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Wednesday, August 10, 2011


Power of the Media

A few decades ago there was an effort to “right” the story of the Indians. The movie industry gave us “Dances with Wolves” and other offerings. But they were basically a “White” overlay still tilted to the accepted storyline. 

[Note: The term “White” is describing a race and cultural group. The term “White men” is used to describe an identifiable subset of that group].

I grew you watching Westerns on television. In fact, television when I was young, was dominated by Westerns in prime time. Outside of prime time there was a steady stream of Western movie reruns. We were inundated.

There was something inconsistent in the portrayal of Indians. The television shows and movies postulated Indians as a seemingly invincible adversary to be feared. Yet they were always depicted as inferior to the White man in the movies and on television. It was always inevitable they would be defeated by an innately superior White individual. I believed the tough Indian line in movies and television was a tale to frighten children or to justify the extreme measures used against them.

One evening about a decade ago I started watching the Michael Mann produced movie, “Last of the Mohicans”. I was mesmerized. The Indians were real warriors with a culture. The main protagonist was an Indian that could cause White men to wet their pants. I had never seen an Indian that was displayed in this manner and not isolated from his Indian culture. He was one able to stand up to the best of the best White men and conquer. He also was not one stereotypically lusting after some White woman. It took another great Indian warrior to kill him. I can now appreciate the stories about the fear of Indians in fights. Especially, if the Indians in the movie were representatives of Indians in the old west.

That one movie changed my whole view of Indians. I no longer saw them as the marginalized and degenerate people on reservations. I saw them as a people so feared that efforts might be made even today to make certain they never rise again.

This movie episode demonstrates the power of the media. The media could do tremendous good. It could be used to dissuade discrimination. It could be used to have women achieve greater equality. It could be used to help us see beyond race, religion and culture to being part of the human race.

However, the media in America has found its niche. It is exacerbating the negative.

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