1883 and Taylor Sheridan

Having finished the Yellowstone series I began 1883, one of two “prequel” series, now that it’s free. (A few spoilers follow.) The bee in my bonnet is the vision running through both, thanks to the writing of one Taylor Sheridan (“TS”). His politics are perverse but he tells a good story. The writing is a cut above ordinary teevee fare. He is extremely prolific.

Sheridan appears as a character in Yellowstone in a number of clips of him displaying his horse-riding skills. The frequency and length of the clips are gratuitous but hey, it’s his show. He gets to show off and seems pleased with himself. At one point in the script, leading man Kevin Costner says “these (including TS) are the best riders in the world,” or words to that effect. Bully for you, TS.

I’ve written about Yellowstone before on Facebook but the perverse clarity of the TS vision there and in 1883 prompts me to write again. I called it “the Sopranos with cows,” but it is more than that. Tony Soprano had no pretensions of being the foundation of America’s national greatness, nor of any loyalty beyond his most immediate family. (Very immediate, seeing as how he was not above murdering his own cousin.)

Yellowstone brims with white-guy resentment at the world’s failure to understand and honor the great white patriarch and his ancestors, they who made America and feed the world. The story is all about how the lead character’s accumulation of wealth, in the form of an enormous cattle ranch, is the target of all manner of miscreant, would-be thieves, but it’s really about how in the U.S., wealthy white folks are put-upon by everybody else.

Of course, the ranch land has basically been stolen from Indians, but this reality is not denied in the story. To the contrary, the acquisition is naturalized as morally just, if not inescapable. Worse yet, the Indians, who have been reduced to running a casino on their reservation, are portrayed as conniving to steal the ranch.

The ranch itself is run as a cult. Ranch hands who are accepted as permanent employees are literally branded like cattle. Any with the temerity to resign are literally driven to a remote location, murdered, and dumped like garbage. This too is normalized. Broadly speaking, the entire culture of the ranch is elevated by the election of Costner as governor, who defiantly proclaims himself “the opposite of progress.”

I’ve only seen the first two episodes of 1883, but the same themes run through it. Anarchy reigns in the Wild West. Violence proliferates. Rough justice is the only justice. All this is fine. You just have to have the grit to maneuver through it. If you don’t, too bad. If your luck turns bad, the only thing to do is end yourself. Suicide is described as an act of courage.

In general the appeal of this television is like watching a moral/spiritual train-wreck, interspersed with lots of cool shoot-outs. Like most TV, I suppose.