My father-in-law and my late husband, both accomplished actors, wished for a time when Hollywood would make movies about real Native Americans. Now my daughter is living it.
I am 65 years old, male, of mixed European descent. When I was 6 my family visited Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota. There wasn't much to see in 1965, but the memory is very clear. When I was an adolescent I read The Light in the Forest and When The Legends Die. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dances With Wolves are two of my favorite films.
About 20 years ago I returned to the Crazy Horse monument with my wife and our son and daughter. There was a lot more to see this time. In June our daughter will marry a man whose father is Mexican and mother is Native American. Like Robert Moore commented earlier, I am ignorant when it comes to Native American culture, but I want and need to know more as we prepare to welcome our future son-in-law to our family. Thank you, Ms. Rommelmann, for sharing your story. I will add Reservation Dogs and Killers of the Flower Moon to my watch list. I will also keep my radar tuned to your future essays. I was truly moved by The Woman Who Stood Up to the Porn Industry And Won, and forwarded the feature to my state legislators with a request to introduce similar legislation in our state.
You are doing good, Ms. Rommelmann. Please keep doing what you're doing.
..I would recommend reading Empire of the Summer Moon by S J Gwynne - the story of the Comanche nation published some 12 years ago... I couldn't put it down and neither could my husband. We are both English. It's not written by a Native American (which is the point of this article) but nonetheless the author is (I think) a truth seeker and it's just the most wonderful, wonderful book - I'm now slightly obsessed by Quannah Parker who was the last "Chief" of the Commanches and who quite unusually had a native American father (also a chief) and a white settler mother who was kidnapped by the Comanches when she was 9 years old and grew up to become totally Comanche, and loved her husband and the Comanche way of life. I have so much respect for the Comanches and feel I understand so much more about their history and Native American history in general from reading the book. The book is also a history of the settlers and how they ultimately decimated the Comanche nation. It is heart breaking. But the story of how the Comanches lived and fought over the centuries before that, is incredibly inspiring and impressive.
The love story of Quannah Parker and Cynthia Anne Parker is depicted in "Ride the Wind", by Lucia St Clare Robson, the greatest love story ever told. I was born at the old post hospital at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1950 that overlooked the cemetery where Cynthia Anne, Quannah and my parents are also buried near their sites. Geronimo's grave is located on the east side of the post in the Apache Cemetery. While growing up, about half my best friends were Indian, Comanche, Cheyenne and Kiowa, but have never met a member of the Apache tribe as they mostly attended the Fort Sill Indian School. The unadulterated history of how the U.S. Calvary managed to enslave the Indian Nations that roamed the Great Plains is described in "Carbine and Lance" by WS Nye. As a kid, I remember sitting with a Comanche elder in his living room listening to their dance chants and watching the face from a time that had past and not wanting to let go.
I was so infatuated with the book that I named my daughter Cynthia Anne.
Oh thank you for all that information! I will check out the book you mentioned. ps Quannah Parker is Cynthia Anne's son. I can't remember the name of Quannah's dad off hand...
When I was young, I thought Jane Fonda was hot. Then I served in Viet Nam, and she became Hanoi Jane. Whenever I see her now, I turn ice cold. Yes, I know that admiration of their acting perhaps should not be colored by my opinions about their expressed views, but some of us just can't separate them. Similarly, my view of Meryl Streep will forever be colored by her sham of a marriage the last six years, as well as her ignorant and incorrect testimony to Congress during the Alar scare.
Jane Fonda imitated whomever was she was married to. She was a “sex kitten” when married to Roger Vadim, a left-wing radical when married to Tom Hayden and a corporate wife when married to Ted Turner. She seems not to have an identity of her own.
The thing that made me despise Streep was when she stood to applaud and swoon over a child rapist. Clearly the ability to act does not confer morals or intelligence. Just to pretend you're somebody you're not. Think of all the heroic roles played by the comical Tom Hanks.
Only in Hollywood can an eleven year old kid (Haley Joel Osment/Sixth Sense) compete for the highest honor within the industry. Name one other field where a kid that young can obtain that level of success (and playground kickball doesn’t count).
Hint: there isn’t one
That said, Killers of the Flower Moon was an excellent read.
Haley Joel Osment didn't win. The Oscar for best actor went to Michael Caine for his role in The Cider House Rules. In the movie Hollywood Ending, Woody Allen's character, a director, is invited to a ceremony to present Haley Joel Osment a lifetime achievement award.
Watching The Irishman, I kept turning to my spouse to say, “Didn’t we see this scene about half an hour ago? Wasn’t this scene in another Scorsese movie?” I couldn’t believe how repetitive and unoriginal it was.
Not every actor is going to be a John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charlton Heston or Ronald Reagan. Yes, many have despicable views but they can still portray characters with great skill. I want to see Killers of the Flower Moon because it tells a compelling story, not because I agree with the mad rantings of DeNiro or the politics of DeCaprio.
I used to LOVE watching Scorsese movies and DeNiro's(I know he is not in this) movies.
They both became bitter and hate America now it seems, especially DeNiro. DiCaprio who I think is so talented is another one who seems to be hell bent on this climate change BS.
I just don't understand these Hollywood people. It MUST be their egos. If I was a famous actor, had all that money, you would NOT see me on Twitter or TV blasting about climate change, America sucks, the white man sucks, etc.
You would find me partying with friends. At a restaurant with friends eating, drinking and having a great time. You'd find me traveling the world enjoying myself with friends and family.
Read the book- or listen to audio book. It's terrific! I'm afraid to see movie because that trio (Scorcese, DeNiro and DiCaprio) might make a mess of it!
Going to see "Killers of the Flower Moon" this weekend; hope it's as good as the book but expect Hollywood has added the usual embellishments. The book was amazing and a real heartbreaking story about the Osage people of Oklahoma that few whites know anything about (I lived in North Texas for five years and traveled extensively in southeastern Oklahoma and never heard about the Osage). Keeping my fingers crossed.
Saw the movie today. Big disappointment. Hollywood managed to turn a terrific book into a terrible movie; too long (3+hours), too slow developing, and too dull. The focus of the book was the work of the detectives in the FBI in solving the murders of the Osage people by the conniving white rancher who wanted the head rights to their oil wells. The movie shifted the story line to the love affair between an Osage woman and her white, dimwitted husband who was -part of the murder conspiracy. My advice is read the book and skip the movie. Kudos to the native Americans in the cast who were outstanding.
Exactly! Wonderful book and FBI role in solving was extremely interesting… but no intro or insight into those agents at all in the movie. Jesse Plemons character plays a very significant role in this story, some background on him and the agents would have served movie well… you can watch The FBI Story with Jimmy Stewart from 1959 and gather more info. Too much time spent on Leo slowed down story, although Lily was amazing.
I first became familiar with the Osage via Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, because the Osage are the tribe that occupies the land in southern Kansas that Pa Ingalls anticipated--mistakenly--would be open for white settlers by the time his family got there.
I'm also familiar because of a native Midwestern tree known as the Osage Orange, due to its fruit, which looks like an unripe orange. The tree has the hardest wood of any native tree, and it bears thorns. Very fitting.
I read the book when a bunch of friends were talking about it. The Osage are probably best know as the tribe in Little House on the Prairie (book not tv show).
As a child in the 60s, I was obsessed with Native Americans and read everything I could get my hands on. I still have a set of colorful books for children that describe the environments in which each tribe live(d), their food, costumes, etc. On a trip to the Wisconsin Dells, I asked the tribe there if I could live with them instead (they said to ask my parents who said no, of course). From my perspective, I do not recall Native Americans being shown in a 'cartoonish' way in films except in cases where they play villains, but that's how American films frequently portray villains. (French films seem to get at the complexity of the dark side of human nature much better than American films.)
If I remember correctly, this Native American actor from "Cuckoo's Nest" was also in "Harry and Tonto." The role he plays is vital to the story ("Harry and Tonto" is a masterpiece, btw.)
One thing that gets me about this narrative -- that Americans or Westerners in general see "others" in cartoonish ways -- is that it actually goes both ways. Even when immersed in another culture, one cannot fully inhabit it. And the conflicts 'they' experience -- even if not exactly the same -- can be understood and analogized -- what "white" person has never felt alienated in their own culture? I think that's why I was so fascinated by other cultures as a child. I didn't particularly like the one I was in, and yet must field constant presumptions as to the way I view these other cultures, or the ways in which they are "portrayed" as if the audience weren't savvy enough to realize that there's a lot more to it than a 90-minute film could capture.
My last point is that I don't quite understand this essay -- it reads like a summary without analysis.
I kept waiting to hear something about the movie … I guess she likes it because it’s authentic ? I’ll check it out anyway but I agree that all cultures are complex and misunderstood in different ways and that’s okay to keep trying to understand each other.
“...this narrative -- that Americans or Westerners in general see "others" in cartoonish ways ... actually goes both ways”
You are a man out of your own time, DogL! Indeed, it DOES go both ways, but in the de rigueur Identitarian ideology of our times, only Westerners are judged to be “bad” for such views; others are lauded for their beliefs that their culture is important or even “superior”.
I’m not sure why the writer has, as an underlying assumption, the idea that Hollywood (essentially a collection of corporations in the business of making money) is responsible for being “inclusive” of any type of group, culture, race, etc. Does the plethora of mafia movies mean that Hollywood is racist against Italians? After all, they have historically been presented as criminals, murderers, etc. rather than as full-spectrum individuals. She also seems unaware of films like Sherman Alexie’s “Smoke Signals” (1998) which was moderately successful (especially for a small budget film), “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee”, and “Hostiles”, among others.
Thank you for this very clearly written post. I share your point of view about the awkwardness of being in 'one's culture' and/while be interested in others of (the outsider looking in). Your articulated that very well, so thanks. Not an easy concept to capture.
Even after all of these years, I am still ignorant when it comes to Native American issues. For the past 40 years or so I have read tons of novels that chronicle the stories of the Sioux, Blackfoot, Osage, Cherokee, and many others, but STILL I am ignorant. Theirs is a way of living and thinking that I cannot connect with. I will watch this new movie, but at the end I will be no wiser. It is another culture, another world entirely.
I read a book called American Colonies over 20 years ago. It was a history of the colonial powers and the conquest of the American continent. It was fascinating to learn about the different tribes and customs. After reading this book, I thought and compared those societies to the growth of the West through Greece, Rome, and the battle of religions, Christianity vs. Islam. What I take away from it is not people and customs but the ideas people have and what it create. We are currently obsessed with race and culture rather than the ideas that drive a better life for all. I am sad about what happened to the native cultures, but do I regret living in this modern world? No, I don't. Thanks for a great thought-provoking post.
Great Free Press story on the full history of Native Americans in cinema told through a personal lens. I’m glad I started subscribing for content like this. I saw “Flowers of the Killer Moon” opening weekend and I admit being wary — but this article restored the honorable purpose of shared group identity and being allowed to tell one’s own stories. Though one glaring omission, obviously, are the fact the writers are white (Eric Roth and director Martin Scorsese), as was the book’s author. Though what they did was document and convey indigenous people’s experiences like few white storytellers have.
Amazing in this FP piece is how interwoven and tightly knit the Native American creative community is — and you see it here from the baby Lily Gladstone being introduced to the writer’s daughter acting across from her in “Reservation Dogs” to what may be the first American Indian lead actress Oscar nominee. Though, please nominate Gladstone for her performance and not to fill in some diversity box. That’s the worry these days and what art and culture has set itself up for. Tokenization is a thing.
Hollywood has had a huge influence on me in terms of building sympathy with the cause of Native Americans and indigenous. But did it manipulate me at a young age? Well, most art does. And TV and movies definitely made me a liberal most of my life. I saw “Little Big Man” with Dustin Hoffman as a kid and truly got swept up in its narrative poking the eye of racist America. It was part of my “progressive” awakening through most of my young adulthood. I rewatched it in my 40s recently and found it histrionic and distorted art, emblematic of the radical turn the country was taking when it was created in the early 1970s. The director Arthur Penn years earlier made murderers Bonnie & Clyde sympathetic. “Little Big Man” seen today in the BLM era which is also built on distortions? I couldn’t buy it. It was mostly “white man bad.” It’s not that simple.
But many movies do a great job of discussing the cultural and human wreckage from the interaction between white settlers and natives. 1992’s “Last of the Mohicans” was a shining example, still an all-time favorite, and after seeing “Flowers of the Killer Moon” I would say it carries the torch well enough. It wasn’t too “woke” as some worry about, but tells an authentic story.
I, too, sorry that as we get into “land acknowledgments” and constant hand-wringing over the past with Canadian residential school burial sites (which turned out to be fake news) and talk of “genocide” we’re not actually helping indigenous people today. I believe grievance narratives never do — and they further keep communities from lifting themselves up. It can also tar Western expansionist history, which is flawed but I think truly had noble intentions. I think “white supremacy” is far more complicated than the academic and activist class framing this history.
Hell, there’s an Indian group even suing to restore the Washington Redskins name, which polls show 9 in 10 Americans had no problem with that name. Which again begs the question: Do mostly lefty artists truly tell accurately the diverse views within their communities?
Basically: Be careful of the Hollywood brainwashing. But enjoy a good and honest story. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater and smart artists, no matter their bias, can still tell important stories.
Does Lily Gladstone help carry director Martin Scorsese’s film forward authentically? I think so. The tale truly is from the Osage tribe’s POV as well as the “gangsters” of this story, which are the white men. Can’t shy from that.
This film is probably as real as “Goodfellas” or “Casino” — a stylized story of human greed. Coincidentally, Robert De Niro plays the greedy gangster in all three.
I worry that we over-romanticize this dying culture struggling to survive (as are its members, facing poverty and endemic substance abuse), but we have to honor it. It’s a tough balancing act.
“Flowers of the Killer Moon” had other flaws, from the gore meant to truly suck the wind out of the audience, and maybe shame them a bit. The opaqueness of the plot doesn’t help, and I wonder why they made the choice — which I’m seeing more often these days — of having characters speak a non-english language and omit subtitles. It’s a cheap way to “immerse” the audience but makes no sense if both characters onscreen can understand one another. It confuses more then it enlightens.
Hopefully art and culture can turn a corner and present even more nuanced stories than this one. Which is still excellent. Scorsese at 80 and DiCaprio pushing 50 do it again.
3.5 out of 4 stars for “Flowers of the Killer Moon.”
(PS - I can’t believe I typed this up on my phone as my first FP comment.)
Just bought the book and can't wait to read it! Will do more research and reading INSTEAD of seeing the movie. My dad always said (in the 50's) that American Indians got treated the worst of any other group.
I find it fascinating when liberal Hollywood is exposed as a very bigoted and racist place. Yet, the hypocrites connected to it claim to be virtuous. As a member of the Deplorable's in fly-over country I definitely would be interested in seeing movies based on Native Americans, Black, Brown and Asian Americans. Did anyone notice the success of Crazy Rich Asians, Hidden Figures, The Help, Yellowstone? All out of the box creative stories not typical of the Hollywood machine. The "Harvey Weinstein's" that control what gets made, are racist bigots who have slowed the progress of women, all ethnicities both gay and strait from telling their stories. Yet they virtue signal their piety to the Progressive ideology. When those who work with them stay silent about their true nature, then these despicable people control what is being done. We Deplorable's in fly-over country see the hypocrisy and endure the nonstop berating over our bigotry and racism. I will definitely check out Reservation Dogs. I, 100% Irish, roomed with a 100% Navajo in college. I would love to see Empire of the book, Summer Moon made into a movie. Let's expose those bigots and get them out of Hollywood!
This is a very moving story--thank you. Will Sampson was a presence in my childhood because my dad took us to the movies. The article prompted me to go to the IMDB pages for Tim, Nancy, and Tafv to learn more.
My son and I saw the film last night in a packed movie theater. There were periodic gasps followed by stunned silence by what we were seeing. Scorsese's and Roth's shift from the white-savior trope to the family makes the movie even more devastating. They just need to give the movie all of the Oscars now, particularly Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro. Just extraordinary.
Growing up, Native Americans were portrayed as “savages” whooping & hopping around a fire as if high on some hallucinogen. They were preparing for the raping of white women, kidnapping of white children & scalping of white men. And then there appeared a savior, John Wayne & the U.S. Cavalry One had to be there! That was 1940’s America.
Read Empire of The Summer Moon. They did attack Settlers and scalp them. This book will give you context and a clear eyed view... and inspite of the scalpings you will weep for the clash of cultures and the resultant decimation of the Comanche nation and their way of life...
Yeah, I think one probably did have to be there. I grew up in 1990s America, when they were always portrayed as "noble savages," constantly losing their land or dying from disease due to the nefarious white man. Every time Cloud Dancing showed up on an episode of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," you knew something awful was going to happen to him.
I am 65 years old, male, of mixed European descent. When I was 6 my family visited Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota. There wasn't much to see in 1965, but the memory is very clear. When I was an adolescent I read The Light in the Forest and When The Legends Die. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dances With Wolves are two of my favorite films.
About 20 years ago I returned to the Crazy Horse monument with my wife and our son and daughter. There was a lot more to see this time. In June our daughter will marry a man whose father is Mexican and mother is Native American. Like Robert Moore commented earlier, I am ignorant when it comes to Native American culture, but I want and need to know more as we prepare to welcome our future son-in-law to our family. Thank you, Ms. Rommelmann, for sharing your story. I will add Reservation Dogs and Killers of the Flower Moon to my watch list. I will also keep my radar tuned to your future essays. I was truly moved by The Woman Who Stood Up to the Porn Industry And Won, and forwarded the feature to my state legislators with a request to introduce similar legislation in our state.
You are doing good, Ms. Rommelmann. Please keep doing what you're doing.
..I would recommend reading Empire of the Summer Moon by S J Gwynne - the story of the Comanche nation published some 12 years ago... I couldn't put it down and neither could my husband. We are both English. It's not written by a Native American (which is the point of this article) but nonetheless the author is (I think) a truth seeker and it's just the most wonderful, wonderful book - I'm now slightly obsessed by Quannah Parker who was the last "Chief" of the Commanches and who quite unusually had a native American father (also a chief) and a white settler mother who was kidnapped by the Comanches when she was 9 years old and grew up to become totally Comanche, and loved her husband and the Comanche way of life. I have so much respect for the Comanches and feel I understand so much more about their history and Native American history in general from reading the book. The book is also a history of the settlers and how they ultimately decimated the Comanche nation. It is heart breaking. But the story of how the Comanches lived and fought over the centuries before that, is incredibly inspiring and impressive.
The love story of Quannah Parker and Cynthia Anne Parker is depicted in "Ride the Wind", by Lucia St Clare Robson, the greatest love story ever told. I was born at the old post hospital at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1950 that overlooked the cemetery where Cynthia Anne, Quannah and my parents are also buried near their sites. Geronimo's grave is located on the east side of the post in the Apache Cemetery. While growing up, about half my best friends were Indian, Comanche, Cheyenne and Kiowa, but have never met a member of the Apache tribe as they mostly attended the Fort Sill Indian School. The unadulterated history of how the U.S. Calvary managed to enslave the Indian Nations that roamed the Great Plains is described in "Carbine and Lance" by WS Nye. As a kid, I remember sitting with a Comanche elder in his living room listening to their dance chants and watching the face from a time that had past and not wanting to let go.
I was so infatuated with the book that I named my daughter Cynthia Anne.
Oh thank you for all that information! I will check out the book you mentioned. ps Quannah Parker is Cynthia Anne's son. I can't remember the name of Quannah's dad off hand...
Peta Nocona, a town in north Texas and a known brand of boots are named for him.
DiCaprio and DeNiro - what could possibly go wrong? lol Let's see....."America is the root of all evil?" "Irredemable?" "A horrible, racist place?"
Pass.
Who said actors were intelligent or knowledgeable? They act! Some are high school dropouts.
When I was young, I thought Jane Fonda was hot. Then I served in Viet Nam, and she became Hanoi Jane. Whenever I see her now, I turn ice cold. Yes, I know that admiration of their acting perhaps should not be colored by my opinions about their expressed views, but some of us just can't separate them. Similarly, my view of Meryl Streep will forever be colored by her sham of a marriage the last six years, as well as her ignorant and incorrect testimony to Congress during the Alar scare.
Jane Fonda imitated whomever was she was married to. She was a “sex kitten” when married to Roger Vadim, a left-wing radical when married to Tom Hayden and a corporate wife when married to Ted Turner. She seems not to have an identity of her own.
The thing that made me despise Streep was when she stood to applaud and swoon over a child rapist. Clearly the ability to act does not confer morals or intelligence. Just to pretend you're somebody you're not. Think of all the heroic roles played by the comical Tom Hanks.
Yes, didn't she refer to Weinstein as a "god" when even when it was pretty well known what he was really like.
Only in Hollywood can an eleven year old kid (Haley Joel Osment/Sixth Sense) compete for the highest honor within the industry. Name one other field where a kid that young can obtain that level of success (and playground kickball doesn’t count).
Hint: there isn’t one
That said, Killers of the Flower Moon was an excellent read.
Tatum ONeal was 10 when she won.
Haley Joel Osment didn't win. The Oscar for best actor went to Michael Caine for his role in The Cider House Rules. In the movie Hollywood Ending, Woody Allen's character, a director, is invited to a ceremony to present Haley Joel Osment a lifetime achievement award.
I didn’t say “win”, I said “compete”
On the fence. While I love Scorcese films in general and he doesn’t go woke, he owes me three hours of my life that he stole with “The Irishman”.
another good read- done bad! I agree- movie was a wreck.
Watching The Irishman, I kept turning to my spouse to say, “Didn’t we see this scene about half an hour ago? Wasn’t this scene in another Scorsese movie?” I couldn’t believe how repetitive and unoriginal it was.
Not every actor is going to be a John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charlton Heston or Ronald Reagan. Yes, many have despicable views but they can still portray characters with great skill. I want to see Killers of the Flower Moon because it tells a compelling story, not because I agree with the mad rantings of DeNiro or the politics of DeCaprio.
I get that. I would recommend you read the book though. I was stunned to read it and had never heard about it before.
The book is excellent.
Fair comment. I heard it was worthwhile.
Bruce, my thoughts exactly.
I used to LOVE watching Scorsese movies and DeNiro's(I know he is not in this) movies.
They both became bitter and hate America now it seems, especially DeNiro. DiCaprio who I think is so talented is another one who seems to be hell bent on this climate change BS.
I just don't understand these Hollywood people. It MUST be their egos. If I was a famous actor, had all that money, you would NOT see me on Twitter or TV blasting about climate change, America sucks, the white man sucks, etc.
You would find me partying with friends. At a restaurant with friends eating, drinking and having a great time. You'd find me traveling the world enjoying myself with friends and family.
These people are narcissistic egomaniacs.
It was a good movie, a really good book, but they seemed to try and make DiCaprio a sympathetic character although he was robbing and killing natives.
And three and a half hours.
Read the book- or listen to audio book. It's terrific! I'm afraid to see movie because that trio (Scorcese, DeNiro and DiCaprio) might make a mess of it!
Going to see "Killers of the Flower Moon" this weekend; hope it's as good as the book but expect Hollywood has added the usual embellishments. The book was amazing and a real heartbreaking story about the Osage people of Oklahoma that few whites know anything about (I lived in North Texas for five years and traveled extensively in southeastern Oklahoma and never heard about the Osage). Keeping my fingers crossed.
Saw the movie today. Big disappointment. Hollywood managed to turn a terrific book into a terrible movie; too long (3+hours), too slow developing, and too dull. The focus of the book was the work of the detectives in the FBI in solving the murders of the Osage people by the conniving white rancher who wanted the head rights to their oil wells. The movie shifted the story line to the love affair between an Osage woman and her white, dimwitted husband who was -part of the murder conspiracy. My advice is read the book and skip the movie. Kudos to the native Americans in the cast who were outstanding.
Exactly! Wonderful book and FBI role in solving was extremely interesting… but no intro or insight into those agents at all in the movie. Jesse Plemons character plays a very significant role in this story, some background on him and the agents would have served movie well… you can watch The FBI Story with Jimmy Stewart from 1959 and gather more info. Too much time spent on Leo slowed down story, although Lily was amazing.
I first became familiar with the Osage via Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, because the Osage are the tribe that occupies the land in southern Kansas that Pa Ingalls anticipated--mistakenly--would be open for white settlers by the time his family got there.
I'm also familiar because of a native Midwestern tree known as the Osage Orange, due to its fruit, which looks like an unripe orange. The tree has the hardest wood of any native tree, and it bears thorns. Very fitting.
I read the book when a bunch of friends were talking about it. The Osage are probably best know as the tribe in Little House on the Prairie (book not tv show).
As a child in the 60s, I was obsessed with Native Americans and read everything I could get my hands on. I still have a set of colorful books for children that describe the environments in which each tribe live(d), their food, costumes, etc. On a trip to the Wisconsin Dells, I asked the tribe there if I could live with them instead (they said to ask my parents who said no, of course). From my perspective, I do not recall Native Americans being shown in a 'cartoonish' way in films except in cases where they play villains, but that's how American films frequently portray villains. (French films seem to get at the complexity of the dark side of human nature much better than American films.)
If I remember correctly, this Native American actor from "Cuckoo's Nest" was also in "Harry and Tonto." The role he plays is vital to the story ("Harry and Tonto" is a masterpiece, btw.)
One thing that gets me about this narrative -- that Americans or Westerners in general see "others" in cartoonish ways -- is that it actually goes both ways. Even when immersed in another culture, one cannot fully inhabit it. And the conflicts 'they' experience -- even if not exactly the same -- can be understood and analogized -- what "white" person has never felt alienated in their own culture? I think that's why I was so fascinated by other cultures as a child. I didn't particularly like the one I was in, and yet must field constant presumptions as to the way I view these other cultures, or the ways in which they are "portrayed" as if the audience weren't savvy enough to realize that there's a lot more to it than a 90-minute film could capture.
My last point is that I don't quite understand this essay -- it reads like a summary without analysis.
I kept waiting to hear something about the movie … I guess she likes it because it’s authentic ? I’ll check it out anyway but I agree that all cultures are complex and misunderstood in different ways and that’s okay to keep trying to understand each other.
“...this narrative -- that Americans or Westerners in general see "others" in cartoonish ways ... actually goes both ways”
You are a man out of your own time, DogL! Indeed, it DOES go both ways, but in the de rigueur Identitarian ideology of our times, only Westerners are judged to be “bad” for such views; others are lauded for their beliefs that their culture is important or even “superior”.
I’m not sure why the writer has, as an underlying assumption, the idea that Hollywood (essentially a collection of corporations in the business of making money) is responsible for being “inclusive” of any type of group, culture, race, etc. Does the plethora of mafia movies mean that Hollywood is racist against Italians? After all, they have historically been presented as criminals, murderers, etc. rather than as full-spectrum individuals. She also seems unaware of films like Sherman Alexie’s “Smoke Signals” (1998) which was moderately successful (especially for a small budget film), “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee”, and “Hostiles”, among others.
DogL,
Thank you for this very clearly written post. I share your point of view about the awkwardness of being in 'one's culture' and/while be interested in others of (the outsider looking in). Your articulated that very well, so thanks. Not an easy concept to capture.
Couldn't agree more with your last sentence.
Even after all of these years, I am still ignorant when it comes to Native American issues. For the past 40 years or so I have read tons of novels that chronicle the stories of the Sioux, Blackfoot, Osage, Cherokee, and many others, but STILL I am ignorant. Theirs is a way of living and thinking that I cannot connect with. I will watch this new movie, but at the end I will be no wiser. It is another culture, another world entirely.
I read a book called American Colonies over 20 years ago. It was a history of the colonial powers and the conquest of the American continent. It was fascinating to learn about the different tribes and customs. After reading this book, I thought and compared those societies to the growth of the West through Greece, Rome, and the battle of religions, Christianity vs. Islam. What I take away from it is not people and customs but the ideas people have and what it create. We are currently obsessed with race and culture rather than the ideas that drive a better life for all. I am sad about what happened to the native cultures, but do I regret living in this modern world? No, I don't. Thanks for a great thought-provoking post.
In 1953 everybody talked about inventing flying cars.
In 2023 pancake syrup is racist.
Read Empire of the Summer Moon....
Great Free Press story on the full history of Native Americans in cinema told through a personal lens. I’m glad I started subscribing for content like this. I saw “Flowers of the Killer Moon” opening weekend and I admit being wary — but this article restored the honorable purpose of shared group identity and being allowed to tell one’s own stories. Though one glaring omission, obviously, are the fact the writers are white (Eric Roth and director Martin Scorsese), as was the book’s author. Though what they did was document and convey indigenous people’s experiences like few white storytellers have.
Amazing in this FP piece is how interwoven and tightly knit the Native American creative community is — and you see it here from the baby Lily Gladstone being introduced to the writer’s daughter acting across from her in “Reservation Dogs” to what may be the first American Indian lead actress Oscar nominee. Though, please nominate Gladstone for her performance and not to fill in some diversity box. That’s the worry these days and what art and culture has set itself up for. Tokenization is a thing.
Hollywood has had a huge influence on me in terms of building sympathy with the cause of Native Americans and indigenous. But did it manipulate me at a young age? Well, most art does. And TV and movies definitely made me a liberal most of my life. I saw “Little Big Man” with Dustin Hoffman as a kid and truly got swept up in its narrative poking the eye of racist America. It was part of my “progressive” awakening through most of my young adulthood. I rewatched it in my 40s recently and found it histrionic and distorted art, emblematic of the radical turn the country was taking when it was created in the early 1970s. The director Arthur Penn years earlier made murderers Bonnie & Clyde sympathetic. “Little Big Man” seen today in the BLM era which is also built on distortions? I couldn’t buy it. It was mostly “white man bad.” It’s not that simple.
But many movies do a great job of discussing the cultural and human wreckage from the interaction between white settlers and natives. 1992’s “Last of the Mohicans” was a shining example, still an all-time favorite, and after seeing “Flowers of the Killer Moon” I would say it carries the torch well enough. It wasn’t too “woke” as some worry about, but tells an authentic story.
I, too, sorry that as we get into “land acknowledgments” and constant hand-wringing over the past with Canadian residential school burial sites (which turned out to be fake news) and talk of “genocide” we’re not actually helping indigenous people today. I believe grievance narratives never do — and they further keep communities from lifting themselves up. It can also tar Western expansionist history, which is flawed but I think truly had noble intentions. I think “white supremacy” is far more complicated than the academic and activist class framing this history.
Hell, there’s an Indian group even suing to restore the Washington Redskins name, which polls show 9 in 10 Americans had no problem with that name. Which again begs the question: Do mostly lefty artists truly tell accurately the diverse views within their communities?
Basically: Be careful of the Hollywood brainwashing. But enjoy a good and honest story. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater and smart artists, no matter their bias, can still tell important stories.
Does Lily Gladstone help carry director Martin Scorsese’s film forward authentically? I think so. The tale truly is from the Osage tribe’s POV as well as the “gangsters” of this story, which are the white men. Can’t shy from that.
This film is probably as real as “Goodfellas” or “Casino” — a stylized story of human greed. Coincidentally, Robert De Niro plays the greedy gangster in all three.
I worry that we over-romanticize this dying culture struggling to survive (as are its members, facing poverty and endemic substance abuse), but we have to honor it. It’s a tough balancing act.
“Flowers of the Killer Moon” had other flaws, from the gore meant to truly suck the wind out of the audience, and maybe shame them a bit. The opaqueness of the plot doesn’t help, and I wonder why they made the choice — which I’m seeing more often these days — of having characters speak a non-english language and omit subtitles. It’s a cheap way to “immerse” the audience but makes no sense if both characters onscreen can understand one another. It confuses more then it enlightens.
Hopefully art and culture can turn a corner and present even more nuanced stories than this one. Which is still excellent. Scorsese at 80 and DiCaprio pushing 50 do it again.
3.5 out of 4 stars for “Flowers of the Killer Moon.”
(PS - I can’t believe I typed this up on my phone as my first FP comment.)
Just bought the book and can't wait to read it! Will do more research and reading INSTEAD of seeing the movie. My dad always said (in the 50's) that American Indians got treated the worst of any other group.
I hope the best for all. Thanks for the read.
I find it fascinating when liberal Hollywood is exposed as a very bigoted and racist place. Yet, the hypocrites connected to it claim to be virtuous. As a member of the Deplorable's in fly-over country I definitely would be interested in seeing movies based on Native Americans, Black, Brown and Asian Americans. Did anyone notice the success of Crazy Rich Asians, Hidden Figures, The Help, Yellowstone? All out of the box creative stories not typical of the Hollywood machine. The "Harvey Weinstein's" that control what gets made, are racist bigots who have slowed the progress of women, all ethnicities both gay and strait from telling their stories. Yet they virtue signal their piety to the Progressive ideology. When those who work with them stay silent about their true nature, then these despicable people control what is being done. We Deplorable's in fly-over country see the hypocrisy and endure the nonstop berating over our bigotry and racism. I will definitely check out Reservation Dogs. I, 100% Irish, roomed with a 100% Navajo in college. I would love to see Empire of the book, Summer Moon made into a movie. Let's expose those bigots and get them out of Hollywood!
What an uplifting aericle- thank you for writing it!
This is a very moving story--thank you. Will Sampson was a presence in my childhood because my dad took us to the movies. The article prompted me to go to the IMDB pages for Tim, Nancy, and Tafv to learn more.
My son and I saw the film last night in a packed movie theater. There were periodic gasps followed by stunned silence by what we were seeing. Scorsese's and Roth's shift from the white-savior trope to the family makes the movie even more devastating. They just need to give the movie all of the Oscars now, particularly Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro. Just extraordinary.
well- you give me a touch of hope, but... did you like the Irishman (film)?
Growing up, Native Americans were portrayed as “savages” whooping & hopping around a fire as if high on some hallucinogen. They were preparing for the raping of white women, kidnapping of white children & scalping of white men. And then there appeared a savior, John Wayne & the U.S. Cavalry One had to be there! That was 1940’s America.
It was quite different by the 60s.
Read Empire of The Summer Moon. They did attack Settlers and scalp them. This book will give you context and a clear eyed view... and inspite of the scalpings you will weep for the clash of cultures and the resultant decimation of the Comanche nation and their way of life...
Yeah, I think one probably did have to be there. I grew up in 1990s America, when they were always portrayed as "noble savages," constantly losing their land or dying from disease due to the nefarious white man. Every time Cloud Dancing showed up on an episode of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," you knew something awful was going to happen to him.
Beautiful. Thank you
Rommelmann Rules.
Great read. I’m glad I didn’t find it until after being absolutely transfixed by the extraordinary film of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
I highly recommend reading both “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Empire of the Summer Moon”. Both excellent and neither an over simplification.