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Drooling on the Pillow

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Cowboys 

Jim, at Parkway Rest Stop has a post about rodeos that has generated some interesting comments. We saw a rodeo last summer in the Poconos and it's become a motif in Gracie's drawings, so I know she's hooked.

Most of the tourist rodeos you see in areas like that are more exhibition than competition, but this was part of a sort of minor league system feeding into the major competitions you see on ESPN. For us urban types it's an almost impossibly exotic activity, as removed from our lives as Colonial Williamsburg, but what surprised me was where the cowboys came from. They were mostly from Pennsylvania, but a lot were from New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. It's like a parallel world. These kids come from areas where a lot of the boys go out for rodeo instead of football. This isn't a matter of keeping dying traditions alive. This culture is thriving.

I once did a long monologue in scene study class from a play by Sam Shepard. In it, a rodeo cowboy talks about his encounter with a famous bull. He goes into intricate detail about strapping himself on and describes a specific, unlawful grip which locks you onto the bull. He used this because he knew otherwise he had no chance of staying on. At the end of the monologue you realize you're listening to a ghost because the bull stomped him to death. I worked damn hard on it and thought it was one of the best things I ever did.

When I was done the teacher looked at me like I was a bug. He goes "Don't tell me you believe that bullshit myth about cowboys. Are you a child?" And he launches into a ten minute diatribe about the evil, racist, sexist history of the west, about which he knew exactly zero. I started to say that there was something to admire, even if much of it is mythical, about the qualities of courage, individualism, self reliance, etc. He just waived me off the stage. Never said anything about the work. One of my first lessons in the closing of the liberal mind.
Posted by: Sluggo / 10:43 AM
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