HUM- Film Exam Study Guide

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2020

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Anthropology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Questions on Reel Injun 1. What stereotype of Indigenous Peoples did the silent film era seek to capture? The stereotype that they hunted buffalo, had to be/dress like warriors, incredibly skilled at warfare/almost unstoppable, spiritual/noble/free, one with the horse, drunks, living on deserts 2. Was the headband—popular in the wardrobe of actors portraying Indigenous Peoples—an accessory common to all Indigenous Peoples in the nineteenth century (that is, the setting for many Western films)? No, the headband was actually not a common accessory to all indigenous people in the nineteenth century 3. What mid-twentieth century director is responsible for defining the genre of the Western and popularizing the backwards, uncivilized savage? John Ford (Hollywood) 4. While engaged in a standoff with the U.S. government at Wounded Knee in 1973, American Indian Movement leaders expressed that one event was particularly inspiring. What was that event? (When Native Americans faced off against FBI) “Little Feather” spoke at the Academy Awards about Native American mistreatment and recent happenings at Wounded Knee, talking about the atrocities Native American people were experiencing and that because of that Marlon Brando was not accepting his award 5. Who was Iron Eyes Cody and what was his ethnic background? Hollywood’s most famous Native actor, fit the image of what people thought Indians should be. He was born in Louisiana with parents’ as immigrants from Sicily and southern Italy. Had a Native American wife, so when cameras stopped, he became what he was for the cameras in his actual life. Truly believed it the older he got what he was on screen. Died Jan 4, 1999 6. In what era did a more sympathetic perspective on Native Americans begin to appear in Hollywood cinema? Silent era, native people become heroes and Hollywood stars and the 1960’s-1970’s (the hippie era and “Indian Hero”) 7. True or false. The emerging Indigenous film industry tends to homogenize all indigenous communities into a singularity while Hollywood cinema attempted to distinguish between tribes. False 8. Residential schools sought to destroy Indigenous Peoples’ cultures. Did Hollywood try to do the same? Yes 9. In the film Reel Injun, actors such as Graham Green in Dances with Wolves, Chief Dan George in Little Big Man, Will Sampson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Adam Beach in Flags of Our Fathers are praised for what?

Taking ownership over existing stereotypes in Hollywood 10. In the documentary Reel Injun, what statement best captures the central message of the film? Hollywood cinema has always portrayed indigenous peoples negatively Questions on Ken Nolley Reading 1. How is ‘cinema’ defined in contrast to ‘film’ or ‘movie’? “Film refers to the portrayal of indigenous people, and how it relates. And the cinema refers to the process, how they did it, the angles, etc.”; ‘Cinema’ concerns internal & aesthetic of the production, ‘film’ concerns relationship between the production and the world around them and ‘movie’ concerns the economic aspects of the film 2. To what does ‘mise en scene’ refer? “Placing on stage,” thinking beyond the still image to understand the power of the patterns created on the screen with regard to placement of actors, scenery, properties, the stage setting or scenery of a play, surroundings; environment, like a constantly changing canvas. 3. Did John Ford use Native American actors in his films? If so, were they in starring roles? For much of Hollywood, this tendency also meant that white actors played Indian roles. Ford undermined that practice in some measure, casting Native Americans in indigenous parts, at least so long as those parts were not major speaking roles. Ford never was able to overcome studio traditions for larger parts, however, and even in Cheyenne Autumn, where he made an overt commitment to tell the Native American side of the story, he was forced to use non-Indian actors. 4. Was Ford careful to ensure that, say, Navajos played Navajos and Crows played Crows? No, he mixed cultural aspects from many tribes and homogenized the Indian. There was no diversity between tribes. Ford's representations of Native Americans developed out of traditional Hollywood portrayals. there are no 'real' Indians, no Iroquois, no Lakota’s, no Navajos, only Hollywood Indians with different names 5. What is the effect when Hollywood cinema pairs an “imaginary Indian” with American historical fact according to Nolley? Many of his films used historical situations and characters as a backdrop but if American audiences know these from textbooks so they were unlikely to be viewed as fact if they strayed too far from known history. “But the rarer and more scattered accounts of native American life that were known to the general public during ford’s lifetime made it much more likely that his constructed vision of the Hollywood Indian would begin to assume the status of historical truth for many viewers; If fictional representations are taken as history, they have real historical consequences. In this sense, Ford's films function as if they were historical texts, constructing a sense of Native American life on the frontier, participating in the social and political debates of the era in which they were produced, and helping to construct much of what still stands for popular historical knowledge of Native American life. 6. How often are Indigenous burials and backstories portrayed in John Ford’s films?

White funerals are shown; Indian funerals almost never are. Indians fall from their running horses and are forgotten 7. What sounds often signal the presence of “Indians” in John Ford’s films? Music, drums, arrows, clap of thunder, dark shadow, bird & animal cries, whoop & cries from Indians 8. Which one of the following statements best describes the central thesis in the article “The Representation of Conquest” by Ken Nolley? John Ford’s portrayal of indigenous peoples is more complex than critics have noted 9. According to Nolley, Westerns are marked by the common opposition of White progress against what? The homogenization of indigenous identities 10. According to your reading, what is true of some of John Ford’s later films? Irrational fear of Indians is raised as a reason for violence toward Native Americans Questions on Raheja reading 1. According to Michelle H. Raheja in her article on “Visual Sovereignty,” sovereignty traditionally refers to what? Practice that takes a holistic approach to the process of creating moving images and that locates Indigenous cinema in a particular historical and social context while privileging tribal specificit 2. How is visual sovereignty related to indigenous peoples’ community health locally and globally? Permits the flow of Indigenous knowledge about such key issues, as lands rights, language acquisition, and preservation, which narrativized local and international struggles. Also involves the employment of editing technologies of oral narrative and indigenous notions of time and space that are not possible through print alone 3. According to Raheja, is The Fast Runner easily accessed by non-Indigenous audiences? No 4. According to Raheja, does The Fast Runner have a message for contemporary Inuit communities? Yes, it can teach contemporary Inuit communities how their people survived. It’s instructional lessons about negotiating the potential dangerous terrain of the “Other” to apply to the present colonial and environmental context in their homelands. 5. What is the cultural origin of the term “sovereignty”?

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