Frontier Myths in the Western Film 1900-1950: Whiteness as Racialized Exceptionalism in American and Australian Westerns

This research argues that the Western film genre promoted white privilege through narratives about exceptional white figures consolidating their hold on an oft stated savage frontier. These films, that articulated whiteness as human and non-whiteness as Other, resonated with Australian audiences and provided a clear narrative structure for their Australian counterparts.