Posted on 03/11/2010 8:50:27 AM PST by PJ-Comix
I have a HUGE pet peeve. It is western movies in which the characters are wearing embarrassingly modern clothing. Most often it is the hats. If you look at photos or illustrations of the Old West at the time, the hats look very different from what we usually see in the movies. For example, yesterday I watched "September Dawn" about the Mountain Meadows Massacre but I couldn't get over the fact of the silly looking hats that folks back then did NOT wear. One IMDB commenter stated that those hats looked like something people wear on their way to a Garth Brooks concert.
One of the few movies that seemed to get authentic Western look was "Tombstone" which helped in appreciating that excellent movie. Unfortunately most of the Western movies are completely off-base in their costuming. Another thing that really bugs me about Western movies is when they have women dressed in jeans. Back then women ALWAYS wore dresses. NEVER pants. Any exposure of female legs or even outlines of their legs was considered as nudity back then. Oh, and when women rode horses...they only rode side-saddle.
Okay, sorry for the rant but way too many Western movies are RUINED by costume designers too lazy to research for authentic clothing.
Or use modern colloquialisms.
Or have blue skin.
It is one of my pet peeves, too. Not only are the costumes wrong, but quite often the hairstyles and facial hair are anachronistic as well. What really bugs me is when they have the men dressed in, say, mid-19th century costumes but the women are wearing 1890s dresses, as if the characters were living in different decades.
Part of the humor is that different groups of cowboys are dressed in costumes from different eras of westerns: Roy Rogers 50's-style vests, spaghetti western trench coats, etc.
Think of a western move as an alternative universe, not history.
That’s one of the things that I loved about “Kingdom of Heaven”. Ridley Scott decided that the armor, weapons and clothing needed to look like mid to late 12th century armor, weapons and clothing. So (with the exception of the Muslims having trebuchets) it was really close to accurate. Allowed me to enjoy the movie that much more.
They make westerns to fit the actor/actress. Also to sell any clothing merchandise if the movie is popular. Seen alot of westerns and other movies from the fifties that would dress actors and actresses in modern looking clothing.
And we care about this why?
I always found the hairstyles to be hilarious! Long sideburns and big, bouffant hair. LOL! Just didn’t ‘fit’ at all.
You know you are watching a low budget movie when the savages have vaccination marks.
How about the perfect teeth and expertly applied make-up?
I don’t think Revlon was around then. I know they had cosmetics, but not like today’s.
I find it hard to believe that any sane Freeper would take the words of liberal posters at IMDB at face value.
“Roy Rogers 50’s-style vests”
The Texas A&M band?
But "September Dawn" was based on an historical event. I also hate Civil War movies that show Confederate soldiers in the latter days of that war wearning immaculate and clean uniforms. By that time almost all Confederate uniforms worn by non-officers were shabby and worn down.
The comment about the hats looking like people attending a Garth Brooks concert was dead on.
The same can be said for most movies about the military.
Hollywood either doesn’t know or care at times that someone that knows what to look for can “read” someones uniform and can tell alot about that person by what badges, insignias and decorations and medals they have.
Contrary to popular belief in Hollywood, each has a specific meaning. They are not interchangable.
I understand. But it’s really all about where you draw the line... I find that if I can see my way clear to move my line back a little bit, I enjoy things a lot more.
For instance - If you take my point to the extreme, you couldn’t stomach watching movies of the west at all, as there was no way to record the story. If you decide to accept that, then how about fading out at noon on one day, and picking up the story two days later - or a hundred miles away in less than a second? Very unrealistic.
Having said all that, I feel your pain, but my line is drawn way back, almost to the point of disbelief... I did, however, have a problem with John Wayne having a Wincheter or Henry rifle in “The Comancheros” - set before the Civil War... :-)
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