The deeds of these men, whether real or embellished, have served as cultural metaphors of how Americans view themselves. In many respects the issues of crime and the crime fighters that tamed the Wild West are overstated. However, violence and crime were dramatically in existence during this period and sheriffs were an important part of crime fighting matters in the nineteenth century West. When movies are made about the Frontier and the West, what are their plots based on? Usually the central plot of the western film is the classic, simple goal of maintaining law and order on the frontier in a fast-paced action story. It is normally rooted in violence. In many Western films obviously recognizable opposing sides are shown by identifying characteristics like white clothes against black clothes, cowboys vs. Native Americans, heros against villains, police against wanted outlaws. The great Western movies of the thirties, forties, and fifties starring the likes of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood showed and stiil give an entertaining and romanticized view of how the Frontier was perceived to be of a pure violent nature. I, it is obvious that violence in our country has been around ever since we started exploring the Frontier. The question is, has violence subsided? And if not, have the media and the violent movies influenced how violent our country is today. The answer is yes, the media and violent movies and the American frontier have influenced how violent our country is today.
On September 11th 2001, our country was struck with violence of the highest degree. Two planes crashed purposefully with intent into two of our nations standing symbols the Twin Towers of New York City. Violent acts like these have been a growing concern within our country. With each terrorist act and school shooting like Columbine, our government officials question ways we can prevent something like them from happening again.
