So You Want to Be a Cowboy?

A middle aged Chicago man pursues his dream of owning and running a rodeo. A college age student finds excitement riding bucking bulls. A young single mother parlays her horseback riding skills into a career as a professional cowgirl. What's different about this trio is that they are all African-Americans who have followed a dream and hitched their stars to the world of championship rodeo riding. In this very brief documentary by filmmaker Wendy Greene, these three explain what draws them to an activity where most of the participants and audience members come from white, rural America. The dream comes with a price: long hours, separation from friends and family, injuries (the bull rider has suffered a fractured skull among others) and insults (the cowgirl has sometimes been stopped when leaving town towing her horse trailer). While the program shows these riders in action and features some interesting scenes (such as when the rodeo owner explains the gratification he gets when he and his black riders provide a role model for minority youth), the all-Americans-should-be-free-to-pursue-their-dreams angle cries out for much fuller treatment than is given here. While this is a noteworthy attempt to spotlight an unusual subject, only very large African-American contemporary issues collections need consider it for purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)