How The Media Misrepresent Indigenous People In The Movie 'Peter Pan'

The use also appears to represent the view that Native Americans are lesser people than the majority group. This is seen during Charlene Teters attendance in a protest in which she holds a sign saying, “ American Indians are human beings not mascots”. Stereotyping is another basic theme represented in this documentary. The Cleveland Indians’ use of a Native American caricature is grossly embedded with stereotypical features of the race. As well, misrepresentation and misunderstanding appear to be themes in this documentary.

Misrepresentation of Natives on screen throughout the 20th century has had an adverse effect on them. Whether it was positive or negative stereotypes, Natives felt the effect of Hollywood and began to lose their self-identity, their honour, and their pride. Reel Injun takes a look at how movies have defined an entire race and also documents the rebirth of the Native identity after decades of destructive Hollywood movies by interviewing notable Native actors, actresses, and activists. By doing so, director Neil Diamond hopes to silence Hollywood stereotypes and get Hollywood to properly represent the Native people.

In the movie, Native Americans are often portrayed as spiritual, noble, and free this ideal image of Native Americans captured the world’s imagination at one point. It all began in late 1800s when Native Americans were among the first to shot silent by Thomas. One of the common attraction that made

Hollywood’s leading animation studio has had many instances of stereotyping and being racially insensitive. Two main examples of their racism towards Native American tribes have been Peter Pan and Pocahontas. In both instances, there have been controversial songs that have the Native Americans at the center. Both depict the stereotypes that are not necessarily true of the tribes.

With their contemporary representation of indigenous people and the issues they face today, Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Chris Eyre’s Smoke Signals are films that try to fracture the stereotypical Indian image that has persisted since the beginning of the Hollywood industry. Written and directed by Native American filmmakers, both stories comment on the condition of indigenous people in and outside the United States by confronting topics on poverty, death, drugs, alcoholism, and parent abandonment. While released almost a decade apart from one another, both cinemas follow the similar stories of their protagonist as they try to deal with these problems by trying to understand themselves and the obstacles in their respective

The issue that this documentary presented was that the Aboriginal residential school process was a way to eliminate the entirety of the Aboriginal population or at least assimilate them. The process was very deliberate and often times the views of Aboriginals were not acknowledged in this whole institution. Furthermore, the language used to describe Aboriginals showed the truth of there being a deliberate attempt to assimilate and eliminate this group. Shockingly, Canada’s PM, Sir John A. MacDonald called the group Canada’s “Indian problem”. These polies instill a culture of racism as policies tend to shape attitudes. Dhiru Patel’s Public Policies and Racism article talks about Canada attempting to give retribution for this which leads to a false perception that Canada is now free of Racism. In fact, the article mentions that amongst youth 83% of Canadians think Canada treats minority groups fairly. In the movie, the interviews of all of the groups shows that

Life on the reservation is similar to life in poor neighborhoods. There is a cycle of drinking alcohol and drug abuse on a daily basis. In these poor neighborhoods and on the reservation, children do not have good influences to look up to. There is violence, gangs, and drug abuse. A young girl in the movie was smoking a cigarette around adults. No one said anything; they allowed it to happen. A teenage boy in the movie, Kevin, reminds me of teenagers in my community. He stated that young lives are ruined because there is no good influence (The Seventh Fire). That is true because these boys look up to gangsters. Kevin looks up to a well-known gangster on the reservation, Rob. He sells drugs and participates in crimes to become the most powerful

Media can often misrepresent and stereotype groups of people. Neil Diamond wants to show in his documentary "Reel Injun", that Hollywood films have portrayed a negative image of Native Americans, they have been treated unfair and misrepresented. The documentary explains how these false portrayals influenced our misunderstanding of Natives. They were always shown on the losing side. The Movies have also shown how Native people have been compared with White Americans and how White Americans have robbed their culture and identity which has a negative impact on their society.

Indigenous children were taught in schools that everything about them was everything was wrong, their language and cultures, that their parents had abandoned them. Both side were affected, the parents suffered

Because my analysis is limited to a single film, the specific discursive elements I observed are not generalizable to all representations of Native American identity in film. However, they do reveal explicit themes present in American culture respecting the relationship between Native American groups and the Anglo-American population beyond the realm of Lilo and Stitch. To better explore these themes, I have transcribed interviews from Native Americans regarding their views of the stereotypes surrounding their cultures. Alongside the examination of HIE in Disney movies, these interviews will allow me to further investigate the implications of nonstandard HIE in film and assist my synthesis of the modern perception of indigenous American culture. Each transcription can be found in

Native American Culture needs to be portrayed authentically. In order to respect Native American traditions and practices the media needs to provide a sense of teaching through humor and a circular perception of time. In order to do so instead of the classic scene of a Native American dancing around a fire speaking “tanto”, allow for the mocking by an elder of a child who was misbehaving around the fire instead. In many tribes this is how the children are taught what behaviors are acceptable. The problem is as a viewer that kind of reinforcement has never been represented on screen. As Rod Rondeaux said from Reel Injun “we are starting to not recognize ourselves.” The protection of authentic native american traditions through film is not only

One scene portrays the director of the film being arrogant on the phone speaking in English about how much money he is saving because he is underpaying these actors. Just as in Columbus’ times this domination over who is in control and who has power is demonstrated; the indigenous people are those who always remain on the lower end of the deal showing colonialism, both in modern times and pre-modern. There is a scene in the film where a politician who is actively involved with the support for the movie who gives a negative remark on behalf of the Indian people. He claims they are hard to reason with due to their illiteracy. This exemplifies the necessity for a change, as the politician is degrading the actors in the film in which he is supporting. This exemplifies colonialism, the supremacy is seen as those who provide funds, and media outlets, but for those who put in the work and labor, they get belittled and are

A very well known Disney movie Peter Pan, released in 1953, displayed traces of racism. The most racist aspect of this movie was when the Lost Boys and Peter visited Tiger Lily’s family. The song, “What Made the Red Man Red”, where the natives tell their story through stereotypical dance while singing. This song is considered to be racist and offensive because of its exaggerated stereotypes. The lyrics and what’s going on in the song are racist toward Native Americans. The “Red Man” explains to the Lost Boys and Wendy of his people and culture. He starts off with why Native Americans ask you “How?” According to the song, the Indians are displayed as savages who do not know how to do anything except dance, sing, and smoke. The song overly uses the word “How” in the wrong context.

Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they are good or bad. Attitudes I believe are connected with experiences. What one experiences with another race can affect the way their attitude is towards them.

It is time, at last, to speak truth about Indigenous people, and the truth is this. Indigenous people have been victims of having their culture, traditions, and their beliefs subjected as a source of humor and have been disrespected for the last few decades. Ironically, the immigrants inhabiting the country have more rights and are respected more than the people native to the land. The evolution of media has further developed this problem and if we do not put a stop to it now, there is a serious possibility that there will be repercussions that we will not be able to turn around. The movie “The Ridiculous 6” is a perfect example of how media not only misrepresents Indigenous people but mocks them as well. Moreover, it uses negative images, labels, make-up, and information to dehumanize and racialize Indigenous people of today.