Why We Worship the Warlord
The Prestige TV Illusion and the Spencer/Alex Prequel
The cultural footprint of the Yellowstone universe (1923, 1883, and the flagship show) operates as a massive form of prestige TV melodrama wrapped in a cowboy hat, specifically designed to make absolute ruthlessness look like a virtue. It is frequently labeled “prestige TV for red states” because it taps deeply into populist anxiety, using an ongoing narrative sleight of hand regarding principles, power, and violence.
We see the absolute peak of this narrative manipulation in the prequel 1923 with the story arc of Spencer Dutton and his British aristocratic wife, Alexandra (Alex). Alex flees her stifling, high-society life to run away with Spencer, a deeply traumatized WWI veteran working as a big-game hunter in Africa. After surviving shipwrecks and a forced separation by her vengeful ex-fiancé on the high seas, Alex undertakes a brutal solo journey through America. She arrives at Ellis Island alone, pregnant, faces assault in New York, and takes a train west into a blinding winter blizzard. Stranded in a stalled car in the freezing wilderness with advanced frostbite, she lights the car on fire to signal for help. In a wildly cinematic, mathematically absurd stroke of fate, Spencer happens to be on a passing train, spots her through the frosted glass, and leaps from the moving carriage into the snow to rescue her. Alex delivers their baby boy—the future of the Dutton lineage—and dies from the physical toll.
The Structural “BS”: Plot Armor as Manifest Destiny
This “providential train jump” and the phenomenon of “passing in the night” are pure plot armor masquerading as destiny. It is built entirely on a hyper-American, Manifest Destiny mythos: the narrative tells the audience that if a white protagonist is tough enough, resilient enough, and contains enough “raw grit,” the universe itself will bend its laws to reward them.
The narrative literally tortures Alex to death via hyper-aggressive frostbite just to yield a male heir to carry the name. Her entire existence is reduced to a human crucible designed to test the strongman’s endurance and secure the land. The message to a working-class audience is clear: absolute ruthlessness and cosmic luck belong to a chosen, rugged few—and if you are just tough enough, you are entitled to take what you want.
The Ancient Root: Jacob Wrestling the Angel
This narrative loop is actually a secularized, upside-down rewrite of the ancient biblical archetype of Jacob wrestling the angel (Genesis 32). In the original scripture, Jacob confronts a supernatural, divine force. He refuses to back down despite being physically broken, famously declaring, “I will not let you go unless you bless me." Jacob gets his thigh popped out of joint, but he receives a spiritual transformation and a new name, Israel (“he who strives with God”). It is a story about human limitation and submission to a higher cosmic order.
Taylor Sheridan strips the religion out of the myth and replaces it with pure American exceptionalism. Spencer Dutton doesn’t wrestle a divine angel to learn humility; he wrestles nature itself (the blizzard, the wilderness, the ocean) to prove his absolute sovereignty. He doesn’t submit to a higher power; he demands that the elements submit to him. His “blessing” isn’t a holy covenant—it’s a dynastic heir and a piece of land. The audience mistakes author-written plot armor for divine favor, learning a dangerous lesson: your violence and overreactions aren’t sins, they are proof that you are one of the chosen ones.
J.R. Ewing and the Marketing of the Elite
This bloodline runs directly into Dallas, which gripped the nation in the late 1970s and 1980s. During the Carter-era “malaise,” America suffered from a massive crisis of confidence. Enter J.R. Ewing: a corporate pirate in a cowboy hat who lied, cheated, and destroyed lives to protect Ewing Oil. J.R. had zero actual morals, only appetites. Audiences tired of feeling helpless loved him because he was their villain. Beth Dutton is simply J.R. Ewing updated for the 2020s—louder, more vulgar, and physically violent. Where Dallas justified cutthroat, deregulated capitalism (“Greed is good”), Yellowstone justifies defensive, aggressive tribalism (“The world is out to destroy us, so we must destroy them first”).
Both shows get working-class audiences to root for ultra-wealthy elites by using the costume of the underdog. John Dutton controls a massive empire but wears a dirt-stained denim jacket. This exact branding strategy is mirrored by the modern tech elite. The Silicon Valley billionaire wearing a plain hoodie and a $400 grey t-shirt is performing the exact same cultural theater. They dress down to evade scrutiny and look like anti-establishment rebels, allowing them to channel working-class grievance while quietly building an tech-monopoly empire that hoards all the power and leaves the public with all the rules.
The Cliffhanger
How does an audience that cheers for this unprincipled, mythic brutality on Saturday night go to church on Sunday and demand strict moral legislation?
Finished reading: Sayonara: A Novel by James A. Michener 📚
Here is my review. This is a test of where this will be blogged and if there is a link back to the book in my shelf?
South llano river. Junction Texas
Video: 4 Things I Learned being a Lifeguard at 54 years old. … spoiler - I am the 54 year old. youtu.be/5VniIivUj…
Laissez Faire
I grew up in south Louisiana. It was a blessing and a curse. The culture there is unlike any other place in the world.
Laissez faire is the feeling of the day.
Allow to do is the literal meaning. But generally it means accepting an attitude of letting things take their own course. Let the people do as they choose.
It is a great feeling to live in that culture.
- The Music
- The Food
- The Good Times
A consequence of this culture is that it revolves around alcohol. Every event has alcohol. From birth to death: alcohol.
The drinking age was still 18 when I turned 18. Louisiana was the last state in the union to change the age to 21. I had my first beer at 16.
I considered myself a social drinker until I turned 45. The problem was I was very social. I enjoyed drinking. It was fun. I felt accepted. People enjoyed being around me. I projected that laissez faire attitude.
But thoughts where there. Do I drink too much? Maybe I would be more “successful” if I drank less? But then the thoughts of if I express these feelings people will think I am an “alcoholic” then what? I am will be judged every time they see me drink.
But something else happened. When I did finally share with my friends that I would be taking extended breaks from drinking, most stated that I did not seem to have a “problem” or any issue at all.
I decided then and there that the label alcoholic was not for me.
But I did not accept my friends opinion either that I did not have problem.
I was not sure what I “was” or what I “had” but I did not care anymore. I knew there was something there that I needed to address.
I was addicted to alcohol. But I was not an alcoholic.
Alcohol is an addictive and progressive substance. That means that we build a tolerance to its use. That tolerance leads to us using more (drinking more) to get the same effect. It becomes a trap.
If this story resonates with you, here is the truth.
You might be addicted to alcohol but you can over come it.
Yes, you will have to face this addiction head on but you will not have to die in this ditch.
Let me put it another way.
You are riding an elevator and it only goes down and there is a rock bottom somewhere down there. The good news is that you do not have to wait to hit rock bottom. You have the power to exit right now. Today.
Hear me calling to you with good news.
The bad news is there is no elevator back up. You have to take the stairs.
It will be work. Hard work. But I am here on the other side calling to you. I am here to help show you the way.
Take a step with me. Download my free guide. How to Quit Alcohol by Terry Grier 2023.pdf
Read. Implement it.
I wrote a free guide for you. It is the exact guide I wish I had when I started my journey in 2016. It is the process I followed. Everything is in it.
Then let me know what you thought of it. I provided a special email address at the end of the guide.
I look forward to seeing your name in my inbox.
And always remember,
Never give up on yourself. Never.
Terry Grier
PS. I posted a video about the free guide and starting.
Technology is a doubled-edged sword. Technology giveth and taketh away and not always in equal measure.
Texas Coast
Today I met @jean in person. We had a wonderful time talking about Micro.blog, how awesome life is being alcohol free and about life in general.
Interview with Light Phone user Paige Weber
I have had my flip phone since September 2022.
It was excitement to try it, followed by frustration, followed by a resetting of expectation and then settling in.
Youtube is the only social network I use and since embarking on this flip phone journey my Youtube has been sending me more and more videos of others on the same journey.
I decided to email some of these people and Paige was gracious enough to give me a shot at an interview.
So today I interviewed Paige Weber. She has used a DumbPhone at least a year. She started with a basic flip phone and recently moved the a light phone.
We discuss a wide range of topics all centered around living a more intentional life. The discussion was broader than just a discussion of the pros and cons and this choice including how smartphone and the lack of a smart phone is creating a digital divide but in the other direction.
Here is a link the YouTube Video
I would love to hear your thoughts.
You can get other thoughts and updates by joining my private newsletter.
Your Flip Phone Friend Terry
I posted a Video on using a flip phone in 2022. Beware that I drop a lot of F-Bombs. Sunbeam Wireless Daisy Model.
Why Wait?
To My Friend: 11/19/2022
Why wait until Jan 1, 2023 to start a new habit? Why dig the hole you are in any deeper? The pull to drink alcohol is in you. You hear the voice. But there is a voice in there too that wants you to change.
If you do nothing, you know where this path will lead.
When you hear “Now is not the right now time - we have the holidays coming” Which voice is this talking to you?
That is the problem with change. It is hard. It is easier when there is a roadblock or we are forced to change.
- We get fired from a job.
- Someone we love breaks up with us.
- The Doctor tells us we have cancer.
You have to stop this and reverse course at some point. Why not now. Right now.
Now, sit with your cup of tea or coffee and reflect on what you would feel like if on Jan 1, 2023 if you do not drink through the holidays. Think about being on day 40 of your journey vs starting on day 1.
I assure you day one’s suck balls.
Write about this feeling. The sense of accomplishment going into 2023 vs the dread of drinking and having to start over… again.
Change is not easy. It will be harder tomorrow. It will be even harder on Jan 1, 2023.
Make a decision today. Never. Ever. Doubt the decision.
I am here for you. Terry
If you would like to receive emails that will help you get sober - here is my private email list.
Hey MB Tech Peeps- icloud custom domain - I am trying to understand it. It does not give you a 2nd inbox with that domain but rather it takes over our icloud domain. Is that correct?
Personal CRM How do you handle how often you talk to your friends? When you should call someone? Maybe send them a thank you card for that last dinner? I am curious how my MB friends do this in their personal lives.
With all of the fanfare about beta.icloud.com - You cannot add a date to a reminder. Only a note. How can you still have a reminder app but not allow the web interface access to the date?
Barbara Jordon
