#also anon justie feel free to pop into my ask box any time

[itookyoudown]

Alright, so I am new to the fandom, and while I have so many asks because I am INCREDIBLY invested in this show, I figured I'd start out with a "simple" one, maybe. What do you believe is the thematic symbolism of Raylan's hat and what it means when he doesn't wear it?

hi justie! welcome to the madness. when/if you're ever ready to come off anon, there's lots of blogs here for you to follow and we have a discord.

i love this question! thanks for popping into my ask box. i could write any entire essay on this with diagrams and screenshots, but i'll try to keep this short for now.

first off, i think it needs to be mentioned that the most obvious symbolism/use of the hat is how it immediately signifies to the audience that Justified isn't a typical cop drama, it's a modern-day western. a cowboy hat on top of the protagonist's head immediately clues you into that (plus it's sexy af let's be real).

beyond that, i think the hat is a mask for Raylan and he uses it to both comfort and empower himself. the same way he uses his star as a shield to get away with his outrageous behavior. Raylan swaggers around as a cool cowboy and has an asshole authority figure persona. and like most social masks, i believe it's simultaneously both true and un-true.

the color of Raylan's hat also has its very own symbolism. it's not a white hat (the official color is silverbelly), because Raylan isn't actually a hero. he's just the protagonist of the story.

as for what it means when he doesn't wear it...from what i can remember from watching (and rewatching the show), Raylan sometimes takes off his hat to be polite, but he isn't consistent about it. he wears it inside frequently. i don't think i can really ascribe any particular symbolism to when he doffs it VS when he doesn't. he just seems practical about both taking off + putting on his hat.

i will say however that he does seem to use the brim of his hat to hide his eyes sometimes. and in his intimate scenes with his lady friends, he doesn't leave the hat on (such a shame).

that's just what i think though! justies what do y'all think about raylan and his stetson?