(Guitar music like “American Idiot” plays as James Faraci and Paulo Fonseca on guitars, Andrew Beach on Bass Guitar, and Nick Lopez on the Drums and the set is like the set of “American Idiot” except the colors are Patriotically Red, White, and Blue)
James Faraci (Singing):
All year we’re cheering American Icons! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Twelve months of heroes of Cinema! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) From John Wayne to Rocky Balboa (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Oh, hell yeah, we’re talking about them all! (The tune continues) [Chorus] Welcome to the two hundred and fiftieth, hoping we’ll see two fifty-one! And we can finally be Okay! Humans dream of a better tomorrow, knowing it won’t be hollow! For me that’s good enough! (Drums play and the music continues.) We’re going to show off the hard work! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Even if it makes me look like a real jerk. (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Now everyone get ready to celebrate with us! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) And make sure you have a dose of common sense. (The tune continues) [Chorus] Welcome to the two hundred and fiftieth, hoping we’ll see two fifty-one! And we can finally be Okay! Humans dream of a better tomorrow, knowing it won’t be hollow! For me that’s good enough! (Drums play and the music continues with a guitar solo.) All year we’re cheering American Icons! Twelve months of heroes of Cinema! Information about them will be a lot, you’re going to know whether you like or not [Chorus] Welcome to the two hundred and fiftieth, hoping we’ll see two fifty-one! And we can finally be Okay! Humans dream of a better tomorrow, knowing it won’t be hollow! For me that’s good enough! (Drums play and the music continues and concludes and the words “Americans Icons” are put up in different styles of text. The scene cuts to James in his office.)
TLOTA:
I’m James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and for the first time, I think that the opinions are that of my own. Whether people agree with me or not will depend on one thing. Me doing something I HAVEN’T done since November 2014, by putting something that is secondary first and for me to put the review second this month. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you “In Defense of... JOHN WAYNE AND THE WESTERN GENRE!” (Show pics of maligned pieces of pop culture while the fanfare from the Olympics plays and James comes up after Vanilla Ice slides back and his right-hand thumbs up and the words "In Defense Of..." Cut to James as he hears a chorus of protestors. Cut to the rest of the team giving James fifty earfuls of complaints a second. Cut to James.) HOLD IT DOWN! Now I am aware of the problems of both John Wayne and The Western Genre. It doesn’t mean I’m ignoring them or defending them. I am defending the idea that they shouldn’t be erased from history. (Cut to Jessica Lopez-Barkl and Nick Lopez)
Jessica Lopez-Barkl:
We didn’t say we wanted to erase the western movie genre, or John Wayne; we just need to recontextualize their impact on everything.
Nick Lopez:
Besides a lot of their stereotypes aren’t exactly P.C. ... (Cut to James)
TLOTA:
When they were made, even I’m aware of that! (Cut to classic westerns as James does a voiceover.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
Look, I’m not blind to the problematic issues of the stereotypes, the mythicizing of a lot of the stories that happened, and the fictional accounts of what happened during the days of the old west. But from a historical perspective, we need to be reminded that we didn’t have the fifty states we have now! What we had from 1776 until 1803 were thirteen states and while yes, we were growing as a country. The days of the west lasted until the first ten years of the twentieth century. So, by the time the days of the Old West ended, we were getting moving pictures and advancements that led us to make movies. And some of these movies were, believe it or not, stories taken from the old west. And as one western said it best “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” So that is what we did, not only printed the legends of what really happened in books, but we turned it into film prints. The westerns really began to become successful through the 1930s all the way through the 1970s. Please note that movies based on Comic Books have been around since the invention of animation in the movies. Its second wave of success didn’t happen until 1978 with Christopher Reeve’s Superman movie, and the MCU is only eighteen years old. Now imagine it having from the beginning of the 1980s all the way through to the present day. It would be a hell of a long time for the MCU to be around and as of late a lot of people are getting tired of the MCU and again the MCU Franchise is EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD! I’ve got nieces that are older and younger than the MCU! Unlike other genres in cinema, the Western’s halcyon days may be in the rear view; it doesn’t mean it has gone away fully. Western movies maybe produced less, but there are still people who are fighting for a western revival to fight the current movie trends though people like Kevin Costner are trying and failing. (Cut to James Faraci physically.)
TLOTA:
That’s because there is one thing that Kevin Costner does not have; the gravitas, the aura, the capabilities of one Marion Robert “Duke” Morrison AKA JOHN WAYNE! (Cut to images, stills and clips of John Wayne as James does a voiceover.) Born in Winterset, Iowa and raised in Southern California, The Duke was originally set for a career in sports until an accident made him pivot towards acting. Working with what is now known as 20th Century Studios he appeared in quite a few B-Movie Western Films until John Ford decided to take a chance in a movie called "Stagecoach” and it catapulted John from B-Movie Western to instant superstar of the silver screen. While he did other movies during World War II that were set in the war and quite a few classic movies like “The Quiet Man” and later his attempt to modernize in the 1970s with movies like “McQ” and “Brannigan,” westerns would be his bread and butter and his passing in 1979 would signal the death knell of the popularity of the western. And by today’s standards John Wayne’s movies seem to be getting forgotten, and that is a shame, and a part of me understands why. I know he made a statement in a magazine standing against certain people’s rights and while I won’t defend the comments... (Team TLOTA says in unison “Thank You!”) Let me finish; his comments helped convince that generation to fight harder for the rights that they got. Because if the past generation were to agree with EVERYTHING the current generation, then I think it would be ugly for everyone. We need someone to stand up for something that isn’t popular with them. That is what John Wayne did and because he was known for the Western Genre, the current generation, at that time, cheered and it wouldn’t surprise me that there were people who pissed on his work. But to me his movies are meant to be celebrated as what they are, movies that need to be celebrated, just like the days of the old west. For if it were not for them, where would we be? We would have no idea about who we were and how we got to this point. And while I am certain John would look at this current generation with the same thoughts and be “cancelled” for it, I would bet those who aren’t racist and sexist would stand with The Duke and the western genre and as someone who is not racist or sexist, I celebrate his work. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
Which is why the first three months of this year will go to John Wayne so the current generations can get an understanding as to why I like John Wayne. And after that, the rest of this year will celebrate other Americans Icons. I’m James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and that’s my opinion!
