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Misrepresentation of Native Americans in Hollywood

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Misrepresentation of Native Americans in Hollywood

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It is not a stretch to say that movies are agents in moulding society. As a matter of fact, movies are a reflection of the society we live in. Over the years, we have seen how Hollywood have gained a lot of influence around the world. As much as Hollywood movies can have positive influence on us, it cannot be denied that the same platform has also been guilty of perpetuating horrible narratives on minorities. Misrepresentation of minorities, especially Native Americans, is so rampant that it ingrained the perception that these communities are of specific characteristics and appearances.
Therefore, this timeline will discuss issue of misrepresentation of Native Americans in Hollywood movies of through the issue of binary opposition, commercialization of cultural items, disrespect on language, beliefs and culture of the Native Americans and redface.
The timeline has also included the voice of Natives Americans towards the issue.

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1853 — a small adobe hut
1873 — known as Cahuenga Valley, a thriving agricultural community
1883 — Harvey Henry Wilcox purchased 150 acres of land west of Hollywood in his attempt of ranching
1887 — Wilcox failed in his effort of ranching. He filed plans with Los Angeles' County Recorder's office to subdivide the land. Prospect Avenue and upscale home neighborhood sprung up afterwards
1902 — had a post office, markets, a hotel, a livery and even a street car. HJ Whitley opened the Hollywood Hotel (now Dolby theatre) and developed Ocean View Tract. He also helped financing the building of bank and brought electricity to the town
1910 — incorporated in 1903 and merged with Los Angeles. Prospect Avenue became the famous Hollywood Boulevard. The first film being entirely made in Hollywood was released, a short film named "In Old California"
1908 — "The Count of Monte Cristo" finalized in Hollywood, even though its production began in Chicago
1911 — first movie studio was built in Sunset Boulevard
1915 — a numerous number of major motion picture companies moved from East Coast to Hollywood

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General Reception and Impact that Hollywood Brought to America and the World

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General Reception and Impact that Hollywood Brought to America and the World

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Hollywood helped recovering people's anxiety in America earlier in its soaring foundation. During the Great Depression, Hollywood played an invaluable psychological and ideological role, comforting reassurance and hope to a demoralised and unspirited nation. Even at the statistics of over 60 to 80 millions people suffering depression throughout the country, Americans attended cinemas to enjoy movies week in week out. It could be said that in the face of doubt and despair, films really helped in regaining national morale. But for some cultures, they view Hollywood as a symbol of glorification of sex and promoting violence, opposing the moral values of all societies hence, deviating their youngsters to further astray. Hollywood is a hero for their country, but a villain to the others.
Throughout the years, Hollywood has become one of the biggest global cinematic giant. People from around the world consume products and Hollywood and it definitely has a role in shaping society around the globe.

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Us versus Them: Settlers versus Native Americans

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Us versus Them: Settlers versus Native Americans

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In Hollywood movies, Native Americans are always seen to take up antagonistic roles. Oftentimes, they are dressed as warriors, complete with battle gears and specific headpieces. Its important to note that such get-up are only worn during war and battles, not on a daily basis. Due to this simplistic representation, audiences see them as savages and uncivilized group of people that is always looking for trouble. Hollywood portrayal also pairs them with white characters that takes up the role of saviours and such binary opposition only grounds the image that Native Americans are dangerous and their behaviour is unacceptable to their white counterpart, which is seem to live a 'normal' life (Bond).

Works Cited:
Bond, Garrett,

The Misrepresentation of Native American Culture in Mass Media, 26 September 2017, https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/2017/09/26/the-misrepresentation-of-native-american-culture-in-mass-media/

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1939: The racist depiction of Native Americans in 'Stagecoach'

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1939: The racist depiction of Native Americans in 'Stagecoach'

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Set in the West, the movie directed by John Ford tells the story of a group of strangers boarding a stagecoach from Tonto, Arizona to New Mexico. Among them are Dallas, a  driven out of town prostitute,  an alcoholic, a pregnant lady who wants to reunite with her husband, and a whiskey salesmen.
Even though the movie was phenomenal in introducing tropes for future movies and have managed to win several awards, Native Americans are portrayed in a bad light. The Apache tribe is depicted as bloodthirsty savages, and even the ones that come into civilization can’t be trusted. Not to mention, they were not given names and line and the battle scene they were included, they were shown to make stupid strategies. This shows how the movie downplays their attachment and literacy with nature,as well as showing them as uneducated individuals.

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John Wayne Movies Full Length Westerns King

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John Wayne Movies Full Length Westerns Rio Lobo

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Stagecoach (1939) Official Trailer - John Wayne, John Ford Western Movie HD

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Subscribe to CLASSIC TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u43jDe Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Like us on FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/1QyRMsE Follow us on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/1ghOWmt Stagecoach (1939) Official Trailer - John Wayne, John Ford Western Movie HD A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.

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The pervasiveness of misleading representation in Hollywood film industry about Native American culture has exceeded beyond their cultural property and identity. Over the years, the commercialization of their cultural items has affected the indigenous peoples on the margins of American society, aside from sparking furious responses and ongoing debates.

Glancing through the lens of many Hollywood movies, the commercialization of Native American cultural items is apparent through the normality of appropriation. In the book Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law by Susan Scafidi, she describes cultural appropriation as adopting and taking the cultural elements or artifacts, intellectual property, means of knowledge and history of a culture by members of public.

Scafidi further explains that the motives behind cultural appropriation are usually to modify or transform cultural items to suit their preferences, convey their creativity or purely accumulate profit (Smith).

It cannot be denied that Hollywood is among the

most eminent and profitable representatives of global film industry, with their recent  highlights of top-grossing movies such as Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, and Frozen 2 in 2019. One of the most promising film production companies in the United States, Disney surpassed other notable Hollywood studios by gathering worldwide haul of $11.1 billion, as of 2019 (McClintock). According to Lakritz, the massive Disney empire also spans over other major film studios like 20th Century Fox, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.

Works cited:
Lakritz, Talia. “14 Companies You Didn't Realize Disney Owns.” Insider, Insider, 31 Jan. 2020, www.insider.com/companies-disney-owns.

McClintock, Pamela. 2019 Global Box Office Revenue Hit Record $42.5B Despite 4 Percent Dip in U.S. 13 Jan. 2020, www.billboard.com/articles/news/8547827/2019-global-box-office-revenue-hit-record-425b-despite-4-percent-dip-in-us.

Smith, Sandrea. Appropriate or Appropriation? How to Appreciate and Not Imitate. 29 Jan. 2017, archesnews.com/appropriate-or-appropriation-how-to-appreciate-and-not-imitate/.

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1995: Distorted portrayal of the Algonquins in Pocahontas 

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1995: Distorted portrayal of the Algonquins in Pocahontas 

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Prior to release of Pocahontas, Disney publicists circulated that the animated movie would adopt a balanced and close depiction of the Native American culture. This included their early scrutiny on Pocahontas’ Algonquin culture and her living period due to the fact that she was not merely a legend, but a real woman in history.

However, there were evident discrepancies between the true history of Pocahontas and the animated release through some aspects such as the commercialization of their cultural items in:

Apparel: Women of the Algonquin peoples in the past wore long dresses with detachable sleeves. In contrary to the true history of Pocahontas, the fictionalized character manifests as a full-grown woman with an off-the-shoulder, high-cut dress that exposes her skin. The depiction of a mature Pocahontas is relevant to develop the romance between her and John Smith and possibly to attract a large number of global audiences where commercialization would be one of the underlying motives behind the Hollywood film industry.

This suggests an intended misleading representation of the Algonquin peoples because the real Pocahontas was around 10-12 years when she met John Smith who was said to be in his late twenties. Hence, Disney's hypersexualization of the  character illustrates a wrong image of the Algonquin women and their traditional apparels (Wormer and Juby 9-11).

Works cited:
Wormer, Katherine Van, and Cindy Juby. “Cultural Representations in Walt Disney Films: Implications for Social Work Education.” Journal of Social Work, vol. 16, no. 5, 2016, pp. 578–594., doi:10.1177/1468017315583173.

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Pocahontas (1995) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

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Disrespect on Cultural Beliefs - Language

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Disrespect on Cultural Beliefs - Language

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The American native language is used to portray their cultural authenticity. However, the native characters in the west are shown to be sufficient. Native languages are featured more heavily and ridiculed in the Hollywood media.

The use of certain Native linguistic practices supports accusations of falsity and in-authenticity in their cultural beliefs. The most obvious features were Native and non-Native accents on Native characters in terms of the utilization of Native languages, mockery of Native languages or sounds and also jokes about Native names.

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Disrespect on Cultural Beliefs - Rituals & Traditions

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Disrespect on Cultural Beliefs - Rituals & Traditions

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Since a long time ago,  Native people were believed to have powers such as shamanism and magic symbolizes respect. However, due to the rising of Hollywood pop-culture, the view of the Native American has changed from honored race of people to being a ruthless savage. This thinking does not match with what Native people face when they are confronted by people who believe them to be fundamentally different in which expected them to be more spiritual or more in touch with nature.

For instance, The Twilight Saga makes the Quileute wolf shape shifters the natural enemies of vampires, in view of an alleged innate history with the animals. The real existence of the Quileute stories are forced into a non-Native fantasy paradigm wherein vampires and werewolves are natural enemies.

Stereotypes of contemporary Native characters in media set in the western parts of the United States identify them as legitimate or genuine Indians but to the point of seeing them as something different with supernatural qualities.

References:
McLaurin, Virginia A. Stereotypes of Contemporary Native American Indian Characters in Recent Popular Media. 2012.

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2009 - The Twilight Saga: New Moon representation of Quileute tribes

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2009 - The Twilight Saga: New Moon representation of Quileute tribes

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In the film The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the portrayal of the Quileute people, who played a major role as the tribe that turns out a group of young boys and girls into wolves to protect the tribe from vampires.

The legendary of Quileute Indians life was seen as a complex cultural pattern that was common to indigenous people of the Northwest Coast region. Their tradition of fishing and hunting sea mammals were reputedly recognized as the best sealers on the coast because they are ocean oriented.

However, the transformation of Quileute to werewolves portrayal was not as good or heroic as the white vampires and their russet-coloured skin, black hair, and dark eyes are associated with violence, danger, and savagery. It was illustrated that this transformation describe a racist stereotypes especially when the character of Jacob alternates from being noble human to being a savage.

References:
Pearson, Jennifer. “REPRESENTATIONS OF NATIVE AMERICAN CHARACTERS IN STEPHENIE MEYER'S TWILIGHT SAGA.” The ScholarShip at ECU, East Carolina University, 1 Jan. 1970, thescholarship.ecu.edu/handle/10342/3539.

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Twilight: New Moon (7/12) Movie CLIP - Jacob's Transformation (2009) HD

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Redface goes way back to the early period of European colonization. It describes the portrayal of Native Americans by non-natives typically based on the stereotypes of their speech, culture, rituals, and traditions. Also known as redskins, the term was first imposed upon the Native Americans by the Europeans colonists. Prior to 1960s, the images of Indigenous American in Hollywood films can be narrowed as “vicious savage” such as in the film The Battle of Elderbrush Gulch in 1912 and as “noble savage” in Broken Arrow in 1950 depending on their relationship with the colonists shown in the movies (Lyubymova 3). In other words, the portrayal of good Indians is often restricted to when they were portrayed as poor, submissive and into supernatural occurrences while the bad Indigenous characters were shown to be unwilling to cooperate with Euro American characters.

Due to being a minority group in the United States, this topic receives less attention and discussion. Popular culture has become the leading medium in portraying stereotypical images of Native Americans. Redface is not only limited to the visual images in the clothing that are ingrained in people’s mind such as fringe and feathers, but also includes the broken speech in Hollywood movies (Fonseca). The false representation of this Mongoloid, or Oriental/Amerindian race shows that they are being misrepresented even in the present day. The existence of stereotypical ideas of them in Hollywood films specifically, shows racism and bias towards non-natives.

Works cited:
Fonseca, Felicia. “'Redface' Remains Persistent, despite Native Americans' Pushback.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Mar. 2019, www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2019/0318/Redface-remains-persistent-despite-Native-Americans-pushback. Accessed 1 August 2020.

Lyubymova, Svitlana.
“Stereotyping Indigeneity: the Case of Native American.” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Vol.11, 2019, pp 1-19. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v11n2.05

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2013: The Casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto in The Lone Ranger

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2013: The Casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto in The Lone Ranger

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The casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto for Lone Ranger in 2013 became controversial due to the fact that he is a white actor and not a Native American. The character that he portrays is a Native American who has his face painted white with black stripes and wears a headband with a black crow on it. Critics labelled it as a form of redface because the casting choice is considered as a "racist and inappropriate decision".  This further provides evidence that Native Americans culture is not being represented accurately by native actors who are more than qualified for it (Boyd, 108).

Works Cited:
Boyd, Julia. "An Examination of Native Americans in Film and Rise of Native Filmmakers." Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 6.1, 2015, pp 105-113
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/a?id=1130

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The Lone Ranger opens in US theaters July 3, 2013. Like The Lone Ranger on Facebook: http://di.sn/e4B Follow The Lone Ranger on Twitter: http://di.sn/l4h From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "The Lone Ranger," a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes.

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Perspective of Native American actors towards the issue

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Perspective of Native American actors towards the issue

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Native Americans filmmakers faced a lot of stereotypes from the society regarding their contributions in the film industry. Native American filmmakers are still at the stage of developing their skills to produce film of exceptional qualities (Boyd 106). Native American actors argued that Native American filmmakers in the 20th century had portrayed the best historical and cultural representation of Native Americans (109). The common public perception is that Native filmmakers are not creative enough to portray the  traditional life of Native Americans in films. it is also argued that Native American filmmakers do not have any ideas to create the good contemporary film in order to attract the attention of the audience. Native American actors tried to break this negative perception by giving their point of views that Native filmmakers need more time to develop the quality of film  through the use of modern technology and training. The hard work from Native filmmakers and actors would give positive social development and cultural effect on the accurate representation of Native Americans. Native American actors claimed that the society should not have any doubt about the potential of Native American filmmakers in the film industry. Such perspective highlights the contribution of Native filmmakers in Hollywood movies and their contribution are as important. Native American filmmakers have opportunities to expand and improve their ideas for the representation of true life of Native Americans in the contemporary film. The audience should show their respect and appreciation towards the creativity and effort of the Native American filmmakers in the film industry.

Work Cited:
Boyd, Julia. "An Examination of
Native Americans in Film and Rise of Native Filmmakers." The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, vol. 6, no. 1, 2015, pp. 106-109.

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Perspective of Native American actor towards the issue

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Perspective of Native American actor towards the issue

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Native American actors are also faced with the challenge of  playing stereotypical roles in Hollywood movies. a handful of critics believe that Native American actors are not be able to speak other languages fluently (Berny 13). Furthermore, it is also argued that Native Americans actors are lack of English language proficiency to fulfill their roles in Hollywood movies. They were told that their dialect and slang would be too strong  while playing their roles in films. Because of so, Native American actors are expected to master English to fit the requirements of their characters in the film industry. As the majority of Hollywood movies consumers are English speakers, listening to English with a heavy Native American accent puts them off. Native Americans actors opined that audience should not be racist about their accent. In their argument, their accent comes naturally and they feel like there should not be any problems by showing it. Native American actors also argued that the sound of their accent and dialect while playing their characters in the film is the representation of their identity and not a sign of weakness (14). The public should give a chance for Native Americans actors to be apart of  Hollywood movies and acknowledge the life of Native Americans instead of  questioning or misinterpreting Native American actors and culture. To improve in the film industry, the society should support Native American actors to develop their acting skills as a part of their motivation and passion in continuing their career in Hollywood.

Work Cited:
Berny, Martin. "The Hollywood Indian Stereotype: The Cinematic Othering and Assimilation of Native Americans at the Turn of the 20th Century." Open Edition Journals, vol. 10, 2020, pp. 13-14.

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2020: Indigenous Actors: Discussing the Dream Role- Native American & Indigenous Actors Panel 

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2020: Indigenous Actors: Discussing the Dream Role- Native American & Indigenous Actors Panel 

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Published on 16 January, 2020, the video discusses representation of the voices of indigenous actors in Hollywood movies.  Indigenous actors talk about their dreams to take on playing other roles and characters to expand their acting skills and explore  areas of different genres. The representation of voices among  indigenous actors in this video shows the importance of the contribution of indigenous actors in Hollywood movies.

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Indigenous Actors: Discussing the Dream Role | Native American & Indigenous Actors Panel

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1. Rifqi Zaiyanni Zai (1629741)
2. Syazwani bt Mohd Mokhtar (1623800)
3. Siti Nur Shahirah Binti Azmer (1613112)
4. Isyhraff Marwan Ishak (1810921)
5. Syazana binti Shaiful Adzhar (1624276)
6. Nurul Diyana Aliaa bt Ahmad (1424132)