Westerns.

Origins:

'For our purposes, the history of the West should start in 1763, when the British authorities, to defuse tension with the Indian tribes, decreed that white settlers in its American colony would stay east of the Appalachian mountains - a pledge ignored, after 1783, by the independent USA'. - Simpson, Paul 2006

Westerns as a genre take their roots from the American westward expansion, causing warring with the indigenous tribes of Native American Indians and a certain degree of lawlessness and pioneering earning it the nickname 'the wild west'.

The vast majority of Westerns are set after the Civil War ended in 1865. 'The West was the place where America was being made and, in a fantasy that continues to draw thousands to Hollywood today, unsatisfactory lives could be remade. The Wild Wests heroic heyday lasted less than thirty years. In 1890, the US Census Bureau declared the frontier officially no longer existed. But it lived on in the hearts and minds of writers and filmmakers who perpetuated, expanded and reshaped the legend of the West, enhancing America's self-image of resilience, resourcefulness and courage. They were preoccupied by what was then recent history: the rise of the cattle empires, the quest for law and order, conflicts over ranges and railroads. Real mundane hardships soon augmented by the dangers of cardsharps, claim jumpers, confidence men, quickdraw killers and wild Indians' - Simpson, Paul 2006

10 facts about Westerns:

• Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry - 
• Many other genres have drawn on Westerns as influence including space travel films - influences in other films make for interesting cross overs and shows the power of western story plots
• None of our modern concerns exist in Westerns, they are free of society in a sense - It can be reliving to imagine a world without the modern pressures we face today.
• Westerns usually involve a stand-off between the hero and the villain - Many moviegoers rarely get a chance to do this in real life and can live through this scene, perhaps as an imaginary duel between them and their boss at work.
• Take characters straight from actual historical findings and events - gives the characters a sense of realism and shows how different directors can perceive the same person
• Sometimes were advised by living legends of the time - because the films were made so close to the actual time period it could have real life accounts from people such as Wyatt Earp.
• Was so popular that it was massive in Europe at the same time, the French had 'horse operas' (silent westerns) before world war 1 - shows its worldwide appeal and influence
• 227 westerns were made in just one year in 1925 - good westerns had to deal with a lot of competition to stand out
• Westerns were made in the West, Hollywood to be specific - authentic to context
• The first actual Western is considered 'The Great Train Robbery' (1903) - extremely close to the actual wild west period.