Comment: Teepee, peace pipe, tomahawk, warpaint, flute music, screeching hawk, medicine man, casino, substance abuse, funny Indian names...these commercials are practically a catalog of Native stereotypes. They're essentially a 21st-century minstrel show about Indians. If Mad TV mocked any other ethnic group this way, there'd be protests in the streets.
So, yes...if you consider racism offensive, you may find this video offensive.
For more on the subject, see The Basic Indian Stereotypes.
2 comments:
No one is safe from MADD TV. They have done bits on every type of sterotype out there. One of the reasons I stopped watching the show years ago was because in my opinion the skits continuely presented stereotypes in a way that perpetuated them rather giving the viewwer an opportunity to examine their own prejudices. But then when we continue to examine the same stereotypes over and over aren't we either empowering or depowering those beliefs and isn't it up to us as individuals to make the decision to change our understanding and truths? sigh..too much to think about before coffee..
As you say, this skit did nothing but perpetuate Native stereotypes. In contrast, when I examine such stereotypes, I say they're wrong and explain why they're wrong.
In other words, my approach doesn't confuse readers. There's none of this, "Is he repeating the stereotypes just to mock the stereotypes? Or is he repeating them to mock the Indians?"
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