The Wild Bunch – Really no mystery at all

Sometimes people seem a little perplexed and, at times I wonder myself, what this “Wild Bunch” thing that I’ve been blessed to be a part of, is really all about.  Well, as I have grown older and been fortunate enough to have shared so many years of this unique experience, it doesn’t perplex me so much anymore.

Take a moment to consider the era that all of us elder “Bunch”ers are from.  No one would dare question that the America we grew up in was dramatically different than the world we know today.  Many interesting and entertaining essays have been written about the fact that we did not have Nintendos, home computers, Sony Playstations, cell phones, or Wii’s; how we played outside, drank from the garden hose, etc.  But a major facet of the lives we lived is how, when the streetlights came on, it was time to head home and there were our televisions and the American West.

Those who remember will appreciate the common thread that carried through all those shows with their heroes that we dreamed of mimicking.  Hop-a-long Cassidy, Matt Dillon, Wyatt Earp, Roy Rogers, Palladin, the Cartwrights, Yancy Derringer, Gene Autry, Lucas McCain, Bat Masterson, the Mavericks, Johnny Yuma, The Lone Ranger, The Virginian, Captain Jason McCord (Branded), and many more.  These were all gentlemen who, week after week, displayed those characteristics we became consumed by.  Honor, loyalty, respect for women and children, justice at all cost.  Sure, the stories were over-romanticized and idealized, but it sounds to me like some of the “stuff” our world could use more of today.  As youngsters, we escaped into this fantasy world and liked it there.  As adults we have found a small way to go there again.  It shouldn’t be surprising that so many of us developed that subconscious longing inside to return, even if for only short periods, to that world where there were many more good guys than bad, and the good guys ALWAYS won in the end.  I am confident that this almost instinctive longing was at the root of our group’s conception.  The lessons displayed on those small, almost round, black and white screens are a big part of who we are today. 

But the bonds of our friendship have evolved, over the years, to a level I have not experienced, or even witnessed, elsewhere in the real world.  Call it fantasy, that’s OK, I’ll take it.  We’ve each experienced setbacks in life, felt the loneliness of long-distance separations, long time absences, and shared indescribable grief when we’ve lost loved brothers.  But for 30 years this “thing” has grown and matured into something we cannot deny or question.  It’s real and it’s us.    

An escape?  Certainly; but this “escape” has developed a soul of its own, and I am proud and thankful for being allowed to call myself a part of the “Wild Bunch”.