arts & entertainment
DVD explores Native Americans in Hollywood Films
by kam Williams
forThe Skanner News
I
f you think blacks and Asians
have been given a raw deal in
the way they’ve been por-
trayed in Hollywood pictures, then
you should reflect upon the harm-
ful
depictions
of
Native
Americans on film. For, this belea-
guered ethnic group has generally
been stereotyped in a very limited
fashion, namely, as deserving of
extermination or being driven to
reservations.
In most movies, Indians are
bloodthirsty savages who get
wiped out right after you hear the
bugle signaling the arrival of the
cavalry. My impression of this
country’s indigenous peoples was
so perverted by exposure to
Westerns that one of my favorite
childhood pastimes was playing
“Cowboys and Indians,” an activi-
ty in which I took pleasure in fan-
tasizing about killing adversaries
with red skin.
An important aspect of learning
is to unlearn propaganda, and this
is particularly important for
minorities in the United States.
That is one of the salient points
driven home in Reel Injun, a
telling documentary co-directed
by Dustin Diamond, Catherine
Bainbridge and Jeremiah Hayes.
For, in this eye-opening expose’,
they interview fellow natives who
shamefully admit that they had
grown up cheering for the white
man while watching Westerns.
Such is the power of cinema,
that even the descendants of the
original inhabitants of this country
could easily be manipulated to
embrace as heroes the invaders
who had slaughtered their ances-
tors. That’s because, “The only
good Injun is a dead Injun” was an
unchallenged, recurring theme so
pervasive that no one seems to dis-
cuss the legitimacy of the ethnic
cleansing which decimated the
ranks of every tribe across the
nation.
By contrast, the activists inter-
viewed here make the most of the
opportunity to correct the flawed
accounts of “How the West was
won.” Typical are the remarks of
the sage elder who asserts that the
only thing more pathetic than the
Indians playing stereotypes in
Westerns are the Indians willing to
watch Indians playing stereotypes
in Westerns.”
Excellent IIII
Unrated
Running time: 88 Min
Distributor: Lorber Films
26 Th annuaL
News
m aRTIn L uThER K Ing , J R .
b REaKfasT
monday
January 16, 2012
8:30-10:30 a.m.
The oregon Convention Center,
777 nE martin Luther King, Jr. blvd.,
Portland, oregon
R Reserve a table: MLKBreakfast@theskanner.com
R Call 503-285-5555 for more information
A limited amount of non-profit tickets are available,
first come first served
page 6 The Portland Skanner
november 30, 2011