The Theme of Heroism
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| America loves success; thus those who are successful become heroes. In John Wayne's classic, Stagecoach (1939), Ringo is searching for the Plummer brothers who have killed his father and brother. When Ringo finally finds them, they have a showdown. The audience only hears gunshots and knows that someone has been killed, but they do not know exactly who it was. Ringo finally saunters towards his love and one can imagine the applause and sighs of relief the audience expresses as they realize that Ringo killed the Plummer boys and not vice versa. Ringo is the hero and the victor because he was able to solve the conflict by killing his perpetrators.
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Just like Ringo, Ice Cube of the west-coast based gansta rap group, Westside Connection is a hero to his listeners in the song, "Gangstas Make the World Go Round," on the Bow Down album. He announces the following:
Nigga please I got enough guns
To fill the empire state building full of 1's…
Kids when you grow up who the fuck you wanna be?
Like me ya black superhero…
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| As Ice Cube states, kids want to be like him when they grow up. He's violent, he lives outside of the law (just like Ringo who is a criminal on-the-run) and "a black superhero."
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| watch the Stagecoach
clip and compare it to "Gangstas Make the World Go Round,".
clip
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| Introduction | Howdy West Was Born | History of Rap | Death as a Theme | Violence as a Theme | Bravery as a Theme | Heroism as a Theme | The Moral Fiber of the West | Rapping It Up | References |
