Adam Sandler and actors from the Navajo Nation are acting in a drama that has caught worldwide attention – but it was supposed to be a comedy, and it’s yet to be released in theaters. Several Native American actors, mostly Navajos, walked off a movie set with the famous comedian after their concerns that the film relied too much on offensive stereotypes about Native Americans, crude body jokes and just stupid writing: the title of The Ridiculous 6, it seems, was funnier than anything in the script.
Native filmmaker Sterlin Harjo wrote on Twitter: “Actors. Quit taking roles [on] bullshit native movies. They’ve never got it right. Expect them to now? Be accountable like the rest of us.” Harjo is right, as one can see in Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian, the documentary by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond: some writers, directors and actors may try to get the image of American Indians right, but most don’t. Filmmakers like Harjo then create films on their own, and Native actors have to try to find balance between a job and a role that’s somewhat respectful. This whole episode with Sandler just shows why there ought to be more Native writers, producers and films.
Part of the problem is that there aren’t yet any good Native comedies. I cringe more at “Native” themed movies than I laugh, but I know we’ll eventually get a good one. I’m holding out for the next Steven Paul Judd film, Ronnie BoDean; that will be good comedy by a Native filmmaker.
Navajo actor Loren Anthony wrote on Twitter that it was a blessing to be working on the project – but after he read the script and saw that Native characters were named “Beaver’s Breath” and “No Bra”, he felt they were disrespectful and insulting to Native women. There is no specific history to names like Beaver’s Breath or No Bra; they are just stupid, made-up names that are gross and childish. That’s bad enough, but the tone and atmosphere was probably more what set him off. I wasn’t there, but could see how the atmosphere and delivery would be insulting.
Navajo actress Allie Young told Rolling Stone that she quit because a white woman was playing a drunken Indian dancing, with everybody stuck in a perpetual stereotype.
That’s pretty much the history of American Indians in film. Natives who are eloquent and full of humor in real life are reduced to short twisted sentences followed by the word “ugh”. Some 500 tribes get reduced a single buckskin-and-feather clan. Even the few movies that get much right – such as Little Big Man – have a white guy and white woman as the hero.
So the actors walked – and they posted why on Facebook and Twitter, kicking off outrage over social media.
Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, who’s about to leave office, also issued a statement Thursday in support of the actors. “Our Native American culture and tradition is no joking matter. I applaud these Navajo actors for their courage and conviction to walk off the set in protest”, Shelly said. “Native people have dealt with negative stereotypes on film for too long. Enough is enough.”
That, too, was more comedic than the Sandler script: just a few months ago Shelly collected gifts and sat at a game next to the owner of the Washington NFL franchise, proudly proclaiming support for the racist team name all the while ignoring a directive from the Navajo Nation Council.
The image of a 21st century American Indian is a twisted reality, especially in Hollywood and sports. Of course that’s been true since the first films were made about American Indians — or the first team names were chosen. That’s the legacy of the old world.
But, like many other marginalized groups, social media gives us a different way to amplify our message.
On Friday California writer Megan Red Shirt-Shaw created a hashtag, #notyourhollywoodIndian: “I applaud the actors who walked off that set,” she wrote. “A comedy directed & acted by Native American comedians would revolutionize comedy.”
Hashtags like these allow people to say what they believe without the filter of the mainstream press – and even to the mainstream press. Being heard gives us the ability to hold people accountable, even big name movie stars.
Hashtags aren’t enough, of course – they’re not our votes. And our outrage should also be directed at critical matters like better health care, safe water and improving the social and economic conditions Native Americans continue to face. A terrible Adam Sandler isn’t the worst of our problems – but if it brings us together and gives us a public platform, perhaps, inadvertently, the bigotry on display in his film will be a starting point for how we do change the world.