Reel Injun

"Reel Injun" really opened my eyes. I never really thought about the Native American stereotype, but it really is everywhere we look. Ever since the beginning of movies, Native Americans have been portrayed a certain way, a way which is very demeaning. It's almost humorous how films have been so inaccurate in the way they make Native Americans speak, dress, act, and live. Native Americans do not really get spoken about much in history books or in life, so I think it is very easy for an average American to base their image of one off of these films without thinking twice about how incorrect or racist it may be. I have such a high opinion of Marlon Brando after seeing this film. I think he did the absolute best thing he could have done in a situation. Rejecting an Oscar and having Sacheen Littlefeather speak surely brought much attention to the point he was trying to make, which was to stop treating Native Americans the way they are treated in films and in life in general. This is the kind of stuff Americans need--a famous celebrity to draw attention to a point (sadly). We should all see a film like "Reel Injun" to be able to realize just how wrong we were in out opinions of Native Americans. Otherwise, we will continue to base our opinions off of things like old cartoons and Halloween costumes. By the way, I can not believe that there are still Halloween costumes being sold which are so clearly a stereotypical image of a Native American-with feathers, braids, war make-up, axes, etc. It kind of blows my mind.