I was curious to know if there are any women out there who enjoy Italian/Euro Westerns too. I know they can be machismo and misogynistic, but I just can’t get the idea of there being female fans of the genre out of my head. If there are any ladies on the forum, please feel free to respond here, or if anyone on the forum has any gal pals who enjoy the occasional SW, also feel free to leave a comment.
I’ll get the ball rolling by saying that my Mom enjoys C’era una Volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Outitw is basically only spagh women generally enjoy, at least to some extent. Other than that, nothing. Although, there’s been one member on the forum claiming to be a woman…
Thank you for replying Runner. I figured these would be the type of answers I’d receive, but I reserved a small measure of hope at least one would be a yes. Thanks again.
Thanks for replying Tomas, I figured a “nothing” response would work its way in there at one point with this subject. I have no regrets in asking the question though, you never know unless you ask
My heart went out to her. Not only was it great to hear she loved the film, but her laughing proved she really got it. I remember reading how Leone was disconcerted at first to hear Morricone roaring with laughter while viewing Fistful of Dollars rushes.
A lot of the Eli Wallach stuff gives out good chuckles, and then he breaks your heart as Mario Brega beats him to a bloody pulp.
Glad this young lady has appreciation for one of the greats. I have Aspergers Syndrome myself so I totally understand how she feels and how people can be jerks who don’t understand what we who have it experience.
Just finished reading the full of that article and was so glad to hear people spoke in defense of the young lady. Part of the reason I stopped going to theaters was because of people acting rude, and now something like this. I hope the BFI follows on this initiative for change, its too important a film institution to have people give it a bad name.
My wife’s not keen. She tried very gamely to take an interest, especially around the time of my first prototype attempt at Spagvember. She knew it was something important to me and she wanted to exorcise some demons of her own (her dad had let her watch Michael Crichton’s Westworld when she was maybe five years old and Yul Brynner scared the life out of her, to the point where she’d become permanently unnerved by any and all westerns); she even signed up to the SWDB. But ultimately, around about the time I was watching a fuckawful copy of Hate is My God on the laptop I think, her eyes finally glazed over as she proclaimed, “These films really are a load of shit, aren’t they?” and that was that.
I guess spags just don’t provide many of the things within movies which appeal most to women (I’m generalising to a degree of course, about the films AND women, but still). Statistically speaking of course, there must be female fans of the genre.
We had a long term member here named Silver who was female. She certainly liked her spaghs. Not sure if she finally moved on from the forum through lack of female company or life just got in the way. I’m still in touch with her occasionally as we used to trade films quite a lot.
My wife and daughters all enjoy the “better” ones of the genre but tend to roll their eyes at some of my more completist viewings. Can’t really blame them. It does border on madness at times.
Isn’t this whole forum thread an insult to modern gender science, at least to some swedish who claim there are no differences, just social constructions
There also is scientific support for that since a female actress in Death Walks In Laredo says(sings) “Give me a gun…” several times as I remember…
Sometimes I find myself time to be all alone when it comes to viewing certain SW titles because I know my girlfriend thinks I’m crazy and I cannot defend the sillyness but it still annoys me when she questions it in the background
I dated a girl several years ago that was into SWs actually. Giallos and exploitation aswell.
Interesting subject. I’d venture to bet that some women would enjoy Man, Pride and Vengeance (though I know it’s not considered to be a “real” SW…it feels a lot like one to me!). Cemetery Without Crosses seems like a likely candidate too.
As for my own wife, she caught parts of Trinity Is Still My Name and she thought it was hysterical! Dunno if I should push my luck…
I showed The Great Silence to a long time friend of mine (who eventually ended up as a professor at the University of Oslo), and she really liked it; also she commented that she prefer the Italian western to the American, because of the stronger parts for women. When I asked her how is that, she said that in an Italian western a women is at least able to take care of her self, one way or another.
Also, as I have mentioned before on another thread, we have in Norway an author by the name of JC Loen. She has written a trilogy about a foulmouthed and heavily armed young American woman named Lee, leading a small gang of outlaws in the aftermath of the Civil War, in what seems very much like spaghetti land. The only information I have managed to find about the author is on the website of an Oslo rifle and pistol club, where it says that she has studied literature and feminism at the University of Oslo.
I screened My Name is Nobody for my cousin earlier this year and she absolutely loved it. Mind you, Terrence Hill must be one of the dishiest men ever to grace the silver screen.
It’s actually funny that usually when there’s articles about the spaghetti westerns there’s this repeated claim that women don’t have much role in them -that they’re just prostitutes to slap around etc. That might be true if you’ve seen only the Dollar trilogy but let’s take Corbucci films for example and there’s lots of strong female parts -and not just the usual love interest which is actually the most obvious female part in classic american westerns.
