Loren Anthony, a member of the Navajo Nation, was among those who walked off the set of The Ridiculous Six. Photo from Instagram
Aspiring filmmaker Brian Young explains why he won't get rid of Netflix despite calls to abandon the service in the wake of the controversy over stereotypes in The Ridiculous Six:
Netflix is a company. It’s not a person with which can be reasoned. It will not understand a conversation on how degrading and damaging ‘injun’ stereotypes can be (I’ll recommend a movie that addresses that. It’s also on Netflix!). As a company, Netflix understands numbers. Yes, the more people that deactivate their accounts, the louder the message they’ll hear. That’s forcing them to our will, not educating them to our cause. The later will have a much longer lasting effect. We as a unified movement have that power to either force them or education them. We have to education them. While forcing them to our will might reap short term effects, such as canceling “The Ridiculous Six,” we must think of the long run and what long term effects we can achieve. Hollywood, and by extension Netflix and Adam Sandler, do not care about the representation of Native Americans. Since its birth, Hollywood and its byproducts have never been about telling our stories. Hollywood is a business that understands ratings, viewing numbers and consumer demand. Adam Sandler, and other big name Hollywood actors, are attached to projects to reduce risk so that investors will have more confidence that their initial investment will reap financial returns once the movie is released. What does that mean for Native films? Hollywood, unfortunately, thinks that Native films do not have a market and thusly are a high-risk, low return financial investment. In other words, Native films are a waste of money. This is why I am imploring you to not deactivate your account. Instead, watch a film made by a Native person. There are many, many great films that you can watch. As of right now, in the United States Netflix streaming catalog, you can watch Neil Diamond’s “Reel Injun,” a documentary about ‘injun’ stereotypes, Jeff Barnaby’s “Rhymes for Young Ghouls,” (every single millisecond oozes style and captivates); Sterlin Harjo’s latest film, “This May Be The Last Time;” the classic, “Smoke Signals,” and “Jimmy P” – not necessarily a Native film, but a film about a Native, starring Benicio Del Toro. Several movies in Netflix’s DVD catalog include, “The Lesser Blessed” (watch this!), and the above mentioned “Boy” and “Bran Nue Dae,” and “Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story.” There’s even “Longmire,” which have Native actors (yours truly included, again shameless self-promotion). Heck, even “Breaking Bad” has Jeremiah Bitsui, a Navajo actor.Get the Story:
Brian Young: 'No, I Will Not Deactivate My Netflix Account' (Indian Country Today 4/30) Also Today:
Tweeters Protest Adam Sandler's 'Ridiculous Six' With #WalkOffNetflix and #NotYourHollywoodIndian (Indian Country Today 4/30)
'Our Dignity Is a Right' Say Native Actors Who Quit Adam Sandler Film (Indian Country Today 4/30)
#NotYourHollywoodIndian Goes Viral (Native America Calling 4/27)
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