March 03, 2007

Well-meaning but inept doc

Wounded Heart: Pine Ridge and the Sioux (DVD)The well-meaning but inept documentary “Wounded Heart: Pine Ridge and the Sioux” traces the various crises facing today’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Deep poverty, rampant alcohol and drug abuse, wildly inefficient health care, abnormally high levels of domestic violence and charges of racism in dealings with the white society are cited by a handful of the Lakota people interviewed in the film.

[T]he most obnoxious aspect to this film is self-proclaimed Indian activist Russell Means, who sneers at how Hollywood continues to perpetrate negative imagery of the American Indian. Never mind that he’s profited from appearing in several Hollywood films. Means then insinuates he was personally thrilled to see the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11. If Means can coherently explain how the thousands killed on 9/11 were responsible for the state of Pine Ridge today, I would love to hear it.

3 comments:

BPEC said...

Maybe Means adopts the Ward Churchill perspective...those that dies in the World Trade Centre on 9/11 we're like 'little Eichmans' because they never questioned thier governments oppressive and exploitative ways, indeed, they profited from them. Or maybe Means has an all together different interpretation, I don't know.

By the way, thanks for blogging about this stuff. Personally, I think how people see themselves portrayed in the media informs their actions (and of course others perceptions) in the real world. Positive recognition is key!

Rob said...

You're welcome, Hayden. When you say "how people see themselves portrayed in the media informs their actions," I agree completely.

P.S. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're not Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda's ex.

BPEC said...

Ha ha. Sorry to disapoint writerfella, Rob's right, I am not Tom Hayden, nor have I ever met Jane Fonda.