CFP: The Western Heroic and Anti-heroic: Wandering Gunfighters,Good Indians, Helpful Women, Sheriffs, Sidekicks, Superhorses Join the trail drive to Kansas City for the Film and History Conference on the West in Film and TV Conference, November 7-10, 2002. We seek contributions that explore the heroic themes in film and TV depictions of the western mythscape. Consider submitting a paper on these topics, or invent your own. 1. The Death of the Western Hero: did it really happen, and if so why? Done in by Vietnam, feminism, multiculturalism, Blazing Saddles, or had the formula worn itself out in variations? 2. Survival of the Western Hero: the quintessential hero was a sagebrush savior with an inerrant gun. Did these scourges of evil simply move to urban settings in the personae of Dirty Harry, Charles Bronson, Steven Seagal, et. al. 3. Helpful Women?: usually subordinate and tough to persuade about the need for righteous violence, women usually relented (Molly in The Virginian) and occasionally helped (Amy in High Noon). Plus an assortment of school marms, prostitutes and other service workers. How often did the Western allow women to act heroically in their own right? 4. Superhorses: Trigger (Roy Rogers), Champion (Gene Autry), Silver (Lone Ranger) seemed as miraculous in physical performance and infallible in moral judgment as their owners. 5. Criminals as Heroes: In the bizarre plots of Billy the Kid Returns(1938; Roy Rogers), the singing cowboy plays a Billy the Kid who restores justice to Lincoln County; John Wayne's The Shootist replays the John Wesley Hardin story heroically. How often did Hollywood restyle the outlaw in this way? These are just a few possibilities. Deadline for proposals is August 15, 2002. Please respond with an abstract of a proposed topic (250 words or less) and help us build thematically coherent panels. Publication opportunities will grow out of participation. Our last conference on American Presidency in Film and TV is producing edited volumes at Syracuse University Press and the University Press of Kentucky. For further information on heroic-related panels, contact John Lawrence 758 Spruce Street Berkeley, CA 94707 [log in to unmask] Conference Information: John Cawelti (The Six Gun Mystique, Adventure, Mystery and Romance),will be a featured speaker. Conference location is the Kansas City Marriot Country Club Plaza Hotel with significant nearby attractions. For full details on room and registration costs,airline deals, and rental car rates, see the Film and History site <hhtp:\\www.filmandhistory.org> -- John S. Lawrence 758 Spruce St. Berkeley, CA 94707-2041 (510) 524-8156 [log in to unmask] ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite