Kevin Costner’s New Show Is BETTER Than Yellowstone!

Throughout his career, Kevin Costner has been synonymous with the “wild west.” From his roles in Dances with Wolves and Wyatt Earp to his career resurgence on the television series Yellowstone, Costner and the Western Genre have been inexplicably linked. A new documentary series set to air on The History Channel, Kevin Costner’s The West, sees the relationship between the genre and the actor come full circle.

The series will depart from the glamorized Hollywood portrayal of the West and take an objective look at a defining part of American history. It promises to lift the veil and offer audiences a glimpse of the real story marred by tragedy and oppression, which has been glossed over many times before by romanticizing gunslingers, outlaws, and cowboys.

Separating Objective Truth from Popular Conception

The American West has long been a popular subject among storytellers, far more interested in crafting exciting narratives than providing discourse on fact. In doing so, the individuals, events, and history of the West have become incredibly difficult to divorce from speculation and creative liberties. Kevin Costner’s The West isn’t the first series to attempt to separate fact from public perception. Ken Burns’ The West probed deep into the subject, as did a documentary miniseries, How the West Was Lost, which aired from 1993 to 1995.

Far from the glamorized gunfights of Sergio Leone or the colorful heroes portrayed by Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, the true story of the West is one of tragedy, danger, and what amounts to cultural genocide. Episodes of the series will explore topics that have been overlooked for the most part. The saga of Joaquin Murrieta, an outlaw seen by many as the “Robin Hood of the West,” will be touched upon, as will be the violent feud between pro- and anti-slavery factions in what historians refer to as “bleeding Kansas.” The series will also address the westward migration of settlers under the pretense of “manifest destiny,” the call for Americans to expand the borders from coast to coast, the seizure of land from the first Americans, and their forced assimilation.

For an actor whose career highlights have been so closely tied to the Western genre, it’s more than fitting that Costner is involved. Regarding his enthusiasm for depicting facts with unbiased accuracy, the actor states in the series: “Let me know how real it was.” Kevin Costner’s The West solely intends to break down the truth, brick by brick.

An Unfiltered Presentation of Fact

Whether it’s a series or a full-length movie, the best documentaries should always strive to deliver their audience an objective and unfiltered look at the facts, regardless of what they might be. Kevin Costner’s The West plans to do just that. Not only will the series touch on some key moments that defined a unique part of American history, but it will also do so with complete objectivity. Regarding the pioneers’ immense western migration, Costner stated, “They went in groups, and they sometimes perished as groups, and their humanity was alive…and their worst tendencies came out, and their best tendencies came out.” Kevin Costner’s The West intends to show both sides of manifest destiny, in more ways than one.

A defining characteristic of the American West is the plight, subjugation, and forced assimilation of its indigenous people. For decades, popular culture had a very inaccurate way of portraying this dark chapter in history, with settlers and cowboys being the perceived heroes in a conflict that was shown to be one-sided, to say the least. Costner was frank regarding the truth of this scenario:

“We don’t want your land, we just want to move through it. We do want your land, and you need to cut your hair. We have your land, and now you must change your religion to ours. Settlers took the land by confusing people, and it was only when the natives couldn’t be convinced that the hammer came down. We murdered them, and we made up convenient stories to do it. These places don’t have their names anymore. We named them after ourselves.”

Kevin Costner’s The West promises to deliver an undiluted exposé on history. Many have remarked that “history is always written by the winners.” When it comes to the unmitigated tragedy that encompasses the American West, the truth is far more important than any clear-cut “winner.”

Where Can I Watch ‘Kevin Costner’s The West’?