In American films of the
Western genre between the 1920s and the 1940s, white hats were often worn by heroes and black hats by villains to symbolize the contrast in good versus evil.
The 1903 short film ''
The Great Train Robbery'' was the first to apply this convention. Two exceptions to the convention were portrayals by
William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to:
Academics
* William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster
* William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator
* William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...
(active 1918–1954), who wore dark clothing as
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He wa ...
, and
Robert Taylor's portrayal in the film ''
The Law and Jake Wade'' (1958).
The book ''Investigating Information Society'' said the convention was arbitrarily imposed by filmmakers in the genre with the expectation that audiences would understand the categorizations. It said whiteness was associated with "purity, cleanliness, and moral righteousness", which is reminiscent of a woman's
wedding dress
A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo ...
traditionally being white. The book said, "The difference, of course, has to do with particular cultural conceptions of gender and sexuality and the context within which white is worn." The convention also carried a practical benefit -- it helped audiences identify heroes and villains during fast-paced fight scenes in black and white films, even when one actor was filmed from behind.
In the 21st century, Western films referenced and spun the convention in different ways. In the 2005 film ''
Brokeback Mountain
''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written ...
'', one of the two starring cowboys wears black while the other wears white. The film does not disclose any standard conventions for the symbolism other than the wearer of the black hat being shot like in early films. In the 2007 film ''
3:10 to Yuma'', a remake of
the 1957 film, a henchman hiring local gunmen to free his boss from jail, tells them not to shoot at "the black hat", a light reference to the convention. The black and white cowboy hats play an important role in characterization in "
Westworld
''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...
", where the protagonist chooses to wear a white cowboy hat while an antagonist wears a black hat.
The series re-uses the trope with another character, Logan, who dons a black cowboy hat before shooting up a saloon.
This convention gave rise to the terms
black hat and
white hat to refer to malicious and ethical hackers respectively.
References
External links
*
Film and video terminology
Black symbols
White symbols
Hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
Hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
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