His cowboy self-image is cemented in the show by the parodic appearance of “Big Shot: For the Bounty Hunters,” an intergalactic broadcast that helps bounty hunters track down their next major bag with caricatured hosts who commodify Spike’s solitary lifestyle. Spike is the dashing space cowboy, a pensive dude who makes quiet entrances to elegantly dispose of his opposition. In the context of Cowboy Bebop, the cowboy and the “Indian” share outsider status and inscrutability. Spike seeks wisdom and healing from him when he is injured, and Laughing Bull refers to him as “Swimming Bird” likely as a nod to his fluid movements and state of being in constant flight. The “cowboys and Indians” trope also appears through a Native American called Laughing Bull who ironically aligns more closely with the “ stoic Indian ” stereotype. Its rugged heroes are paid by incompetent cops to take down crime lords throughout the cosmos. The Cowboy Bebop mercenary mission echoes the colonialist, expansionist dream of building personal wealth by “exploring the untapped wilderness.” In this universe, however, the desire to explore and colonize the frontier has backfired, and humanity is left in lawless shambles. The main protagonist Spike Spiegel’s signature weapon is a powerful Jericho 941 which uses the same ammo as the Western film’s go-to gun: the Colt 45. The story takes place in 2071, yet its locations are as gritty as Wild Western towns, and the characters still use plain old guns with bullets instead of hyper-futuristic weaponry.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |