The Battle of Wounded Knee, also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, a massacre which killed one-hundred fifty unarmed innocent Indians. This massacre was not just a historical event, it continues to linger through the minds and haunt the memories of the Indians living on the reservations today, which is shown in the novel Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie. In Reservation Blues Alexie takes us through the everyday lives of the Indians living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. From their commodity food to their HUD houses to their alcohol addictions and suicides, the reader experiences all the issues that these Indians have to live with, through the characters’ lives in Reservation Blues. The main characters in Reservation Blues create
Stereotypical portrayals of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in movies always remain to be a money making formula for Filmmakers. Even from the very early days, FNMI people have always been portrayed negatively because of the roles that they are casted for. Often, FNMI actor’s roles would primarily be based off of stereotypes such as “Beautiful Maidens” or “Stoic Indians”. Older films, and even newer films that are released recently, still continue to demonstrate these common stereotypes about FNMI people. The problem is that, the non FNMI audience has seen these stereotypes being repeated several times and majority of these stereotypes are very similar to each other. This leads to the non FNMI audience to believe that it is an accurate
In Philip J. Deloria’s book, Indians In Unexpected Places readers are provoked with questions. Why is there an Indian on an automobile? Why is she getting a manicure? Why is the young man in football apparel? Indians have been secluded into a stereotype of untamable and wild animals. However, Indians break the barriers of their traditional lives by being in more modern and “white” activities. They partake in “normal” activities to not only change their future, but to make their ancestors proud of their accomplishments. Through a variety of events in the early 1900’s, Deloria expands on what it means to be Native American by retelling their lives of, men grew from their reservation life, into competitive sports, the auto industry transformed how Native Americans traveled, and they also gained relevance in the fight to make themselves known in film, not always as a savage warrior, but also capable of love moving pictures.
Throughout history the portrayal of gender roles have been maintained by a specific standard, specifically where the man is the main figure, and the woman is the submissive figure that is being acted upon. However, lately, specifically the last ten or so years, many movies have shifted this ideology. These movies in modern times show increasingly more women in positions of power, as well as in marriages where there is an equal amount of power between both the husband and wife. There are also more movies showcasing non-traditional relationships, such as, domestic partnerships and LGBTQ+ relationships. One movie in particular that showcases a shift in the status quo, in terms of the masculinity and femininity expected from individuals especially that of a relationships, is Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? Before delving into why this movie goes against the status quo an a multitude of levels, I must first give some background to the movie.
Within Greg Sarris essay, he had to endure many things; the loss of his parents, binging in and out of home, unware and unable to find his true self. However, always feeling that he was, what he said he was, Indian.
Pewewardy stresses the damaging effects that stereotypes Native Americans face in films pose to the children of Native American communities. These children see themselves as less than human not only thanks to films, but also because of the image of the Native American being used as mascots and logos. Even today, movies and cartoons that depict Native Americans in any way are most often being portrayed in the same fashion as they have been for hundreds of years: through the eyes of the earliest white settlers. When Disney’s Pocahontas came out, the brutal song “Savages!” devastated Native American children.
Throughout American history, the population of the country has become more and more diverse, and with this growth in diversity comes the growth of the diversity of cultures in this society. However, cultural appropriation has become a problem as the American society became more and more diverse throughout the course of the years. Cultural appropriation is the theft of one culture’s intellectual property or key beliefs, generally by a larger culture, and then this larger culture using what is taken from a minority culture incorrectly or inappropriately. Cultural appropriation perpetuates many of the stereotypes found within American society, and it also is a main contributor to the misinterpretations of minority cultures within the country.
The excerpts “I Hated Tonto (Still Do)” by Sherman Alexie and “An Open Letter to Johnny Depp’s Tonto” by Natanya Ann Pulley, critique the cultural depictions of cinematic characters through remarks of personal dissatisfaction and experiences. In both their excerpts, Alexie and Pulley address their dislike with the belittlement of the Native American identity that the character Tonto contributes to. In the excerpt “I Hated Tonto (Still D0)” Alexie states, “When it came to the movies, Indians had learned to be happy with less. We didn’t mind that cinematic Indians never had jobs. We didn’t mind that cinematic Indians were deadly serious. We didn’t mind that cinematic Indians were rarely played by Indian actors. We made up excuses” (Alexie) while
For hundreds of years, stories have been passed on from one person to another through the oral tradition and the visual arts. In our society today, film is the dominant form of storytelling. Films shape and inform our opinions of the world. Many people’s only source of information is from films. This can be harmful when the information is false or misguided. Like the representation of Native American’s in film. In early western films, Native American characters were not played by Natives but rather white actors. This gave a false image of what Native Americans looked like. Additionally, they were portrayed as unintelligent savages. Since then, Native Americans have reclaimed their identity because of increased accessibility to filmmaking and the creation of programs like the Native American Initiative by Sundance Film Institute.
Being pressured into conventional roles today is less common than back in the 40’s and 50’s when society had nothing but conforming roles for men and women in society. examples of this come from how men and women were brought up, culture and media. If it were not for these three factors gender roles would be farfetched. But unfortunately, there is still this pressure of gender roles and one way or another everyone has to make the decision of whoever they want to be and live with those roles. In this essay culture, media and how both men and women being raised affect gender roles and socialization.
There is definitely a problem when we talk about gender equality and sexism. It's everywhere: in movies, commercials on television, in music videos, at the workplace and even at school. The gender biases are blatant. One of the sources of the problem lies in the media and the way the media portrays women.
Before the 1940s the western genera was not respected enough to be considered fare for Hollywood’s A list. John Ford is responsible for a number of successful and notable westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers, both staring John Wayne and both cited as being responsible for bringing the western genera into Hollywood’s mainstream. Using the breathtaking landscapes of America’s Monument Valley, Ford showcased to audiences the visual capacity of the western while also using the genre to show off the natural beauty of the United States evoking a timely desired sense of patriotism. However, the sensational visuals and patriotic evocations mask many of the negative identity issues and cultural anxieties that American audience would have grappled with during this period that many consider to be the pinnacle of positive American identity.
Gender roles and stereotypes are commonly known throughout society and continuously demonstrated as film as well. Through the work of director Judd Apatow, we can compare these stereotypes to the portrayal of gender in Knocked Up and identify how this film pokes fun at gender stereotypes. As we watch this film and follow the story line of Allison and Ben, we can see how Apatow reversed the gender roles of the two lead characters, Ben and Allison and how this effected the films meaning.
Hawkins (2017) stated that the definition of beauty has been shaped by society 's standards instead of what people actually look like. It signifies that the society sets up expectations of how we define beauty by manipulating beliefs of people to recognize that body shape, skin color, race, ethnicity, or anglicized features are what makes a person distinguish their beauty instead of what people actually look like in reality. This makes people believe that the beauty that they see, especially in films, is something that they need to attain in order to be considered as attractive.
In most parts of the world, females have always been the victim of oppressive patriarchy and male chauvinism since ages. This problem has been represented by many people through various forms of creations be it art, literature or films. Films are the most popular visual mediums of entertainment through which a large segment of people can be approached. Like literature, a film is also a work of art which mirrors the society, it also depicts the reality of the society though it has some fictionality in it. Being a visual medium of presentation, a film creates an instant, direct and more convincing impression on its audience fulfilling its dual purpose of entertaining as well as sensitizing the audience. A lot of movies based on social issues are now being made to create awareness among people about the issues besides entertaining the audience, which is perhaps the foremost purpose behind the making