Russell Means
In early 2010, The Hollywood Reporter asked me to assemble a collection of experts to comment on the Oscar nominees for Best Picture. I tracked down some interesting ones for the piece, including a Beverly Hills rabbi who attended school with the Coen brothers who vouched for the accuracy "A Serious Man" and a statistics professor from M.I.T. who analyzed the chances of George Clooney's forever-flying character in "Up in the Air" being in a plane crash.
It was a lot of fun until my editor saw what Indian activist Russell Means had to say about imperialist paternalism in "Avatar."
"The film is nothing more than a updated fanciful science fiction depiction of an American Indian film being made in the 1940s," said Means, who at the time served as the "chief facilitator" for the Republic of Lakotah. "The Indians have no plan and no defenses, except some feeble arrows, and some other force has to come in and rescue them. I did like the part where they said, 'Everything is connected,' but that was just a fleeting moment of wisdom in a horrible movie about cowboys and Indians. 'Dances with Wolves' was the same thing, for crying out loud. There's always got to be a liberal white hero that saves the tribe. I thought Hollywood was getting it, but I feel offended."
Means comments didn't work, my editor said. I knew that was code for we don't want to piss off Fox Studios, James Cameron, et al, but I let it drop like a good soldier -- or a just another cowardly corporate lackey selling my soul for spare change from Big Brother, effectively perpetuating the sad history of white European oppression. I'd like to say I wouldn't do it again, but my kids will only eat brand name peanut butter and I can't give up the premium DirecTV package.
I ended up replacing it with a Princeton astrophysics professor's comments on the accuracy of the film's science. When I told Means' wife, she wasn't surprised. Things like this happen all the time, she said. Prior to this, I thought Means to be a bit kooky-- and he may have been -- but I can't blame the guy for feeling paranoid.
It was a lot of fun until my editor saw what Indian activist Russell Means had to say about imperialist paternalism in "Avatar."
"The film is nothing more than a updated fanciful science fiction depiction of an American Indian film being made in the 1940s," said Means, who at the time served as the "chief facilitator" for the Republic of Lakotah. "The Indians have no plan and no defenses, except some feeble arrows, and some other force has to come in and rescue them. I did like the part where they said, 'Everything is connected,' but that was just a fleeting moment of wisdom in a horrible movie about cowboys and Indians. 'Dances with Wolves' was the same thing, for crying out loud. There's always got to be a liberal white hero that saves the tribe. I thought Hollywood was getting it, but I feel offended."
Means comments didn't work, my editor said. I knew that was code for we don't want to piss off Fox Studios, James Cameron, et al, but I let it drop like a good soldier -- or a just another cowardly corporate lackey selling my soul for spare change from Big Brother, effectively perpetuating the sad history of white European oppression. I'd like to say I wouldn't do it again, but my kids will only eat brand name peanut butter and I can't give up the premium DirecTV package.
I ended up replacing it with a Princeton astrophysics professor's comments on the accuracy of the film's science. When I told Means' wife, she wasn't surprised. Things like this happen all the time, she said. Prior to this, I thought Means to be a bit kooky-- and he may have been -- but I can't blame the guy for feeling paranoid.
