Sometimes comedies are just not funny.
During the production of Adam Sandler's upcoming film called, The Ridiculous Six, the offensive script and condescending film staff caused 12 Native actors to walk off the set last week. In an exclusive story for ICTMN Vincent Schilling interviews several of the actors who quit the movie:
The actors, who were primarily from the Navajo Nation, left the set after the satirical western’s script repeatedly insulted native women and elders and grossly misrepresented Apache culture. The examples of disrespect included Native women’s names such as Beaver’s Breath and No Bra, an actress portraying an Apache woman squatting and urinating while smoking a peace pipe, and feathers inappropriately positioned on a teepee.
One of the Native actors who left the film was Loren Anthony, also the lead singer of the metal band Bloodline. Anthony was discouraged with how uncompromising the film staff was, even after
multiple concerns were expressed:
“They didn’t want to change anything in the script and said they’d put a lot of money into it so far, so they didn’t feel like we were a priority. We had a cultural adviser, who served as a consultant, and he’d constantly be letting the director and writers know what was wrong as far as cultural taboos, but they didn’t listen to him, so he felt disrespected and decided to walk off. One of the directors said, ‘If you don’t like it, you can leave.’ And then we all walked off.”
The film stars
Adam Sandler, Nick Nolte, Steve Buscemi, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Lovitz and Vanilla Ice. Sounds like a boy's night out, with no women mentioned in the leading roles. Allison Young, a former Dartmouth film student said the whole ordeal of insults was pretty upsetting.
"When I began doing this film, I had an uneasy feeling inside of me and I felt so conflicted," she said. "I talked to a former instructor at Dartmouth and he told me to take this as finally experiencing stereotyping first hand. “Nothing has changed,” said Young. “We are still just Hollywood Indians.”
An older actor and member of the
American Indian Movement was all too familiar with this kind of stereotype. David Hill,
Choctaw, had little tolerance for the movie script written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy. Hill expressed sadness that people, who really needed the work, felt compelled to walk out. The 74-year old said:
"We understand this is a comedy, we understand this is humor, but we won’t tolerate disrespect. This isn’t my first rodeo, if someone doesn’t speak up, no one will.”
This is not a new issue. Below is a 1973 clip from the 45th Academy Awards where
Sacheen Littlefeather voices similar concerns.
Thank you to those willing to walk away from a Hollywood paycheck/film credit, for the sake of women, race, and cultural integrity.
Follow ICTMN's Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk) on Twitter
Sources: Indian Country Today Media Network & Daily Beast