Pale Rider is a virtual remake of the classic western Shane. The plot line follows a very similar format. A stranger rides into town and conflict forces him to act. In the movie Shane, the characters are typically good or bad. Shane is a character in control of his demons; he has even created moral lessons from them. He shares these lessons with Joey, "Right and wrong is a brand and a brand sticks." This is simple way of categorizing good and evil. In the film Pale Rider things are not this black and white, a man of faith can be a gunslinger in search of retribution, a very good example of good and evil duality. The difference is telling, the characters of Pale Rider are less innocent, the hero has a dark side and the moral is that it takes more than cooperation to defeat the enemy sometimes it takes a miracle.
             The opening scenes of both movies introduce us to characters that serve as admirers for our hero. In Shane we see cute little Joey, hunting a deer with an unloaded rifle. In Pale Rider we are shown Meg a beautiful young woman being chased by thugs with guns. These openings highlight that Pale Rider is not Shane and that we should expect Pale Rider to be a much darker movie. Both movies have a young person idolizing the hero. Joey's admiration of Shane is of a boy daydreaming about heroic adventures. Joey fashions himself a homemade pistol and holster in order to emulate his hero Shane. At one point he admits to his mother, "I love him almost as much as I love Pop." Comparing Joey and Meg's Adoration is like comparing Children collecting baseball cards to teenage groupies swooning over rock stars. Meg's love of Shane is less innocent. It is lust that she feels toward Preacher. Meg is a glassy eyed, breathless teenager, and she feels that Preacher is a miracle sent for her alone. Meg's manipulation of the Lord's Prayer highlights the evil always present within the good. Meg changes the prayer by adding the word "but" to contras...