Lake Neuron

I just watched the “American Experience” documentary about Buffalo Bill Cody, a figure who has fascinated me for years. Cody once scalped a Native American, and the storyline of his Wild West show was all about him heroically saving white men from Indian savages, cementing a warped Western mythology that, sadly, long outlived Cody. But the Wild West show was also, at times, a way of educating the public — here and in Europe — about Native Americans and their culture. Cody himself came to appreciate their heritage more and more as the years went on. When he died, he was mourned by Native Americans and white men alike.

The documentary was really well done, poignant and well-paced, with details of Cody’s troubled private life but without dwelling on it, and ending on a note of reconciliation.

Frequently, after seeing a really well-done “American Experience,” I will wonder to myself why someone doesn’t make a movie about the story. I have already wondered why no one has made a really good, serious movie about Buffalo Bill Cody.