Spaghetti and Macaroni Westerns

             "Spaghetti Westerns" is a genre of western films that are filmed in Italy and are meant to portray the "Wild West" of America. "Macaroni Westerns" make up the traditional western genre and are made in the United States. Let's take a look at the similarities and differences of these genres, and at two films in particular that represent each genre: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) and "Rio Bravo" (1959), which most critics will agree are great examples of each genre.
             Let's start with the most obvious aspect that differs in the two genres. "Macaroni Westerns" are the cheesiest. These films have are pure cheese. I can barely sit through one of them. They have the typical characters; the hero(s), the bad guy(s), the fair maiden, and the quirky sidekick(s). These characters spout out cheesy lines, demonstrating how good or how bad they are, but they language always remains basically clean. In the Spaghetti Westerns, the language is a lot more diverse(lots of cussing). This is because each of these genres play to a different audience.
             The "Macaroni Westerns" are family films. They present right, wrong, and have many morals played out, such as, "no matter how many bad people are trying to kill you, you can take them all on if you wear a badge and talk like John Wayne." The "Macaroni Westerns" were typically family movies, because it was typical Hollywood(serving to the masses, whatever sells big). Violence, profanity, and not having blatantly evil and good characters, wasn't selling at the time, so we got "Macaroni."
             The "Spaghetti Westerns," on the other hand, were not trying to please everybody.(just the Italian roughnecks) Sure, these westerns took a lot from the traditional westerns, but they break away from the traditional "Macaroni Westerns" in many ways.(which we shall soon see) The "Spaghetti Westerns" play to a more liberal audience. They had a lot more creative liberty.
             Let's take a look at the afo...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Spaghetti and Macaroni Westerns. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 12:59, September 13, 2025, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/51493.html