Our weekend entertainment features are designed to counter this type of deception. Features from earlier generations illustrate for us clearly what our culture once expected of real men. This week, we offer another series that presents a positive masculine character in a high dosage: Cimarron Strip.
Cimarron Strip was a Western that aired on CBS at the end of television's Golden Age from 1967-1968. It was a full 90-minute drama---a feature-film length program---following the exploits of tough US Marshall Jim Crown.
Crown, a former gunfighter who had cleaned up Abilene, is sent to bring order to a federal No-Mans Land in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Because of the region's uncertain legal status, it attracted the worst outlaws, freebooters, and renegades of the Old West. Crown gets no help in this assignment from the government, and very little from the people of Cimarron. Obviously, in such circumstances, it takes more than calling oneself an Alpha to get the job done.
A theme that is clearly brought out in Cimarron Strip is the uncomfortable fact that, beneath the veneer of Civilization, lies a dark undercurrent of unpredictable evil. When that element rises to the surface, what we consider masculine virtues must rise to defeat it. This is the point on which the whole 'Red-Pill Philosophy' completely fails. The Red Pill Philosophy is premised on the idea that what we call civilized social and moral norms is merely an illusion (another notion they've borrowed from Marxism). The chief instigator of the Game Cult in fact even has a header on his blog reading "Where Pretty Lies Perish." Now logically it follows from such a premise that Civilization is not worth defending (another Marxist theme) and that the true Alpha Leader therefore lives for himself.
In their scheme of things, men like Crown are chumps, as only a fool would fight for an illusion. Sex and Status are their highest virtues, so it also follows logically that they rule society as its overlords, while said chumps do their bidding. A few minutes of serious thought ought to show anyone the positive social danger inherent in such a philosophy.
In contrast, a character like that of Jim Crown understands that actions are what really wins respect. He understood that taking responsibility to protect and provide for others who depend upon him is what separates men from boys. When he goes beyond protecting and providing and makes the world a better place, that's what separates ordinary from extraordinary men.
Crown has a love interest in this series, of whom he is especially protective, named Dulcie Coopersmith. To the horror of the Alt-Right, she is both an immigrant and an independent businesswoman. To the horror of the Far Left, she's at half Crown's age. Dulcie in many ways is a strong feminine character type. She's not the typical Western heroine by any means; but a demure beauty with a sweet disposition and a kind heart. In one episode where Crown goes missing and Dulcie can't get help, she enlists a reclusive doctor and brings him back to a sense of duty. In many ways, Dulcie's sweetness and innocence inspires Crown and often brings him back from the disillusionment of his work.
The 90-minute format of Cimarron Strip allows for some highly developed and sophisticated plots and storylines. Though there's no shortage of hard-hitting action, some critics have called this series 'the Western for the thinking man.' The series was also unique for recruiting a number of top Hollywood writers and producers, including some who'd worked for Alfred Hitchcock and on other top films.
Cimarron Strip is available on Youtube and also on DVD format. It's a unique series and in its own way, a captivating one. Moreover, it is a refreshing change from the banal and superficial aspects of our Postmodern Culture. It shows what genuine men and real women can accomplish, even under the most trying circumstances.
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