Alex Yarde discusses the blatant racism in the new Disney film, “The Lone Ranger”.
In 1890, at Wounded Knee, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, U.S. soldiers opened fire on unarmed Native Americans being held captive. At least 150 Lakota were killed including many women and children. Another 51 were wounded. Some say that close to 300 were actually killed. This area has been in the news recently because a South Dakota man put two forty acre tracts of land near the burial ground of this massacre up for sale. One of the two tracts actually contains the last known burial place of Chief Crazy Horse. The seller originally offered to sell the parcel, along with another piece of land, to the Oglala Lakota Nation for $4.9 million. The offer was open until May 1, but the Tribe refused, saying the price was excessive and the action amounted to extortion. Since the deadline, the seller claims to have been talking to three private buyers but no sale has been entered into.
I don’t claim to be an expert on the Native American experience in America. I also realize there is a danger in speaking on the plight of a people, since a group is never monolithic in thought or opinion. As a fellow human being, however, I can sympathize with the pain of knowing that sacred ground where ancestors lay is in danger of being sold to the highest bidder. As an American, I can be outraged by the squander, in my opinion, of an important American Heritage site that should be preserved and used to teach future generations about what happened there. As a citizen of black Caribbean descent, I can relate to a history where a group is marginalized and how this negatively impacts the group’s standing within our society.
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What is amazing to me is that pop culture, in my opinion, continues to marginalize Native Americans in way that harkens back to another era. The latest Lone Ranger incarnation and the characterization of Tonto is one example. Johnny Depp, whom I generally respect, is the latest actor to take on the role. For some reason, he dons a black bird on his head, does not wear a shirt and speaks in the halting pidgin English that the Tonto character has used since his inception on radio in the 30s. Somehow, I guess I had hoped Disney would have taken this opportunity to break out of that mold—perhaps this was misplaced hope.
An actor of Irish descent actually played the character of Tonto on the radio version in 1930. This radio program was a huge success and eventually garnered a successful run as a Television Serial on ABC from 1949 to 1957. The 1950s portrayal of Tonto by Jay Silverheels, a Canadian Mohawk First Nations member, is the one that someone my age and older remembers. He spoke in pidgin English and was loyal to a fault. He bailed out his “Kemosabe” time and time again. As a child watching the exciting reruns, this was not lost on me. Two things bothered me about The Lone Ranger show. The first was the title. I understand he was the sole survivor of a group of Texas Rangers. But, how could the main character be rescued by, be trained in and use Native American tactics and still be in charge? It was clear to me that Tonto should be in charge. It struck me as being a bit like Batman rescuing Robin, training Robin, and then Robin getting top billing. In my humble opinion it should have been called “Tonto & the Lone Ranger.”
The second issue I had was with the name: “Tonto.” The word, in Spanish, means “dumb.” If you respected someone, why would you call them that? Naming the him “Tonto” is practically making him subhuman. So much so that Spanish language portrayals and dubbing call Depp’s character “Toro.” Toro has a much more positive cultural connotation. Now I’m not naive about where this comes from. I understand the pathology. Historically, white males, being both the main audience these shows were written for and produced by, were not all that concerned how other groups were portrayed. Programs like Amos & Andy and Charlie Chan were just as culturally insensitive. I hope that these would not be tolerated today. Would they? If not, then why, in 2013, is it still okay to portray Native Americans in this demeaning way?
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In the 21st Century (the era of the reboot) we have the opportunity to do better and the responsibility to become more representative of a broader audience. We can do better. We need not lose the spirit of what made these stories a part of American Culture, but we can breathe in new life with a more accurate portrayal, can’t we?
At the risk of prejudging Mr. Depp and the filmmaker’s portrayal, I can’t fathom why Disney would chose to go with what appears to be the full “F Troop”. Johnny Depp is an A-List star. His box office is huge regardless of the role. He’d chew the scenery as Butch Cavendish, the Lone Ranger’s nemesis. However, already this summer I’ve seen some quizzical choices for actors. So it’s not entirely shocking, just disappointing. My fear is that the Disney executives, as well as a large part of the American public, feel “PC fatigue” — that as a society we have somehow done enough. This position, however, is easy to take when you posses the biggest bullhorn and have the dominant cultural voice. Which in America today, is still very white and very male.
As a nation, we have conveniently short memories and our popular culture acts as a mirror we hold up to reflect what’s important to us. Is this really the best we can do after all this time? Is this how we want our children to remember the proud descendants of the First Americans on this continent in IMAX & 3D?
It seems to me that the marginalization of Native Americans in popular culture does influence the lack of compassion in the broader American community about the failure of our government to purchase the tracts of land at Wounded Knee and create a protected historic site. Something has to explain this. Something has to explain why we can believe that ground can become consecrated by blood shed there (see battleground of Getttysburg), but the preservation of Wounded Knee is not a priority. Something has to explain how a nation can commission the carving of a 100 foot likeness of Crazy Horse in the Black Hills but not do anything when his final resting place is sold to a mall developer.
Something has to explain that bird on his head.
Image Credit: The_JIFF/Flickr
The nation did not commission the carving of the likeness of Crazy Horse in the Black Hills. The memorial was commissioned by Lakota elder, Henry Standing Bear.
Depp is part Powhatan, but I know some will nitpick percentages. As to the other misconceptions about the film, since I saw it I’ll try to clear up some misconceptions without giving too much away in spoilers. First, Native Americans actually play more of a background role in the story. The Comanche and settlers have a treaty that is broken in order to speed up the railroad by the antagonists. Typical thing that we actually did in history. Yes, they’re referred too as savages, which I don’t have a problem with because that’s how we treated them. To ignore it… Read more »
John Weesat Johnny Depp purposely lives his life exclusivly as a uber white male matinee idol,period.The notion that he did this film to honor his Native American heritage rings false.I believe he did this film because he was paid $20,000,000 dollars AND it allowed him to expand his reputation as counter-culture to all of his fawning mostly white female fans.For them,his being “native American” probably gives him more sex appeal. I am sure the focus groups finding would support this idea.If he really wanted to honor his heritage why do it in the form of a fluffy summer-box office movie.These… Read more »
Racism hides behind every tree and under every rock. Everything and everyone are racists.
ogwriter: By saying “people like the author” I just mean to lay blame on the attitude he expresses without making it about him, as though it’s really his fault. No, I’m glad people bring up racism! If I blamed him just for over-eagerly calling out racism, what would that say about my response? I get your point that in America this is an understandable dispute to have, because who would be surprised if Disney disrespected Native Americans? However it’s going to drive me nuts if the people standing up against “racism” actually are condescending and prejudiced towards the actual people… Read more »
In my opinion the racism begins and ends with people like the author. To those like myself, who actually like and appreciate traditional cultures, wearing the remains of an animal does not make you a “savage,” or something bad. For your information if you want to look 500 years into the past (or for white people, 1500 years) your ancestors also wore paint and perhaps animal remains. But you get to sit in your manufactured shirt and trousers and claim that the racism is on someone else’s part, not yours. As a matter of fact, people who dress and groom… Read more »
@john hall I am curious,what do you mean by,”people like the author”? You seem to be saying that the only real problem with racism is that “some ” people bring it up all the time. If we just didn’t say anything it wouldn’t matter and we would see that it really doesn’t exist. And in the next thread you will be talking about how white guys are getting the shaft and you will expect someone to listen and they will. Are there some problems with the authors premise, yes. However, the context of his argument, considering this is America,is understandable.… Read more »
A buddy of mine sent me this link… I guess I should have expected merchandizing behind the film. (Sigh) http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/05/disney-store-offers-tonto-halloween-costume-149727
I get it how many people could see Depp’s costume as disrespectful to native traditions, just as these costumes can be. However, one can’t then also criticize it for being “inauthentic.” It’s the costume of a fictional character from a fictional or stereotypical tribe. It also seems a little odd to expect some sort of “authenticity” from the Lone Ranger. At what point did people begin to evaluate Disney westerns primarily based on historical authenticity? Anyone check to see what kind of masks the Old Western crimefighters wore when they fought crime with Indian sidekicks and shot the guns out… Read more »
Let me back up and find some common ground here. I am totally on board with the argument that popular depictions of Native Americans are almost always over-romanticized. We as a society have a lot further to go in terms of portraying historical Native Americans and Native Americans of today in a realistic, sophisticated light, avoiding as many stereotypes as we can. I grok it. I’m on board with that. I’m just not so sure that the people fighting anti-Native racism are willing to give up on ALL of the stereotypes. I’d really love to see American culture let go… Read more »
@wellokthen:’They are just as racist, just as oversimplified, and ultimately just as destructive as the ones that appear to be negative.” Maybe you don’t think that calling Native Americans savages is in fact negative. However, you certainly DO think that calling some white people savages,who according to the historical record behaved as savages, is negative. Why the difference? Your comment about Seminoles allowing ANYBODY, even escaped slaves and white criminals into their communities, by inference alone, is dripping with cynicism and ignornace. The inference suggests that Seminoles had less than optimum standards of judgement. And of course America showed great… Read more »
[Sorry this is so long. Asking me what I really think is a risky venture.] I can see how my language could have been misinterpreted, so please allow me to rephrase. I did not mean to imply that the Seminoles lacked judgment, though I can see how my language was faulty in getting that across. I meant to explain that by the time the U.S. Army in the early 19th century attempted to wipe out the last Seminoles not on reservations, the Seminoles had many African Americans and European Americans whom they had adopted into their tribe. This was not… Read more »
@Wokt I think your theory supporting your claim that patronizing racism contributed to the genocide of Native Americans has highly speculative and has little basis in fact. You fail to mention greed and religion as motivation.The people who decided that Natives were expendable was long and varied, collusion seems unlikely since these conquerors were competitors for gold and land. They were an arrogant, brutish, savage lot for whom slavery and religious persecution were commonly used instruments of control. They just needed a convenient excuse to take, rape, murder, lie, cheat, enslave,torture and pillage their way to achieve their goals. They… Read more »
Most blatant racism since Tom Cruise played The Last Samurai.
Come on white guys, we can do better than this.
I found _The Last Samurai_ to be far more classist than it was racist. It’s great for samurai to be all skilled and noble and virtuous and everything, but they sure as hell weren’t growing their own food and building their own houses. They only had their privileged minority position on the backs of peasants whom they squeezed for every last resource they could get. The last samurai holdouts were really angry that they couldn’t push around commoners like they used to back in the good old days. They thought a groveling peasant was just as beautiful as a perfect… Read more »
Absolutely, which is why I’ve decided to transition from my white identity and I now self-identify as a a ciswhite pre-op transracial person of color. All you white people are cray-cray.
So Hollywood is the new christian right, the new KKK, and Johnny Depp is a racist? That’s one heck of a story. And one great irony since it was Hollywood that took every opportunity to improve the perception of minorities and women in society from almost it’s beginnings.
Thank you for reading my piece. Hollywood and America has struggled with racism since inception. The reason I wrote the piece was In my opinion, the marginalization of Native People in Pop Culture (Mr.Depp in “redface” the latest example) impacts thier lives in a negative way (the sale of Wounded Knee burial sites) If you would like more information “Racisim in Early Hollywood” Wikipedia is a good starting point. Since the Release of “Birth of a Nation” in 1914 Hollywood has never been immune to or innocent of perpetuating negative stereotypes.
I’ve been told that it’s racist to talk about or even hint at the idea that progress has been made in Hollywood’s portrayal of people of color. And, that everyone is racist and racism is everywhere. So, presumably, there is no real difference between Disney movies and KKK rallies. (Of course, if you’ve ever seen Disney’s “Song of the South,” the difference really does look pretty slim!)
@Pursuit Ace: Wow! What are you smoking …and, oh yeah, how much does it cost.
This article has me rethinking my childhood jones to see the film.
I’m about the same age as the author. I thrilled to the same reruns and made similar observations he did as a child, wondering why Tonto both sounded stupid, yet ways the brains of the operation.
Those final two paragraphs make up my favorite conclusion of an article in a long time.
Thank you David, I apriciate your kind words. As a fan of the show as a boy I hoped for at mimimum a rendition in the vein of the not so well recieved 81′ Ledgend of The Lone Ranger film featuring the excellent Michael Horse in a dignified portrayal. He is Yaqui-Mescalero & Apache-Zuni. I’d hoped my misgivings about Mr. Depp’s rendition proved to be unfounded. Then I saw the Trailer.
This article is “right-on” at every level. Thank you for your understand of what we’re going thru and I will continue to be sensitive to your plight as well. Together we can make a different.
I’m sure Mr. Depp has some Hippy-Dippy explanation for the bird. 🙂
Thank You Mary. That was very kind of you to say.
Thanks for all the folks who read, shared and responded. A good friend of mine who is a Lakota Educator & Activist made this observation which I wholeheartedly agree with.. “The heavily romanticized, savior mentality of the white Hollywood actor in saving / liberating (and ultimately being adopted into) an indigenous community has been prevalent for far too long. Be it Kevin Costner at being more Lakota than us Lakota, or Tom Cruise being a better samurai than the samurai themselves, Hollywood has always sought to find ways of expressing a moral superiority using their self congratulatory industry – despite… Read more »
Fair enough, now explain how you would do it differently. Take me through a model of what it would look like to portray a nineteenth century Native American in a film without being accused of racism. If there were a white character and a native character working together in an action movie, what would YOU change to make the movie more sensitive and less tinged with racism? Racism is easily found and easily exposed. It’s apparently everywhere, so saying a film is racist is hardly different than saying it’s in color. So, what would you do to make it less… Read more »
How to do this differently….well for one thing, the whole concept, as the author notes, is retro and racist, so why faithfully reboot it? How about re-imagining the story as that of a Native American who works with a white sidekick? How about re-imagining the story as a white character who is alienated from his society enough to relate to the Native American character on more equal grounds? How about re-imagining the story as a hero with a Native American secret identity?
@sister: Why not just tell other stories entirely that have never been told. For instance, I didn’t find out until college that the original colonists of Jamestown lives were saved by the local Native Americans. If that settlement had failed America doesn’t happen. There’s a story for you. For far too long, the truth about the relationship between whites and native Americans has been purposely used as a tool of control for the sole purpose of disenfranchising Natives. It is time maybe for the Lone Ranger to ride off into the sunset for good.
I agree with sister. The very first thing you do when writing or talking about a culture that is not your own is to consult with people of that culture, ask them to oversee the production or the work, talk with a panel of experts and LISTEN to them. Certainly no matter what you do, some people will find what you do racist. But that shouldn’t stop a GIANT film production from trying their damnedest not to be racist. It’s not like they can’t afford it, it’s not like they don’t have the resources, and it’s not like there aren’t… Read more »
I haven’t seen the movie itself, only the previews, so I welcome anyone who can correct me on my impressions. I suspect that in this film Tonto is probably a far more compelling character, and a more entertaining, more complex character than the Lone Ranger himself. I suspect that Disney is to some degree trying to reproduce the magic of Bruce Lee as the Green Hornet’s sidekick – the titular hero is non-descript, boring, and not nearly as good an action hero as his supposed assistant, who bails out the titular hero on a regular basis. That doesn’t excuse any… Read more »
I have never heard someone say that having a person who is actually of that race or ethnicity playing a role is tokenism. In particular, this character has been played by a Native American man before. So it’s not like their doing a parody of a white man playing a Native American man. If you can show me a single example of a part that was written for a Black, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern or any other race/ethnicity being played by a person of that ethnicity being called “tokenism” I’d welcome the information. To me, that’s like putting a white… Read more »
[Joanna, I’m combining my responses to two of your messages here.] You caught me. I disagreed with some of the analysis here, so obviously I’m in total denial about all the genocidal parts of American history. I’m just an apologist for Manifest Destiny. Sarcasm aside, you ask a good question. I can’t think of any accusations of “token casting” off the top of my head. I have to admit I’m speculating on this one. There must be plenty of African American performers who face criticism from other African Americans because their careers seem to perpetuate racist stereotypes. I seem to… Read more »
So would you ask whether the person who played a fictional representation of Sambo whether he was fully Black, or whether he was mixed race in any way? No. And the point of it being a racist character is an interesting one. Yes, maybe all of the Native American actors turned it down because they didn’t want to play a character named “Stupid” and wear costumes that are not historically accurate. That is definitely a possibility. I’d be interested if they even saw actors for that role. My guess, knowing Hollywood (and working for a production company that has worked… Read more »
“Why is it so important to you that a white man be allowed to play a Native American man? Why does that matter to you? I just don’t get it. What interest do you have in this?” Now I see the misunderstanding. I don’t see myself as standing for the right of a white man to play a Native American man. What I saw in the article and the comments are some valid arguments used to criticize Disney’s casting choice, and some BAD arguments used to criticize Disney’s casting choice. I chose to question what I saw as bad arguments,… Read more »
To me it has almost nothing to do with how he looks, but rather giving someone the opportunity to represent their own culture and ethnic history.
That should go for the writing of the role and consulting on the production.
The reason some races/ethnicities, in my mind, deserve more control over their image is because of the fact that we (us white folk) have subjugated their history and lives for hundreds of years. We don’t need to keep doing it in any way. In this case, we don’t need to do it in a film.
@wellokaythen There is no need for speculation. The information is available to anyone willing to research it. The reason Malcom X among others Black and White, criticized Amos & Andy wasn’t because of Tokenism because Amos & Andy were white. It was a Minstrel Show. Amos & Andy were ALWAYS two white men in blackface “shucking n jiving”. I assumed that was common knowledge?
You’re right about Amos and Andy being white guys in blackface. That was a total brainfart on my part.
I can also see that “tokenism” probably wasn’t quite the right word for what I wanted to say.
Basically, I think that in terms of avoiding charges of racism, the moviemakers only had a series of bad choices to draw from. Some of those choices would appear more racist than others, but casting a “real Indian” instead of a “white guy like Johnny Depp” would hardly make a dent in how racist the film was or wasn’t.
“The right choice would be to cast someone who is actually of that ethnic background to portray that character.”
So, only a Scottish man to play MacBeth, only a Danish man to play Hamlet, and only Italians to play Romeo and Juliet?
P.S. That standard is going to make science fiction movies very difficult to cast. It’s really, really hard to find real-life Vulcans and Ewoks.
True, however Vulcans & Ewoks don’t exist. There is no shortage of fine Native American unemployed Actors or Actresses.
Playing devil’s advocate here, but bear with me. This sounds like a stupid question, but it points to some real problems:
How would one ever prove that Depp is NOT in fact a Native American? Seriously. Take me through the confirmation process.
The test is very clear. The actor Johnny Depp is clearly not Native American because…he doesn’t look or act like what people think a Native American is suppsoed to look or act like. That’s basically the argument, right?
There are ways to determine that, if that’s actually your only point. People applying for scholarships based upon being members or descendants of the First Nations often are asked to prove it. Beyond that, why is it okay for Johnny Depp to play Tonto but not okay for him to play a fictional enslaved African American? Or Bob Marley for that matter? Also, some people may say that a Scotsman should play MacBeth. I could get behind that. I think people did question Mel Gibson’s casting in Braveheart. But what we’re talking about here is a population that has been… Read more »
@Joanna: The problem with discussing individual instances of racism is that the approach actually prevents us from DOING anything about racism.. The discussion becomes isolated and compartmentalized in such a way hat creates distance, not closeness among people.of differing experiences. This situation isn’t going to change until white people stop having polite cocktail conversations about racism and start acting in ways that demonstrate they want change. The primary reason this kind of thing persists in American culture is due to apathy among white people. There has had books, movies, college courses, panel discussions dedicated to his subject for decades. How… Read more »
For me, one sticking point is the use of “we” and “them” and the question of continuity. Is a young male actor with some Native heritage who looks like the public’s stereotype of a Native American, living in L.A. in 2013, really one of the “them” nearly eradicated by “us” beginning in 1492?
Are the people in charge of casting decisions really “we”? I presume the “we” here refers to all white people across the past few centuries.
And, of course, it’s possible that Depp could have ancestors who were both “we” and “them.”
Lucas named the Ewoks after the Miwok tribe, from the Redwoods of California. It’s known Star Wars triva. How honorable!
I gota disagree with the idea that the only people who can accurately someone of a different culture muswt consult with that culture first.
Re: “…the idea that the only people who can accurately someone of a different culture must consult with that culture first.”
If that really was the rule, then every one of us posting comments who is not a Native American would need to check with a Native American first before saying how disrespectful this movie is to Native Americans. No one would be allowed to speak about the experience of other people in other cultures. Arcaheology and History would be impossible subjects.
Well, I believe Alex did. There’s another quote in the comments here.
You’re extrapolating to ad absurdum at this point.
I was quite surprised when I saw the preview for this movie.
While I appreciate Mr. Depp’s attempt attempts at “stretching” his acting muscles by portraying characters that are vastly different from each other and from his personality, I believe this may be a miss-step on his and his agents part. There are many, many excellent first nation actors that could have portrayed the role as well as, if not better than, Mr. Depp.
I believe that this role may prove a bit of a publicity problem for him.
Just my opinion.
Yeah, and as Alex says, there were other opportunities for Depp to be involved in the film. I saw a very early preview in LA and was like, “HOLY SHIT BLACK FACE” in the first second. I actually tweeted to Matt Salesses (who had just written an article about “yellow face”) from the theater saying that it was so absurd to have Depp portraying a Native American… I mean, there are MANY actual members of the Indian Nation and First Nations living here who are excellent actors. It’s a shame.
I found it odd in an article about racism that the author would put this in.
“In 1890, at Wounded Knee, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, U.S. soldiers opened fire on unarmed Native Americans being held captive. At least 150 Lakota were killed including many women and children”
The last 4 words essectially wipe out the men who were killed as insignificant and not important enough to mention.
John, the point of saying “women and children” is to say that they were not warriors in a battle.
I am not so sure that is true Joanna: because alot of men might not have warriors in a battle either and BTW, this is exactly how modern society writes a story like this, with the men being invisible.
Sorry that I’m ignorant about the film’s content, but is Tonto supposed to be Lakota? Is the movie set in Lakota territory, or is this just a reference to the larger context of Euro-Native history? Not every event in Native American history is relevant to every other event in Native American history.
In my opinion, commercial development of Wounded Knee would be a blow to the Lakota people in particular for obvious reasons & a tragic loss to all Americans. What happend there is an important part of American History. It should never be forgotten. American Heritage Site designation would ensure this. Depps portrayal of Tonto and the indifference of the Government regarding Wounded Knee are both symptomatic of the grater issue. The lack of respect of Native American culture and the marginalization of our fellow Americans.
@Alex: Maybe I am missing something and perhaps you can help me to better understand. Is there something new and more compelling about this latest example of racism in American culture? It’s a well written, informative piece, but there is nothing new here. Hollywood is just reflecting what America is and has been. Any idea that this is somehow just a media problem is just a convenient delusion There has not been one single solitary day that America has lived up to the values of the Bill of Rights. So, what’s the big deal? Are we really going to blame… Read more »
I think you’re right, ogwriter. It is all connected. I don’t think that should stop us from pointing out examples when they arise.
@Joanna: I suppose what I am saying is that the piece meal fashion in which racism and sexism and all the rest of it is approached only serves to keep us apart. We must understand that while slavery was happening Yellow Fever was sweeping across California, Native Americans were being killed and abused so their lands could be taken from them, Mexicans were being disenfranchised. These things happened simultaneously, they spring from the same well. Compartmentalization of these abuses keeps the hierarchy in place. Think about it we are discussing Johnny Depp and his racist portrayal of a Native American… Read more »
@Joanna: This “concern” however well intended, feels false and disingenuous.
As far as the bird on his head goes some Native people wear their totem animal some-where on their body. And if they don’t they may paint it on their gourd or rattle or drum. If you are from the fox clan you might wear a fox face in your hair complete with tail. If you are a woman and are from the butterfly clan you may wear butterflies in your hair. People do this so nobody else has to ask “What clan are you from????” because if you see the fox, coyote, wolf, bird, butterfly Etc on my head… Read more »
But the point I believe Alex is making is that without historical context or any other pieces of historically-accurate information, it seems to be a mockery of the traditions of the people of the Indian Nations.
Also, Johnny Depp is a white man! This, to me, is a direct equivalent of Black Face.
Not entirely. He also has Native American heritage. He’s played native roles before, proudly.
I don’t know if you’re assuming that Johnny Depp is not native because of the way that he looks, but isn’t that sort of racist also? Are you saying he’s not a Native American because he doesn’t look like one?
It is possible to be both “white” and “native,” according to the U.S. census anyway. It’s certainly possible to be one and be “mistaken” for the other, isn’t it?
No, he has the bird on his head because he based his costume on a Kirby Sattler painting – a white man’s fantasy portrayal of a Native man. The original painting has birds in the background. Because of Depp’s racist fantasies that Natives would do something like that, he put it on his head. He only talked to Natives about it when they were well into filming. Even then, he could have changed his portrayal (they re-shot plenty of other things), but he didn’t care enough to do so. Depp has lied about having Native heritage (he has none) and… Read more »
Is there actually a system for evaluating whether someone has or has not been adopted into a Native American community? I had no idea anyone ever fact-checks this, or if that was even possible. Lord knows there are lots of New Age-y people out there claiming heritage and no one calls them on it. Slap on some lapis and silver bracelets, grow a braid, and speak slowly, and gullible white progressives would never dare question your authenticity….
So, we’ll just say that Johnny Depp is “cis-white transNative.” Perhaps he has always felt like he was a Native American trapped in the body of a white man. I thought people are supposed to be allowed to self-identify as they wish and that others have to respect those identities. Are we challenging all trans people now? I keep hearing about how identity is fluid and personal and about how our identities are like costumes that we wear for our various prescribed social roles, roles which we as individuals also shape and influence, in a constant state of flux. Unless… Read more »
What is your point, wellokaythen?
Is your point that there wasn’t a massive genocide on North American soil that eradicated a massive portion of the indigenous population, by weapons including germ warfare?
My feeling is this. With a population that is misunderstood, hugely oppressed, living in some of the most impoverished communities in this country, and was thriving before Europeans settled here, I can go out of my way to be sure to be respectful and honor their culture. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would be resistant to that.
I resist showing more respect to some cultures than others. That probably makes me complicit in all sorts of racial power structures, and it steps on a lot of entitled toes. I wish it didn’t, but it does. I don’t believe that some cultures or subcultures or historical communities should be more off-limits to lampooning, humor, fiction, fantasy, or stereotypes than any other. I prefer to respect or offend or analyze all as equally as I possibly can. “Going out of my way” for some and not for others seems unfair and discriminatory. Granting full don’t-touch-the-third-rail orthodoxy to any particular… Read more »
@wokt: Damn!? I will try and discuss what I think is the core of your points. Of course racial categorizations are absurd. I think that we can agree on. Nonetheless, we don’t live in a world or a nation that holds that truth to be self evident And yes racial categorization should be lampooned, but one must be delicate. For instance, The Family Guy does a great job of lampooning racialism, but they do it recognizing that the jokes live in a specific context. Certainly racial categorization should be eliminated, but there is no clear pathway for doing so. Again,… Read more »
@wokt: On Gmp and in the world ideas compete for space because they lead to recognition which leads to access. Men in general have suffered, and, as a result society has suffered, because in the battle of ideas on the gender battlefield , they lost the war of ideas. Others have no place at the table of ideas and are disenfranchised because of it. So, to those people when you talk of removing racial categorization you are removing their voice, their ideas, their access. If the only way white people will include my ideas is when I talk about them… Read more »
@Laydhawk-Thank You for reading my piece and your helpful feedback. As stated, I’m no expert on Native American custom. Please forgive any inartful statements. I’m just a concerned citizen who has friends who have ansestors and close relatives intured in Wounded Knee Cemetary. To answer your query, I have been to Pow Wows and I understand the signifigance of ceremonial attire. Evedently Mr. Depp’s choice was not grounded in reality. It’s “Indian Drag”. he chose to appear like that on a whim. Which in my opinion part of the problem.
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2012/04/johnny-depp-explains-his-bird-hat
Thank you Mr Yarde!This is a very informative article.And yes,racism is still very much alive and doing well here in the 21st century.It seems that the ignorant want to remain that way.
Apart from that the seller of these two parcels of ground is asking for 4.9 million dollar to be paid for the grounds, I don`t see a reason why the Lakota people should pay this price for THEIR land. The Lakota people should not pay for it, the ground should be given to them for FREE ! ! !
Absolutely.
Annegret and Joanna: Devil’s advocate here. I don’t know if you own a house or own land in the U.S. or not. Let me offer this as a response to anyone, like me for example, who owns a house and the land on it. It’s easy to call for other people to give up their property. Is it safe to assume that you will be giving YOUR land to the nearest existing Native American tribe? I mean, are you willing to give away your own property for free in the interest of redress, or are you just recommending that others… Read more »
Honestly, if it was sacred ground, the government should be buying it from the owner and offering it to the First Nations.
And yes, I would do that. And I have a really nice property that I love.
wellokaythen- Yes, we ALL (including yourself) ARE living on land that was stolen from Native Peoples. Nothing “mythical” about it. The People we didn’t kill outright were either herded onto reservations or died of diseases they had no resistance for, that we brought with us. Or, they were consistently cheated out of the land we “gave” them through treaty violations, etc.. Good case in point: Currently, in North Dakota, the Native People have seen their original treatied lands shrink from 4.7 million acres t just over 1 million acres. Three tribes live on that land. Now that shale oil has… Read more »
My Spanish teacher told us the reason Tonto is named so is a racist joke:
“Tonto!” (Stupid!)
“Yes, Kimosabe?” (Yes, how did you know?)
As far as “Tonto” goes, many Indian scouts at that historical time were simply called Tonto because they were Tonto Apaches…. Bird on the head a shamanic embellishment, as well as a PARODY… the story is a parody of a an American media meme. And BTW did you know prior to this film, Johnny Depp’s alias in music is “Tonto’s Gigantic Balls”? Look it up on You Tube….
=^.^= Hollyweird sher has a big sense of humor!
Manuel Marrero • a few seconds ago − Even if Johnny Depp is part Native American, as somebody has stated on a post, I doubt he’s on an intimate par with the Native American experience, collectively, or individually. Did he grow up on a reservation? Has he done activist work for Native American groups like AIM? or has he contributed to any scholarships funds or organizations that work with Native American youth? Besides all this, for me and anybody else educated and informed there’s the issue of the Texas Rangers themselves. If you really want to know about Texas Rangers… Read more »
Ok people. It’s a movie. What is the problem? And Depp said he wanted to honor the native Indians. And different languages have different meanings. And some languages have no translation for another’s words. I do agree about the land issue. It’s a disgrace to do this to this Sacred land. If someone buys this land for the wrong reason, they will forever be cursed. No excuse. I can’t imagine our government stepping up to the plate and dedicating this land back to the rightful people. God Bless, I pray your land is returned to you