Note to mods: I’m not sure what direction this thread may take so please move it to a more appropriate forum as/if you see fit.
Marvel Comics is reviving the 1950s charactger Rawhide Kid as a gay gunslinger. They say it won’t be overt, just has some double entendres and euphamisms.
A lot of my compadres in the cowboy action shooting community are blowing a gasget over this. A little background: there are whole bunches of people who get together to dress as old west cowboys and such and do competetive shooting with sixshooters, rifles and shotguns. Basically a bunch of grownups reliving the joy of their first Red Ryder BB gun but with live ammo and more safety rules. It’s the fastest growing shooting sport. There are 140-150 people at my local club match every month and many thousands of active shooters across the country.
It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys on crank and is’s a very friendly bunch but as you can expect it’s a somewhat conservative crowd. The arguments on the SASSnet message board are running from biblical to general paranoid homophobia but a few dissenting voices are riding against the herd which is encouraging. I know there are gays in the sport but am not all suprised none are eager to make it an issue. At least my church isn’t that way.
Well, I expect during the old west era, the percentage of gays was about the same as today. Then as now, they were probably to be found in all walks of life. Are the people who are upset about this Marvel comic under the impression that no old west cowboy was ever gay? Or are they just upset that this is being acknowledged?
Somewhat conservative?!? I know this bunch, too, as my dad has been very involved in cowboy action shooting for years. They are an interesting bunch of people, and for the most part, very nice people, too. But very conservative. I can only imagine their outrage.
[hijack] I have a horrible time finding gifts for my dad nowadays. Cowboy action shooting is his sole hobby and occupation. Where is a good place to buy gifts for him, such as the authentic clothes and accessories? He occasionally wins awards based on his costume, and loves dressing up, but I don’t know where to go to buy them, without actually actually going to an event and buying from the vendors there. [/hijack]
[Pansy Division]
Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other
Even though they take speed and drive pickups and shoot their big guns
There’s many a cowboy who don’t understand the way that he feels for his brother
There’s many a cowboy who keeps quiet about things he’s done
[/Pansy Division]
Interestingly enough, my friends in the Pink Pistols (www.pinkpistols.org) report that they get a lot more flack from gay organizations and media than from gun people. I don’t think they (the Boston chapter, at least) have ever been made unwelcome at any ranges, events, etc. although there are some ranges that don’t like the reporters who tend to show up at Pink Pistols shoots.
I found this difficult to believe when they first told me, but it has proven to be the case. The Pink Pistols are certainly welcome (and active) in the gun rights community (which is NOT the same as the shooting sports community, alas).
Not that the shooting sports folk are all alike either - trap shooters and tactical carbine shooters are very different. I don’t know any cowboy action shooters, myself.
No problem on the hijack. Give Wild West Mercantile a try. If your dad can wear it they have it. http://www.wwmerc.com/ I actually live about half a mile from their store in Phoenix.
Okay, so I was being the king of understatement about the conservatives. There are some really vocal ones but suprisingly some other folks who are going against the grain in a couple of message threads. I think it takes some strength of conviction to Actually pinkpistols.org came up in another thread and the debate has turned biblical.
According to what I’ve read the comic certainly won’t be pornographic but the Marvel website said “explicit content” so I take that to mean it isn’t meant for kids. Seriously, this is Marvel Comics we’re talking about. We’re not going to see The Red Ryder meets the Bondage Faeries… Though I’d buy it if they did.
Oh, give me a gay where the buffalo play
Where the queer and the straight get along
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the guys want to play with your dong!
Homo on the range
Where some fabulous chaps can be seen
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the king of the road is a queen.
Hmmm…not knowing exactly what is being said at the Action Shooting locales, I think I know part of what could be the issue…
In this instance, it would appear to me that the uproar is over a classic comic-book character being “updated” to the 2000’s.
As an example, would we really want to see a John Wayne movie re-worked (with computer technology, allowing Mr. Wayne to still be the lead character) as a gay update? Yeah, it might be good for some comical effect (Rooster Cogburn wearing a rainbow t-shirt in addition to that eye-patch as he blasts away with two 30-30’s…hysterical), but that would definitely take away from the classic part, I would think.
And here I thought the uproar was over a minor character being needlessly remade by a hack (cough Ron Zimmerman cough). It’s a stupid idea, and just dips into those old tired limp-wristed gay stereoypes. To quote Jay Sherman, “It stinks!”
You know, JosephFinn, I was back reading that article again when I saw that Zimmerman was the author and felt it was my civic duty to come back and warn the casual readers about the no-talent, assclownian, failed Hollywood writer. His previous attempts (Ultimate Adventures and Get Kraven) both suck…er, blow…um, are really not very good at all.
