Over the break, I watched the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and was surprisingly pleased. The main characters in mostly all Westerns I have seen are these badass good-doers that positively affect all those in their presence. However, Jesse James, Bob Ford, and the other gang members are low-life scumbags that don't do an ounce of good for anyone, but have the exact opposite effect. Even the supposed hero, Robert Ford, doesn't do things for the good of society; his motifs are selfish and greedy.

Another aspect that I enjoyed about this film is the fact that it displays life in the West as less than ideal and fantastical, but as a dirty, lonely land full of the scum dwellers. Each member chooses the life of malicious crime for a taste of the "Wild West," which ultimately leads to their demise. There's a line the narrator says, "He flips playing cards all day, looking into his destiny at every king and joker he sees." The imagination of the West plays up these villains to be sort of immaculate, untouchable gods, yet the film depicts them for the losers they really are. It's the first Western I have seen that challenges the glorious imagination of the West. I highly recommend seeing this film.