The mountain man and American anguish in popular film and television

Mountain Man and American Anguish. Journal of Popular Film & Television (Winter 1997).

The author's primary argument/thesis is that the "mountain man" in popular cultural media represents several conflicting aspects of "the extreme West" in the American psyche, including: hero; villain; pariah; and scapegoat. In support of his argument/thesis, the author refers to numerous examples of popular cultural representations of the "mountain man," including 60 films; 20 documentaries; filmstrips; beer commercials; radio programs; music; paintings; drawings; sculptures and books. The author also refers to Jung's theory of the "shadow" - "the thing a person has no wish to be" -- the pariah onto which Americans project their darker characteristics. Though the author briefly discusses the "mountain man" as pariah and savior on television in the 1950's, he concentrates on representations of the "mountain man" from the early 1970's to the mid-1990's. According to the author, the "mountain man emerged largely due to the Vietnam War and social upheaval, representing additional themes of: the Vietnam combat soldier; repression of effects from the Vietnam War; men as victims of war, government, and women; fear/hatred of women; loss of individual liberties. To illustrate these themes in popular cultural media from the early 1970's through the mid-1990's, the author discusses "mountain men" portrayed in shows/miniseries/movies such as "The Oregon Trail," "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams," "The Macahans," "How the West Was Won," "Centennial," "Hagan," "Dream West," "Manhunt for Claude Dallas," "The Abduction of Kari Swenson," "Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge," "Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann," "Blood River," "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," and "Buffalo Girls."

The article has at least two strengths. First, it gives some detailed descriptions of series in the early 1970's to mid-1990's representing "mountain men" who fit the definition and help prove some of his theories. For example, Old Bill Williams of "Dream West" fits the author's definition of "mountain man" -- "the fur trapper and/or trader of the United States of America's nineteenth-century trans-Mississippi West." The author uses Williams, the drunken and slovenly mountain man who agrees to act as a guide in the "fickle West" because of his greed and becomes a cannibalistic shadow/pariah because of it. Another strength is the author's knowledge about American media in the early 1970's through the mid-1990's, as the author discusses numerous representations of heroes/villains/pariahs/shadows/scapegoats.