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Cowboys in westerns always have standoffs because the one who draws first attempts murder, to draw second is justified self-defense (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 year ago by TauZero@mander.xyz to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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Everyone is armed all the time and that's normal, but to draw a weapon is an overt hostile act. A standoff therefore is a game of chicken because both want to kill each other and you want to draw first to have the highest chance of surviving, but even a bandit will hesitate to add a felony murder charge to their rap sheet. The whole town serves as witness when there is a pair of eyes behind every shuttered window. The hero always draws second, both demonstrating his superior skill and speed by defeating the opponent even at a disadvantage, and getting away with murder scot-free.

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[-] FleetingTit@feddit.de 28 points 1 year ago

Yeah, nah. A standoff looks cool, adds tension, gives the goodie and baddie time to talk or to be silent (menacingly). But apparently they weren't used much irl. From Wikipedia:

The image of two gunslingers with violent reputations squaring off in a street is a Hollywood invention.

[-] TauZero@mander.xyz 8 points 1 year ago

That's what I used to think as a kid - westerns standoffs are an outgrowth of Old World duels, a formalized custom performed by traditionalists, even the baddest bandit secretly being a gentleman at heart. The showerthought here is that the order of events is also perfectly explained by taking legal considerations of justified self-defense into account.

this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
166 points (90.7% liked)

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