This is good news on two fronts – indigenous actors setting monetary considerations aside and taking a stand for cultural integrity.
Too begin with Adam Sandler being of Jewish ancestry should have a working knowledge of discrimination and cultural abuse in view of the history his own people have endured, he ought to understand that denigrating a people or their cultural beliefs has no comedic value.
What compounds the offensive nature of the script is that Sandler wrote it and apparently focused singularly on the revenue he thinks it will generate.
I can’t help but think of Russell Means “performance” in Natural Born Killers when portraying a Dine healer of sorts kicked the cultural integrity and beliefs of the Dine under the bus by handling snakes, which they consider to be unclean.
But when it came to personal integrity Means had none, it was always about the money and the attention.
Hopefully AIM desperate for some positive feedback for a change will refrain from inserting themselves into this and attempting to co opt it.
But with Dave “Mr. X” Hill on the set I’m kind of doubting it.
Good news as well in that the state of Montana has passed legislation to fund indigenous language immersion programs in schools – educational issues have been ongoing for years related to access and even transportation for indigenous students, this is an incremental step in the right direction that hopefully will receive the attention it should and not be placed on the back burner.
http://mtpr.org/post/bill-funding-native-language-programs-passes
