It's all about power
No One Ever Sees Indians: “The Prestige”In the end it is all about power. Power to control the expectations people have about Native Americans. Even the hot button issues of sports mascots is about power, let no one fool you in that. Power to control the images, control the perceptions. It is not about money. It is not about art. It is not respectfully or disrespectfully representing a nation. It is about the power to control how others view you, your people, your culture. The power to represent ourselves as modern and evolving, and, most important, a part of today’s American society.
The current crop of film makers and actors have paved the way for the rest of us. Can we continue what they started? After Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie and the very first Native produced movie Smoke Signals rode the crest of the Independent Film movement; although successful, there were no further calls for another Native-produced feature in Hollywood. Smoke Signals had become the token film that showed Hollywood cared, but also, that they did not care enough to carry it further.
Where's the market for movies such as Capote, Transamerica, Good Night, and Good Luck, or The Queen? I could list hundreds of serious, artistic movies that had no blockbuster potential but still got made.
ReplyDeleteSeveral studios have art-house divisions and there are plenty of independent producers too. So I ask again: Why aren't these people making more movies starring Indians and other minorities?
If studios are going to make movies with limited box-office appeal, why not take a chance on more diverse fare? They got killed with movies such as All the King's Men, Basic Instinct 2, Flyboys, and The Wicker Man, so why not try something different?
I agree that Native filmmakers can't hope to succeed with insular, inward-looking movies. That's why Ernest Whiteman wants to emulate Robert Rodriguez and do "fun" movies such as his Arapaho Hit Man project. That's presumably why you've written your "Anasazi" screenplay as a Native Star Wars. And that's why I've made PEACE PARTY an accessible superhero comic with lots of action and adventure.
ReplyDeleteSequels and remakes are supposed to do well, which is why the studios make them so often. When they don't do well, you have to wonder.
ReplyDeleteIf studios are going to make movies with limited box-office appeal, why not take a chance on more diverse fare? They got killed with movies such as The Fountain, Freedomland, A Good Year, and Lady in the Water, so why not try something different?
Two of the three movies you've had "filmed and/or performed" sound interesting, but I don't see any of them listed on IMDB.com. What's the story?
ReplyDeleteI could find no trace of them in IMDB either.
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