The TV cowboys have the best
scripts, estates and corporate jets
to glorify an endangered West
planted with ranchettes
like Jimson Weed
to play make believe
with 100 X beaver lids
and Lucchese boots
no cowman could afford
for looks to match the myth.
https://inthesetimes.com/article/yellowstone-tv-show-finale-gentrification-development-west
Comment:
I live within minutes of the Dutton Ranch. It was/is a cartoon of itself long before Hollywood “found” it . As it was “built” on the same mythology before “Yellowstone” it is NO surprise Hollywood found it perfect for the perpetuation of the myths. That it is in the Bitteroot Valley, portrayed as Paradise Valley actually on the Yellowstone River , not the Bitterroot River is the least egregious offense of artistic license.
Yes, the perfect set and backdrop to advance the mythology and to pump in enough cash for a few years to “jazz up” a very poor local economy, enriching a few while leaving them detritus of unaffordable housing and other long term burdens that go with ALL boom and bust cycles.
That the “series” collided with a pandemic driven, house bound, binging viewership was an unfortunate coincidence. That, along with the ridiculous home prices in some places fueled a mass migration to seemingly cheap relocation opportunities. The migrants arrived with mountains of cash and the beatific notions of their new “home” grounded in the mythologies absorbed from a screen that they continue to be glued to as the beauty of the real Montana is paying the exorbitant price for simply being beautiful; as if there are NO other considerations.
“They” know not of what they’ve wrought.
-jegrant47
drycrikjournal 
The cowboys and ranchers we’ve known would laugh with derision at this make-believe tv show. Like “The View”, I am proud to say I have never wasted my time watching either one. How can you emulate something that is already fake?
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Yes Sophie, right on. I watched 10 minutes of Yellowstone early on, never to return, repulsed by how the phony series garnered such attention and emulation. The link by Johnathon Hettinger sums it up for me.
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Have never watched it and don’t plan to. Thank goodness our corner of Wyoming is nothing like that fictional mess.
A happy and blessed 2025, John, to you and yours.
janet
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Thank you, Janet. I understand that the series is over, but not the damage it has done to our culture. Happy New year!
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I agree. It’s a violent, Western soap opera. Too many of this type of show around.
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And $80k ranch horsesSent from my iPhone
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It’s crazy to old duffers like us.
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I was pretty excited when this first came out. I thought it was going to be a real life ranch life series. I only watched a few minutes of one show.
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Yes Sheryl, for those of us who knew better, it wasn’t worth our time.
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Too bad, an opportunity lost to fictionalizing a way of life.
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