Talk:The Outlaw Josey Wales

message: The men who killed Josey Wales' family are members of Senator Jim Lanes' Redlegs, and the article should reflect this specific fact, rather than simply saying Kansas Jayhawkers. --Charles 04:39, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Ok done that. Added some quotes too, although I suspect they'll need fixin'. Gotta admit, this is one of my favourite movies. --Jquarry 13:04, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Until I looked here, I was confused, as the term “Redleg” is unexplained, not familiar, and is introduced midway through the article, without reference to who they are (that is, the people who are Redlegs are introduced earlier in the passage without being identified as such). Could the article clarify this please…? Jock123 (talk) 13:33, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Redlegs

message: In regards to the following statement:
:It should be noted that Josey Wales' circumstances in the film somewhat mirror those of notorious outlaw Jesse James, although James was much younger at the time of the Civil War than the age Wales appears to be in the film.
Unless references can be provided that indicate that Forrest Carter was inspired by the story of Jesse James, this statement is just someone's opinion, hence a violation of the policy against POV and OR.  Myself, I see only the smallest of similarities, considering that Jesse always rode with his brother, Frank, as well as the Younger Bros., whereas it is clear in both the novel and the film that Josey rides alone.  At any rate, these are just opinions. ---Charles 19:06, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There is a quite clear similarity in the general structuring of the Wales story with that of James. Both were adversely affected by the Civil War, both were gentlemen of the South, and both then went into a life of outlawry rather than come to terms with the North. If we take the story of James, then remove his compatriots to make him stand out more, against the general background as just described, we then have a story very similar to that of Wales. Any closer, and the author might have been accused of plagiarism. 
74.216.29.160 (talk) 04:16, 10 May 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: similarity to Jesse James

message: The Return of Josey Wales should be noted.  It appears to be drek, but there it is.  --Gadget850 ( Ed) 14:14, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Return

message: According to The Strike (Seinfeld episode) the line  "It has a certain understated stupidity to it" is related to this film. Does anybody know how? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.128.19.8 (talk) on 30 May 2007
Jerry uses the line to describe the fake charity George creates to avoid giving Christmas gifts at work.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.130.127.77 (talk) 18:23, 31 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Seinfeld 

message: :Image:The outlaw josey wales.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot 04:38, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Fair use rationale for Image:The outlaw josey wales.jpg

message: The current wording appears to be largely based on oral folklore that doesn't seem to be verifiable or based on reality:
 Bill Wilson maintained a neutral stance until his wife and children were brutalized by renegade Union soldiers on his farm on Corn Creek near Edgar Springs, Missouri. Wilson then struck back with vengeance, tracking down those responsible. In the process, he became a wanted outlaw. "Mr. Wilson" is a pseudonym for Josey Wales in the film, possibly an acknowledgment of the plot's debt to the historical Bill Wilson.
In trying to track this down I've found very little about the man other than county folklore sources.  And none of those sourced match the description above.  The closest text I've found was a description of the execution of a local judge and his Confederate sons by militia after a horse theft incident involving Bill Wilson's compatriots. 
As for Bill Wilson himself...this Greene County source  says:
"Bill Wilson was one example of a bushwhacker who embarked on his own. His father was killed by Union troops moving through the area near Waynesville, Missouri. After this, Wilson roamed the wilds, cheerfully gunning down small Union patrols in revenge. The Union command at Rolla placed a price on his head, but he was never captured and lived in freedom long after the war."
While a modern author on the subject of Missouri guerrilla warfare who has sifted through the state's county histories says
 that burning his barn was the cause and that Bill ended up being killed in 1869 for his money while in McKinney Texas in an area with many ex-guerrillas and Confederates.
So I'm going to carve out the uncited speculation about brutalizing women and children--which was particularly rare, especially as a claim against Union forces in Missouri where most of the "occupiers" were actually other Missourians, not Kansans, etc.  (Most likely for the movie it was Bill Wilson's personal war/tactics and flight to Mexico that would have been used as inspiration and melded with other stories.)
Another problem is that Bill Wilson's locale is far removed from Osceola and the border.  "Redlegs/Jayhawkers" operated along the border counties and caused most of their havoc early in the war.  The Unionist militia worked to keep them out as well, once organized. Red Harvest (talk) 18:25, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Bill Wilson folklore vs. history

message: I tagged the article with refimprove, there are a number of points that need sourcing but one point in particular was the source material, was it in fact published originally as The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales and then republished in 1975 as Gone to Texas? If so, when was the original date of publication? And later, was the novel released under the same title as the movie, with ? If so, the article should refer to that.
The article mentions that Asa Carter (a KKK guy) wrote the source novel, and says it is "ironic" that the film has an underlying message of racial harmony. Aside from needing sourcing, there needs to be some discussion of whether that theme was in the original novel or added by the writers of the film screenplay. Also it should be noted that there are no black people at all in the movie. Part of the “revisionism” of the movie is that it takes place just after the end of the U.S. Civil War but there are no references (even indirect) to Slavery as previously practiced in the U.S. South, but rather it is the Northerners who are shown practicing a form of slavery (planning to sell the women as prostitutes).
:Where in the film do you see "Northerners" planning to sell women into prostitution?  If you mean the Commancheros, they were hardly "Northerners." HammerFilmFan (talk) 10:40, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: references needed

message: Other than it's production date, I don't see that Wales actually falls into the revisionist category. Neither it's text, style nor themes associate it with a film like Heavens Gate or differentiate it from a darker silver age western like say Winchester 73. The contention that it belongs in the category because it portrays "the long taboo" subject of Union treatment of Missourians at the hands of Unionists is debunked by basically every Jesse James film ever made. The list of films included on sub-genre's page needs some weeding. Dirk2112 (talk) 22:40, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Status as a [[Revisionist Western]]

message: For years now, this Wikipedia article has been the only source I've known to state that The Outlaw Josey Wales is his favorite out of all the films he's made. The current version of the article basically says this twice (in the opening paragraph and at the end). Does anyone have a source for this? I recently watched the special features of the DVD, and in it Eastwood says that it certainly is a film that still causes people to come up to him and call it THEIR favorite. But unless I missed it, nowhere on the special features - or anywhere else that I know of - does he say that it's his favorite. He states that the film has a special place for him (non-quoting there), but he doesn't say it's his favorite. I've long been skeptical that he ever made such a statement, and after watching the special features I've become suspicious of a misquote. Harry Yelreh (talk) 03:12, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Eastwood's "favorite"

message: The ties of Josey Wales family to wiki founder Jimmy Wales should be added to article. !! 69.121.221.97 (talk) 22:13, 11 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Wales family

message: Please check the Hell on Wheels (TV series), the almost exact same character, but different expectations.--74.34.87.191 (talk) 02:08, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Imitation 

message: This section seems entirely original research. In checking on the sources, two of them (IMDB and "history message boards") painfully fail the expectations we have of RS (and the latter doesn't mention Wales). The book by Foote is certainly a reliable source, and while it substantiates the information about Jayhawkers, its connection to the film is again original research. I'm pulling the section unless someone is able to provide reliable sources connecting the material to the film.  Grandpallama (talk) 16:57, 12 December 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with the removal. There are surely better sources to use for this film. Erik (talk | contribs) 17:49, 12 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Historical basis" 

message: The dog is a redbone coonhound.70.161.8.90 (talk) 01:45, 5 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Dog