies challenge our way of thinking – and what happens to us when a movie forces us to question our long-cherished beliefs?

Robert Horton has spent more than 30 years writing and talking about film. He reviews movies for The Herald in Everett and KUOW-FM in Seattle, as well as a number of national publications.

Sponsored by Humanities Washington