Red Reels/Reals: How Hollywood (Re)creates Violence Against Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

Hollywood has a long legacy of negatively portraying Indigenous peoples. Even with the involvement of Indigenous cast and crew, films about Indigenous peoples have a dual role of creating and reproducing stereotypes and tropes. These portrayals, or colonial images, hold the power to not only shape the public’s opinion of Indigenous peoples in Keya Wita (Turtle Island), but also shape how Indigenous peoples come to view our/theirselves. This paper tenders a theoretical framework capturing how Hollywood has used intentionally false narratives about post-contact historical events in Keya Wita and racist/colonial representations to maintain colonial domination. Additionally, this study addresses the possible futurities to not only change how Indigenous peoples are portrayed on screen, but to also dismantle the colonial system that Hollywood operates within.

Presenters

Rowan Greywolf Moore
Student, Doctorate of Philosophy, Arizona State University, United States

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Media Theory

KEYWORDS

Hollywood, Film, Film Studies, Indigenous, Colonialism