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Crop Circle Cinema Episode Two: Why the West? [1]

['Susannah Broun', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2025-08-21

I’ve taken quite a few courses on American cinema, which inevitably means I’ve spent a lot of time with the Western genre. From Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows to Spaghetti Westerns, I’ve consumed a lot of media about the American West.

Tumble-weeds rolling down a dirt street, saloons, high-noon showdowns, stranger cowboys, moral lines drawn in the sand. The Western genre is about big skies, bigger egos, and the belief that anyone could roll into town and change everything.

So when I started watching a film that opens with a lone traveler riding into a dusty frontier town, it felt like a story I’d seen a dozen times. Conflict is brewing, guns are at the ready, and the heat of the desert landscape surrounds a tense cast of characters.

And then the aliens drop out of the sky.

I suppose that the title Cowboys & Aliens – about as subtle as the clunky, over-the-top film itself – should have been the giveaway. But for a few opening minutes, it pulls off a convincing disguise. This 2011 movie directed by Jon Favreau… well, let’s just say it’s not exactly The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But it makes an important point: the Western and the alien invasion movie aren’t strangers at all. They’ve been drinking at the same dusty saloon for decades.

This persistent connection between the West, America’s frontier; and space, the final frontier, is the topic of the second episode of Crop Circle Cinema, Rural Remix’s new podcast about rural alien films.

While the Space Western is a fascinating genre ripe for exploration (think: your favorite space cowboy, Han Solo), this episode focuses not on gunslinging heroes in space but rather on what it means for outer-space creatures to come to us.

The American West is already tied to extraterrestrial lore. Places like Area 51 in Nevada and Roswell, New Mexico dominate modern-day UFO stories. (Stay tuned for episode four, when we will elaborate more on this connection).

But aside from its alien reputation, there are generally two dominant myths of the West. The first is the West as an idyllic land of opportunity, beauty, and spectacle. Examples of the scenic wonders and simple life offered by the landscape are found in classic novels like Little House on the Prairie or films like Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (clearly Matt Damon’s most important role).

The second interpretation of the West is as a violent frontier, built on colonization and control. Gritty depictions of bloodshed, from Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven to Netflix’s American Primeval, keep this image alive.

Alien films set in the western United States play with both of these myths. Episode two of Crop Circle Cinema, “Why The West?” explores the ways that aliens are symbols for the multitude of meanings held within this complex framework.

We dive into Jordan Peele’s 2022 masterpiece, Nope, where the spectacle of the frontier meets the spectacle of an unknown creature. We look at Wes Anderson’s quirky, pastel fusion of the Western and Alien genres, Asteroid City (2023), where an alien plays the role of the lone figure riding into town, triggering disruption and existential questions.

Through analysis of movies like District 9 and the aforementioned Cowboys & Aliens, we also explore how aliens can represent both colonizers and the oppressed, forcing a reckoning with the bloody history of Westward expansion.

Aliens represent the ultimate outsider, and they can’t help but shake things up when they ride (fly) into town. They act as powerful metaphors that can reveal, distort, or challenge the myths at the heart of the American West.

Hollywood is still wrestling with the legacy and contemporary understanding of the West. Aliens are a big part of that exploration. Listen to Crop Circle Cinema – Ep 2: Why The West? On the Rural Remix feed, wherever you get your podcasts.

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[1] Url: https://dailyyonder.com/crop-circle-cinema-episode-two-why-the-west/2025/08/21/

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