Can Tim McGraw Revive Character in the American Cowboy?
Posted: Thursday, July 10, 2008
by Jay Hopson
Puget Sound: Amphitheater
Tim McGraw was getting warmed up for a song onstage when he got involved in a scuffle with a belligerent fan that made national news, gossip and video sites like TMZ.com and YouTube.com
McGraw saw an aggressive man attacking a woman near the stage and called for security. Apparently security wasn't fast enough in responding so McGraw handled the situation himself pulling the man bodily onstage and throwing him out of the performance with help from a few crew members.
Fisticuffs almost ensued, with the aforementioned security finally arriving to separate the two, possibly more for the protection of the aggressor than for Mcgraw, who cocked back a fist at one point. Then the star coolly jumped into the song as if the incident were part of the show singing the next lyric, "I ain't lookin' for trouble." View the video here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0RyeH37lkA0
Could this herald the return of prestige and honor to the term Cowboy? I have watched in horror for years as cowboys have suffered major blows to the persona built up by the likes of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood
Where is Rooster Cogburn when you need him?
First we were hit with the near death dealing blow of "Brokeback Mountain," a film that totally tainted cowboys everywhere. Many feel the movie had merit, but any self respecting cowboy would walk out of such a movie if he had the dishonor of finding himself in the theater.
Then, we had yahoos calling themselves "cowboy" release songs like "Save a horse, ride a cowboy" which debases the very image of cowboy character. Rooster Cogburn was a drunk, but he had class. Where, may I ask, is the class in that song? There is none, zilch, nada, zip! The country genre was the last to fall to the debasement of sexual depravity our nation seems to be wholeheartedly embracing.
I am only half joking with this line of thought. Sure, Tim McGraw cannot single handedly return the cowboy to former glory, but something needs to be done to restore dignity to this sorely abused term. I now issue a call to cowboy's everywhere to stand up and be counted as individuals of character. This nation needs its hero's back!
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)hi jay, i liked this article. it was well written, easy to read, and interesting. thanks for sharing, and keep writing, best regards, sue thomThank you Susan,
I know it has limited appeal, but I am interested in the subject.
Great article but in defense of cowboys everywhere, Brokeback Mountain was about shep herding. So, the cowboys can rest easy on that one.*laughing*Thank you Roschelle, for pointing that out. It makes me feel much better! LOL
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