Last week, my film group and I watched a documentary entitled Reel Injun directed by Neil Diamond: an informative approach to the portrayal of native american peoples in the film industry. I chose to watch this film because I have had a good amount of experience interacting with Native Americans on the Lakota Sioux Indian Reservation. This film resonated with me and I thought that it was factually accurate from what I've seen in real life. I was shocked by some of the excerpts the film analyzed in which Indians were not considered to have the same human rights as the Caucasian protagonist. One clip in particular, a bugs bunny clip no less, showed a heroic looking bugs gunning down Indian people from the top of a fort while playfully singing "One little two little three little Indians." This clip becomes even more shocking when one thinks that the main audience of this show would have been kids, shaping a condescending view towards Native Americans at an early age. Overall, I thought this film was very educational however I think It might be written to capture an older demographic that actually did grow up when western movies were in their prime.
Mike Hale of the New York Times praises Diamond's work in having a wide variety of sources and movie excerpts however he offers a critique at the end of the article that the last three "celebratory" films of Indian culture feel "rushed and tacked on." (which is ironic because the critique itself feels rushed and tacked on within the context of the article itself.) I disagree with Hale because I felt that the last three film were crucial in showing the redeeming side of Hollywood's portrayal of Native Americans. Furthermore, I thought the last film in particular, Atanarjuat, was an excellent addition to a documentary about Native Americans because people, myself included, often forget about the northern Inuit tribes who also have a rich Native American heritage.
Link to Letting the Arrows Fly at Hollywood Stereotypes by Mike Hale:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/movies/14reel.html?_r=0
Good observations, Andrew. I agree, I think the focus on better Native American films at the end of the documentary is a good way for the filmmaker to show Hollywood that it could be doing a better job instead of simply telling them to do so.
ReplyDeleteDid this film give you any additional understanding that will help build or deepen your own relationships with Native Americans?