Paul Chaat Smith’s essay “The Big Movie,” which appears in The Norton Mix, addresses the question of why western movies portray the American Indian in the manner they do. Smith, who is a member of the Comanche tribe, looks at western films from the perspective of Indians. He provides a brief history of the American western movie, along with historical information about how and why Indians appear as they do in movies. He concludes with the observation that unless they appear within what Smith calls the master narrative, Indians simply do not belong in U.S. history. Indians continue to appear within the master narrative because that is where people naturally expect them to be, because of stereotypical treatment by society, and appearing in any
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There is a good chance that no one will describe an Indian in jeans, chaps, and a cowboy hat, or in a dress coat and top hat, with shiny leather shoes. This is because, even today, the majority of the population still expect an Indian to conform to their stereotype under the master narrative. Movies haven’t shown Native Americans from any other cultural standpoint. Even when the Indians are paired up with cowboys, they still wear their traditional Indian clothing. Many movies paint half Indian kids, who have never lived with the Natives, to wear this distinct clothing or have physical or personality traits that make them different from the people they were raised with. Media has not given the Indians any other roles than that of the master narrative, nor will they. If they change the culture of these Indians, the people watching will become confused, and therefore will not like the matter in which it is involved. Again, changing the views of the masses would be to change history, which is not so easily done, nor highly regarded.
Due to the expectations of the people, the stereotypes of society, and the everlasting cultural context assumed by the masses to be real, Indians are stuck in this loop of how they should be. This is the Native Americans place in history, and
There is a good chance that no one will describe an Indian in jeans, chaps, and a cowboy hat, or in a dress coat and top hat, with shiny leather shoes. This is because, even today, the majority of the population still expect an Indian to conform to their stereotype under the master narrative. Movies haven’t shown Native Americans from any other cultural standpoint. Even when the Indians are paired up with cowboys, they still wear their traditional Indian clothing. Many movies paint half Indian kids, who have never lived with the Natives, to wear this distinct clothing or have physical or personality traits that make them different from the people they were raised with. Media has not given the Indians any other roles than that of the master narrative, nor will they. If they change the culture of these Indians, the people watching will become confused, and therefore will not like the matter in which it is involved. Again, changing the views of the masses would be to change history, which is not so easily done, nor highly regarded.
Due to the expectations of the people, the stereotypes of society, and the everlasting cultural context assumed by the masses to be real, Indians are stuck in this loop of how they should be. This is the Native Americans place in history, and