Mama's Girl

A friend asked me one time if I'd ever been in love with a man who wasn't fictional. I think I might have mentioned this on a blog post before. Well, actually, I've never been in love with one who was. But if I were, it would be the Virginian.

Read it. But if you don't read it, at least watch High Noon. It's sort of the same. Sort of. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly could have been the leads, at any rate. I'm sad that the movie versions of The Virginian all look so awful, particularly the most recent one from 2000. Bill Pullman would not be on my list of choices to play a mellow-voiced, tall drink of water, manly-man cowboy, and I read the synopses for three different versions. They all scramble the story around until it's unrecognizable.

But the real story was therapy for a wounded soul after having read a terrible, terrible book club pick.

What does it say about me that the Virginian trumps Captain America, if only slightly, as an archetype? I am proud to announce it means that I'm a lot more like my Mama than I ever thought. I may have certain derogatory opinions about John Wayne's acting ability, and I may never be able to sit through an episode of Gun Smoke without my eyes and ears bleeding, but I actually do love Westerns. The good ones. Peace Like a River? Loved it so much I bought like 6 copies just to give away to people and share the love. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Silverado? I challenge you to a quote war. I even liked the remake of True Grit (minus that one part ... you know what I'm talking about). Add The Virginian to my list.