Native American Film Analysis

and they live teepees. They are always cut in large numbers and seen as savages. The producers could not try harder to make these people look nothing more than animals with no understanding of civilization or feeling. On the other hand, you have the fully clothed white man who is unique and full of individual qualities. The white majority is seen as the victims, always having to deal with the Native American savage problem. This is not just a simple B amateur film, the film stars John Wayne, who was extremely popular during his time in Hollywood. It was the eleventh biggest box office success of 1956 and won numerous awards. If you take a step back and look at this from a racial standpoint, it is extremely upsetting. You have millions of people viewing this film and people walk out of the theatre with discriminatory hegemonic images of Native Americans portrayed as the savage or the “other”. What do you think all these people think of Native Americans now?
Not only has Hollywood labeled Native Americans in film as the “other” but also objectified them with white majority dominance. American film culture has molded a cast around the Native American culture, which has resulted in a struggle for their heritage and practices to be understood. In David Edmunds review of Hollywood's Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film. By Peter C. Rollins; John E. O'Connor he discusses Hollywood’s need to please the white crowd and claims, “ Hollywood generally has failed to present Native Americans from a tribal perspective and has created an image of Native Americans that is designed to meet the needs of non-Indians. According to one essayist, ‘in the cinema objectification of Native Americans becomes a path toward a form of ownershi...

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... Native American character in the film. Since producers, directors and writers are not Natives, viewers cannot expect an accurate and authentic portrayal of a Native American character they create. You would think that after the Civil Rights movement started sensitizing the white majority to the culture of and feelings of ethnic minorities, American films would destroy the practice of painting white actors different races. It has been fifty plus years since the Civil Rights movement and the insensitivity to race in films such as The Lone Ranger still exists. Even the original television series, which ran from 1949 to 1957, starred a Native American actor. Hollywood is unsurprisingly still a disappointment.
While we can recognize most of the negative stereotypes, there are still positive portrayals stereotypes that misguide Americans perception of Native Americans