Surprisingly short on clichés and long on storytelling
My beautiful daughters had never seen me "fan-girling" over anything, until I ran across this 1958 gem on Amazon's Prime TV. Remembering how I enjoyed it when it was new and in its final seasons, I anticipated a nostalgic -if-dated viewing binge, and was willing to tolerate a few stereotypes and western clichés for the fun of the ride. I didn't anticipate the amazing storytelling or the subtle underlying themes. I fell in love. The only thing is, I'm not sure whether it's Lucas McCain, Chuck Connors, or Sam Peckinpa that I'm in love with! Although, Chuck Connors does look a little like Eomer, so there's that. My four-year-old self never appreciated just how lovely-looking the show's scenery could be (and I don't mean the 'New Mexico' landscape!)Each episode on Prime is given a two-hundred character precis, and many of the are terrible: misrepresenting the episode a giving me a dread that this next episode would ring phoney or cheesy to my now-sophisticated self. Nearly every time I was delighted when the show took a sharp turn just before the moment of cheesiness, and took viewers instead to considering a new perspective, many times a perspective that replaced looming libertarian clichés about the independent pioneering spirit of the Old West, with themes of social justice and the need for kindness and community among people. Taking into account that Chuck Connors was a lifelong Republican, a friend of Ronald Reagan's who even campaigned for Reagan, the actual themes and moral lessons of the Rifleman illustrate to what degree the "Republican" party of Trump and Pence and the NRA have betrayed their voter base and twisted Republican values into a garish self-serving lampoon. The Republican values of The Rifleman include the equality of all persons regardless of race and immigration status, a faith in justice and its institutions, the effectiveness of gentle non-punitive child-rearing, and the importance of a nation's "growing up" beyond the need for citizens to carry guns.
Because, taken as a whole, *The Rifleman* is not a "western". It is an epic coming-of-age story. Over five seasons we watch Mark McCain grow under Lucas' guidance, from a cute-as-a-button ten-year-old, to a fourteen-year-old capable of making his own opinions and choosing and working for his own livelihood (while we also get to watch Johnny Crawford grow from cute-as-a-button 12-year-old to teen heart-throb and singing cowboy.) That's pretty good on its own, but it's not the whole story. We get to watch Lucas McCain -- a man with a violent past, a hot temper, and bucket full of grudges and pain -- grow into a man capable of forgiving and trusting and agreeing to disagree. Who fills the rôle of mentor to him, as he does to Mark? His love interest, of course; and I don't mean Joan Taylor or Patricia Blair. Without ever showing her and with only the rarest mentions of her name, every episode showcases Margaret McCain; and only the most obtuse viewer would miss the clear implication that, with every subjugation of his temper and every grudge forgiven, Lucas McCain is living up to the standard of his long-dead wife.
And there's a bigger picture to this coming-of-age story as well.*The Rifleman* is about New Mexico's coming-of-age. Mixed in with "two fisted action" we see the growth of law and order, the coming of the railroad, the debate over statehood for the young territory. We see immigrants from the world over coming together as Americans. And we see, and hear overtly, Lucas McCain's hope that the territory will grow up to the point that people no longer need to rely on a rifle or six-gun. It's a message the NRA would like you to miss. It's a vision that neo-fascism wants you to close your eyes to. And it's a vision that is within the grasp of Americans today, if only they choose to live according to their values instead of according to their fears.
score /10
pmcleanj 22 October 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4413977/14280
Pages:
[1]