Reel Injun

    Reel Injun gives the viewer an in depth and real look at the birth of the Hollywood Injun, the noble Injun, the savage Injun, the Cowboy, etc. One of the most important sections of the film is the savage Injun and the portrayal Hollywood gave of Native Americans in a very negative way. Adam Beach said " We'll never be able to change the fantasy of who and what Indians are. That fantasy will always be there. We'll be... we'll always be on convers of novels saying " Cheyenne Warrior"". Hollywood made the Native into a fierce less Warrior with crazy clothes and war painted bodies but this savage idea of the Native wasn't correct. The idea of the savage Injun was born with John Ford and Westerns. The Cowboy or the hero was always fighting against the ruthless and savage Indians which led the viewer to want to vote and root for the Cowboy hero. John Ford's movies are still to this day some of the most popular films to ever be released and that idea of the savage Injun is constantly being spread. Things began to change though and something really interesting in the film was the words of Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood said " I remember once we were on the set, the director said 'I want a real native, upfront. I want to see the real thing.' We couldn't find one." The people who were playing the savage roles of the Indians weren't even Indians. It got to a point in film where the idea of the native and culture didn't even matter anymore they just needed men to play the ruthless warriors or the enemy in these films. Westerns and film in general also colonialized native culture. Robbed natives of there individual tribes and cultures and just associated them as one group of people. Each tribe is special and has there own individual ways and ceremonies. Film and the costumes just assumed every native was a Plains native with the fancy headdress. Jesse Wente said " When you're kids and trying to play Cowboys and Indians, and if you're an Indian kid - well doesn't that mean you're going to lose all the time?". Hollywood and film made this possible because in the movies the Indians always ended up getting slaughtered at the end of these films. This spread into the youth too which wasn't helping the Indians.

Picture from a John Ford western called The Searchers 

Picture of Geronimo which shows the savage portrayal of Indians in Hollywood

         Another main focus in the film Reel Injun is the importance of Wounded Knee and the affect it had on both the Indians and in film. Jim Jarmusch said " That is a genocide that occurred and the (American) culture wanted to perpetuate the idea that (the natives) these people are now mythologic, you know, they dont even really exist, they're like dinosaurs.". This isn't just referring to Wounded Knee but the natives in general. There are becoming exist and most people are perfectly fine with watching and letting that happen. Wounded Knee gets tied in with film when Marlon Brando was given an Oscar for his role in the Godfather and had Sacheen Littlefeather accept the award for him In all traditional native clothing on National television. After the acceptance of the award and the stand Marlon Brando made people began to pay attention to issues like Wounded Knee and what the Indians were going through. John Trudell said " We're not Indians and we're not Native Americans. We're older than both concepts. We're the people, we're the human beings.". People need to realize that Indians are human just like them and that were all equal. No more idea of the savage Indian or the enemy but as human beings. Wounded Knee was going in the wrong direction for the Indians and they knew that. Russel Means said " We don't believe we're going to get out of (Wounded Knee) alive and the moral is down low and Marlon Brando and Sacheen Littlefeather totally uplifted our lives.". The speech and the stand at the Oscars gave the people at Wounded Knee hope and that's what they needed at this time. These strong stands for equality for Indians is what is needed and more and more people are beginning to see the horrors Indians went through and are still going through.

Sacheen Littlefeather accepting the award for Marlon Brando at the Oscars

Indians held up at Wounded Knee