Helping our Russian Cousins understand the American Psyche (still congealing after only 250y) through the lens of American mythology

America is considered perhaps by non ‘Western’ cultures as being all cowboys and gangsters- truth is in that characterization but it goes beyond the image created in the mind of ‘Easterners’. Perhaps more important are the stories that we told ourselves as a culture, told by hardscrabble men who wrested livelihood from the raw frontier, the early hard yet gallant character of whom is shown in the stories they told. Besides a sing-a-long, there wasn’t much fireside entertainment besides stretching credulity telling ‘Tall Tales’.*

The root cowboy ideation is a mix of the 50’s morality Roy Rogers and his horse-and-friend Trigger, John Wayne with his folksy “Howdy Ma’am” manners and no nonsense straight talk, and Clint Eastwood of Dirty Harry and his “make my day, feeling lucky punk?” puck. All of whom were respecters of their Mothers, and by extension all womanhood. The legend of the west is that wimmenfolk were respected, but there were also more brothels and cat-houses* than churches and schools. The few respectable women on the developing frontier were probably well protected and not permitted to be disrespected. Before them came Explorers and Frontiersmen such as Davy Crockett, Danial Boon, Jim Bowie, and the mountain men, buffalo hunters and trappers.

There are also legends of Riverboat men, (Mike Fink self-proclaimed ‘best bragger east of the Rockies’) Wranglers (working men like Pecos Bill, said to have saddled and ridden a whirlwind into a whimper) and lumberjacks of the Great Northern Woods exemplified by Paul Bunyan* to add their imprint on the zeitgeist.(His Blue Ox left hoof-prints that were named lakes, and Paul as a baby caused floods when he had his bath.)

It is near the end of this oral tradition of story telling (tall tales, fishermens stories of the one that got away, outrageous puffery and brag with swagger, and whoppers*) when modern Santa Claus was born of the same spirit.

As for outlaws it was dashing heroic anti-heroes like the Robin Hood legend of ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ (who had a good ‘PR outfit’ it seems) and Jesse James, Lots of ‘Gentleman’ outlaws and Pirates too. Gangsta is darker, but just cultural reflections and faddish posing for the most. Seems that our very modern heroes are murderous snaky punk losers. I posit the culture was changed when they added Scrappy-doo; he could talk; and the ghosts turned out to be real. Thanks again, China!