Go West, Young Alien

The politics of Roswell seemed to derive from the old-fashioned idea of what “America” really is. The America that taught a young boy how to be a man by saddling up, going west, and claiming his own land. Yes, I am talking about Cowboys.

Maybe this is a stretch, but tonight I made a lot of connections between the good ol’ Western film – which incidentally is probably one of our countries greatest contributions to history at this point – and the contemporary TV series Roswell.

First of all, the show is set in New Mexico, the desert, with cactus and tex-mex lunches. The two Sheriffs represents the law. They come barging in after two men shoot a gun off in the café (read: two hooligans in a gunfight at the saloon) and try to bring order. But like some Westerns show, the “good” guy isn’t always so good. Sometimes the “bad” guy is the one who understands real justice.

Here the “bad” guys, who are really the good guys, (read: cowboy hero) are the aliens, because they come from outer space (read: out of town) and need to pretend to be normal in order to remain undetected. The law isn’t trustworthy, because they want to dig up the aliens, simply because they are different. And in a town like this, where girls date jerks with shiny sunglasses and wear shiny eye shadow and get shiny alien scars, difference is a threat. The law even does things unlawful, like asking Liz Parker to lift her shirt up to see her midriff. The sheriffs befriend the bountyhunter-esq alien fanatics, furthering their bad character.

To top it all off, like every good Western, there arises an impossible love: Girl likes Boy who is Alien, so it will never work out, and he may end up leaving her as he rides off into the sunset on his horse, or UFO. Oh, and there is a curfew.

Although I felt like the show was too speedy and too slow at the same time, and the music really hurt my ears, and the mystery was tiring to watch since as the viewer I already understood half of it and didn’t have to do any work, I can see some interesting politics behind the idea of the show:

Westerns represent the best and the worst of stereotypes. Character, having true grit, makes a man, and being weak hearted, cruel, or dishonest makes an evil, cowardly villain. As a teen TV show, we can see these personas projected onto teenagers, who are all pretty good. They push authority because they support diversity, and want to make a better world.