Summary: The Influence Of Hollywood On Indigenous Culture

For over 80 years, Americans have been entertained by Hollywood productions on the big screen. Movies and films have always been a favorite pass time of the country. As a result of the fact that so many Americans turn to the big screen for fun, there is a lot of influence potential carried with the films or the movies that Hollywood produced. With increased ability to disseminate information comes the responsibility of presenting images that are accurate and factual. The influence and perception that Hollywood created was not always positive. There were multiple groups that were marginalized in film through stereotypes. Native Americans were one of the groups that were negatively

From the beginning of the film industry, individuals and communities—particularly those of racialized and gendered minority groups—have been either underrepresented, misrepresented, or both. Hollywood has been a massive suspect of misrepresentation and enabling/promoting socially constructed misconstructions through mainstream films since its creation. Despite obvious progress being made towards eliminating underrepresentation and misrepresentation and embracing true cultural depictions, films often still foster stereotypes and misrepresentation both directly and indirectly. One example of a film that does this is “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith and directed by Gabriele Muccino.

In a country as racially diverse as the United States of America, it is certain that there is tension amongst those of different races. While most minorities have fought long and hard to earn acceptance and equality from others, Native Americans have not reached that level of unity yet. In fact, in “We Talk, You Listen ,” Vine Deloria Jr. argues that there is a movement toward minority inclusion, but it has come at an expense of dehumanizing racial groups like Native Americans. For instance, Deloria states that in war movies, Indians have only appeared under white men to send secret messages using a language that the enemy would not be able to understand, meaning that “it was the strangeness of Indians that made the visible, not their humanity”

Contemporary American movies reflect on racial issues in American history and strive to present the latter as a negative experience of the nation. In this respect, Hollywood is a leading film studio that shoots films about racism prior to the Civil Rights Movement and after it. Both the manner in which most black characters are portrayed in Hollywood films and ideas conveyed by the latter suggest that Hollywood’s approach to racism is ultimately negative. However, Hollywood films shot in more recent times and Hollywood’s attitude to non-white actors speak about the film studios’ hypocritical approach to racism, as Hollywood’s activities indirectly promote racist ideologies spreading in the US film industry. Hollywood’s hypocritical approach to racism is proved by movie characters’ whitening, the white default option, the Oscars’ whitewashing, and films’ racist depiction of other races.

It can be argued that Western films portray the race of Native Americans in a negative and racist manner. Using the texts The Stalking Moon (1968) and Dances with Wolves (1990) the following essay will explore the way that the issue of race and racism has changed throughout the history of the Western genre, taking into account a vast number of theoretical approaches whilst exploring the style and production context of the genre.

Reports show that Latinos are the most underrepresented ethnic group in film affected by stereotypical issues shown via pictures in our heads and through watching. I concur with this information as stereotype starts from a personal level, which is definite through meditation, this does not include all the negative traits portrayed by the out-group. Although we have some general stereotypical agreements within in-groups that cannot change. This stereotyping is evident in a case where a foreigner defines Bandido accurately while a (North) American will involve them with laziness, being dirty and all sorts of negativity on them. These findings make me feel that Latinos and Americans will always be contrary to their film industry.

The effectiveness of media in perpetuating and maintaining racial definitions is apparent through the consistent presence of such ideas in popular films such as Disney’s Pocahontas (1995) and James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). Despite over a decade difference in release, there are similarities between the two in terms of the racial labels applied to Native Americans as a race and how they are portrayed as a result. The producers behind Pocahontas claimed that the film is much more than a love story and is about maintaining an open mind in order to appreciate different cultures. By creating an animated picture about a

This movie was made in 1953 when Indigenous people were being thrown into residential schools and having their land taken away from them. At the time of production, the producers felt that there was nothing wrong with film because during that period of time racism was a part of everyday life. In order to get a better understanding of these problems within the film I had to watch it. After watching the film, I was shocked at how much racism and sexism was a part of the film. Directors often degrade minority groups by portraying them a certain way so they are not put in the same category as the main characters. The imagery is in movie portrayed indigenous people in a negative manner. In one of the scenes, an Indian chief is shown yelling and making animal noises. This scene is unacceptable as it leads the audience to perceive Indigenous people as illiterate. Moreover, the scene dehumanizes the Indian Chief by portrayed him as an animal rather than a human. This contributes to the major problem of dehumanization because if the Chief is portrayed as an animal the audience is less connected with him therefore the racism did not seem that serious. When kids watch this movie, they take all of this in and it sticks with them so when they do see an Indigenous person in the outside world, they view them as animals instead of actual human beings.

Not only does whitewashing create harmful stereotypes, an imbalance in cultural representation and prove a real lack of equal opportunities but also sends a discouraging message to society - Is Hollywood Racist? Whitewashing continues to obstruct society’s view and understanding of minority groups. Not to mention the minority groups trying to live as part of society. They in turn struggle to define their identities within society due to the misrepresentation and whitewashing that occurs in the media.

Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. However, most western movie ideas derived from characteristics known to the Native Americans and Mexicans way before the American culture knew about it. They are many misrepresentations of cultures and races shown throughout movies from as early as 1920 's with silent films. Although one could argue that silent film era was more politically correct than today’s films, the movie industry still continues at times to misrepresent cultures and their lifestyles in films known as, western films.

By reducing the First Nations people into expendable savages, the media has made Natives inferior to the white man. This horrendous act of racism damaged the identities of many Native Americans, as well as permanently changing the perception of Natives in the Western world. The likening of the First Nations people to animals eventually led to the mistreatment of actors off screens. They were payed in alcohol and drugs, instead of money, and constantly had guards around them to make sure they were not up to mischievous acts. Another negative representation of Natives in film began in the 1930’s, when Hollywood began to portray Natives as savages.

Cinema, the production of movies by filmmakers, is a means of expressing ideas and telling stories on the visual side. Films have been imprinted into the history of entertainment and storytelling. Now in the 21st century, some filmmakers make movies for financial gain and some make movies for the art in it. Alanis Obomsawin’s artistic films show the cultures of indigenous peoples and send a message to change the negative view that the rest of the world has of First Nations. Alanis Obomsawin is an important indigenous Canadian, not just because she won awards, but because of how she developed as an artist, her inspirational films, and her artistry as a storyteller.

First of all, by avoiding stereotyping movie directors are able to mitigate the racial problems of the modern society. Even with their unrealistic stories and scenarios, movies and films are thought by many to be the replica of the real world showing the utmost truth about people. However, often times film writers and directors employ racial stereotypes in movies, displaying personifications of specific ethnicities in negative derogatory or one-dimensional ways. Ethnic stereotyping may be shaping the way people view individuals from underrepresented ethnic minorities; due to the massive influence of the movie industry; this phenomenon of racial prejudices causes discriminations and violence among citizens. For example, there is an ongoing

In our society, race identity is brought up everyday and is a subject that still separates people even to this day. Race is a very sensitive subject for most people and is still an issue today regarding jobs and opportunity. One of the major influences in our culture as well as a depiction of our interests and entertainment value is film. Film is one of the most important forms of media in our culture because it speaks to a very large audience and sets the tone for morals and values of our culture. Film has the ability to force a perspective to the public through selected storytelling and opinion. Racial identity has always been present in film through many different ways. Over time, racial identity in film has become more subtle and less up front to the audience. The depiction of African Americans being mentally deficient and dangerous in film is a setback for our culture and a denial of equality between races.

The film Avatar (2009), a sequel science fiction, is a story of the exploitation of native people by the more powerful group so that their territory and natural resources might be obtained for the colonizers own self-filling purposes. The director of the film is James Cameron who presents a cinematic film with a theme of environmentalism, indigenous cultures, and nature’s triumph over colonizers/aggressors and technology. The movie is written in the social-political context. It has been used for political ends by peoples throughout the world. The depiction of the alien native species is problematic from a postcolonial perspective.