If you have seen one Gene Autry film, you have seen them all. The films begin with Gene singing around the campfire or while riding the range. At some point, he is going to give some villain a punch in the nose, save a pretty girl from a runaway horse-drawn wagon, win her affection, save the hard working town folk and ride off into the sunset singing another song. Cue music. Fade to black.

Sure, the pictures are formulaic. Yes, they are corny. Still, I enjoy watching them in my spare time. In fact, I watch old westerns all the time. My wife, of course, can’t stand them. After being with me for 15 years, she will still shake her head and mutter, “I will never understand why you watch this stuff.” My answer is the same now as it was when we first began dating: I enjoy wholesome entertainment.

The stories in these films feature heroes that live by a moral code. Cowpokes like Autry respect women and children, honor the bonds of friendship, respect the law and believe in honesty and justice. Nobility and honor are not just words to these heroes, they are ideals that are worth fighting and dying for. I dig that!

Sadly, the times have given sway to a cynicism that has proclaimed these ideals anachronisms – cornball values from another era. Yet, it is these very principles that form the foundations of the character and strength we look for in our friends and associates and seek to instill in our children.

There was a time when Hollywood shared those ideals. As a boy, I watched many of these same films with my father and I love that so many years later I can still enjoy them with my children. I can’t say the same thing about very much of the more recent Hollywood fare.

My family was recently invited to attend the premiere of a new film that is being heavily marketed as family fare. What disturbed us most about the film was not the small bit of profanity in the film, but how the children in the film were depicted. The young heroes were rude and obnoxious; they talked back to their parents, and were nasty to their siblings. To be fair, the film is harmless. Not particularly entertaining, but nothing to burn down the theatre over. Still, I can’t imagine sitting down with my boys on a rainy Saturday afternoon to watch this film.

This film isn’t the only example. I can’t count the number of films I have taken my boys to only to sit in the theatre wondering what I had done to deserve such punishment. The same cynicism that finds values out of fashion mistakes sterility for innocence and confuses family fare with fare that is dull. The results are films with questionable language and subject matter or stories so sanitized as to be little more than 90 minutes of homogenized goo.

What Hollywood forgets and what my wife misses is that although Autry is not above kicking a little tail, and like most cowboys he is quick on the draw, his actions are underscored and motivated by a code of moral conduct. He defends the weak and the innocent. And he always ends with a song.

Perhaps I am out of step with the times. I could join the other cynics in the world and toss my corny, old-fashioned ideals into the trash. Unfortunately, I am one who prefers a world wherein the principles of family, faith and freedom are of value. I also believe our entertainment should reflect those values. So until Hollywood begins producing more wholesome entertainment, I will continue to watch old westerns and sing along with Gene Autry. Besides, a little cornball is good for the soul.