so this could use a few more hours of work and some more historical info, but i'm tired. if you don't want to read my lovely history paper, good for you. however, i enjoyed getting to be "creative" and pulling in Star Trek to a class on Texas and the American West ;-)
Elizabeth Moss
ASSIGNMENT 4
TEXAS & THE AMERICAN WEST
Due: Wednesday, April 26
Watch a movie about Texas and/or the American West and write a 500-700 word review. You may watch the movie of your choice. Your review must not only recount the story told on screen, but include analysis based upon your study of Texas and the American West. In other words, you are reviewing the movie as a historian. As such you should consider the following issues:
· What themes of Texas/the West are developed?
· How accurately are events and people portrayed?
· Does the movie cover a specific, historical event or is it simply set in a fictional setting the West?
· Any historical figures involved in the story?
· Is the movie useful for someone interested in the story of Texas and/or the American West or should it be avoided at all costs?
(Yes, I know the show I chose to watch is a little unorthodox, but give it a chance. It can work. I wanted to do something over the O.K. Corral, because my great-great grandmother was there, and swore that the movies had it all wrong. She said they were all bad shots. So, I wanted the opportunity to watch one of those movies and research the topic to see if it agreed with her eyewitness account, as relayed to my grandmother. I was having trouble finding any available movies. Then, I found this one, and it seemed strange yet perfect.)
Spectre of the Gun
Common people do not get their history from primary sources. Common people generally don?t even refer to history books. The ?historical? facts that they know come from pop culture mixed with phantoms of childhood lessons. Movies play a large role in this. Sometimes, movies and television shows are created that follow historical events to the letter, however in many cases details are added to make the story less dry or altered to fit the agenda of the producers and the culture at the time. The television show Star Trek held (and still holds) a very large following. These people, whether they realize it or not, are exposed to political propaganda and occasionally the reworking of history. Many of the original series Star Trek episodes dealt with cultures repeating the same events that Earth went through or situations created by alien races taken from broken details. (Actually, this occurred in the Next Generation as well as other Star Trek series.) When someone views a show that deals with ?historical? material, they access the schemata in their brains that deal with the events addressed. However, as they often haven?t been studying the event very closely and aren?t very likely to check the facts afterward, the material presented very memorably through the television can replace the information held in the schemata. Instead of assimilating the information into what they already knew, they choose to accommodate it, changing their previously held ideas. This is a little more obvious with movies that deal specifically with historical events, but with television shows like Star Trek it goes almost unnoticed.
Spectre of the Gun is episode number 56 from the original Star Trek series. It begins with Captain Kirk, yet again, violating the wishes of an alien species, the Melkotians, and trespassing in their space. He becomes an interstellar outlaw of sorts. The alien race naturally becomes agitated. In retaliation, when Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, and Chekov beam down to the planet?s surface, the misty surface of the planet transforms to a stage-like setup of Tombstone. The setting is far from realistic, but as a sci-fi show, it never promised to be realistic. Just like the set of a play, it is there to trigger the schemata of the audience allowing them to visualize in their minds what it should be and allowing the actors more freedom (and more of a budget to work with). Aside from the incomplete stage, the alien version of Tombstone is flawed from the start. The Melkotians base their town off of the vague memories in Kirk?s brain, incomplete at best, if not already warped from his own culture?s representations. The producers do not assume that the audience automatically knows where they are or its significance, as well they shouldn?t. They take the opportunity to point out that Chekov is Russian and therefore wouldn?t know the tales of the great American West. Kirk and Bones provide enlightenment by explaining Tombstone?s significance and background, reminding the audience in the process.
The date is October 26, 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona. (Incidentally, this episode first aired on October 25, 1968 ? one day before the anniversary of the famous shoot-out.) The dispute in question was between the Earps (along with Doc Holiday) and the Clanton gang. The Enterprise officers discover that they are apparently to take the place of the Clanton gang. The Earps accuse the Clantons (or more properly the Clantons and the McLaurys and Claiborne) of being horse thieves. Morgan Earp and Billy Claiborne (being played by Chekov) fight over a saloon girl, who seems to be completely against the Earps. The Earps give the Clanton gang a deadline ? be out of town by 5 pm. This presents a problem for the Enterprise officers. They have no way of leaving town. The aliens placed a force field around the perimeter, creating an almost certain method of execution for these intergalactic trespassers if ?history? is allowed to repeat itself. However on this alien planet, history is apparently alterable. Chekov (alias Claiborne) is murdered well before the battle takes place, when in fact historically he survived the battle. Realizing this, the remaining four officers work together to create a type of smoke grenade to incapacitate the Earps at the proper time. Before 5pm, they decide to test it to see if it works, but it doesn?t, despite all scientific reasoning to the contrary. As a last resort, they decide to hide in the saloon till past time. The aliens refuse them this luxury, transporting them into the infamous OK Corral.
It is at this point that the ever logical Spock realizes that none of it is real. The drugged smoke defied the physical laws; therefore the physical laws must not apply. The officers participate in a mind meld, in which Spock places the thought in their heads that the bullets are not real and they cannot be harmed. The Earps arrive on time and belligerently proceed to fire upon the ?Clanton gang? in the personas of the Enterprise crew. As Spock predicted, they are not harmed and are able to overpower the Earps and Doc Holliday. However, contrary to the violent past that humanity comes from (as well as the violent threats of the Cold War when this was aired), Kirk shows mercy to Wyatt Earp and does not kill him. Seeing this, the aliens return all five (including the previously killed Chekov) to their ship and grant them safe passage to their planet to establish peaceful relations.
The episode covers the historical event often referred to as the Battle or Gunfight at the OK Corral. It includes themes dealing with violence and vigilante justice so prevalent within the Old West. Many of the characters portrayed in the show were real: Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp, Doc Holliday, Ike Clanton, Billy Claiborne, Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, and Frank McLaury. It takes place in a real place ? Tombstone, AZ. In addition, some of the events in the show actually happened, but not all.
Contrary to popular belief, the gunfight did not take place in the actual corral. The Clanton brothers met there to confer, but the fight actually took place out on the streets of Tombstone. There was a conflict over a girl that possibly contributed to some of the problems, however it was not between Claiborne and Morgan. In fact, the disagreement was between the present sheriff and Wyatt Earp. This was later used to call into question the judgment of each man in situations surrounding the gunfight. Wyatt later married the lady in question. The episode portrays the townspeople as being on the side of the Clanton gang and the Earps as vigilantes who abused the law. In reality neither side seemed very ?lawful.? The Clantons were horse thieves, in the class that the Tombstone townsfolk contemptibly referred to as ?Cowboys.? The Earps were not the law in the town, though they often acted as deputies to aid the sheriff, Johnny Behan. Many witnesses reported the Earps as being unnecessarily violent, including Wyatt hitting Tom McLaury over the head with his gun simply because he was in a bad mood. Some of the townsfolk probably did support the Clanton gang, although these were also generally considered to be the riff-raff. I am curious as to whether or not there were zippers back then. Some of the costumes didn?t seem to be quite period accurate, but then again, neither was the set. It could be considered poetic license. The character of Doc Holliday seemed to be portrayed accurately. He was in fact a dentist and rather moody, with violent tendencies. In the show, he arrived at the corral carrying a short double-barreled shotgun. According to sources, he, unlike the other participants, in fact utilized a short double-barreled shotgun. It supposedly belonged to Virgil Earp and was loaned to Doc before the showdown, since his long coat would hide it.
In the end, I probably wouldn?t show this to someone in order to teach them about the OK Corral and life in the American West. However, it?s often not the classroom but the culture that influences people?s views of history. I don?t think it should be ?avoided at all costs.? It did give a general overview of the historical event at the beginning, and it is pretty clear that this is a science fiction television show. No one would (consciously) accept it as historical fact. That doesn?t negate its influences though. All in all, I think it could be used as an interesting starting place for a discussion on historical accuracy, cultural bias in portraying historical events, and the many ?poetic licenses? taken by the television industry. Perhaps discussing shows like this one would make people more aware of the information that they unconsciously absorb, un-sifted, and later recall as historical fact.
(I originally started this because I believed that my great-great grandmother witnessed this gun fight, making it interesting to me in a new way. However, since then, I?ve discovered that my information was incorrect. She actually observed a gunfight in Abilene, of which there was apparently an inaccurate movie made. Now I have something else to research. But, I still enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about the OK Corral, even if it doesn?t involve my family anymore.)
Sources:
Star Trek: Spectre of the Gun. Paramount. VHS. 1987.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Holliday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Nose_Kate
http://www.tombstone1880.com/archives/behan.htm
http://www.awesomestories.com/movies/stories/tombstone/images/tombsmap.jpg (map of the events)
http://www.tombstone1880.com/archives/nugget.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_of_the_Gun_%28TOS_episode%29
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/earpaccount.html
http://www.lawbuzz.com/famous_trials/wyatt_earp/wyatt_earp_ch1.htm#preface
# posted by Liz @ 1:47 AM
