Colorlines: Adam Beach (“Suicide Squad”), one of the country’s most recognizable Native thespians, understands just how often Indigenous narratives are Whitewashed. He denounces this ongoing erasure—which is connected to a centuries-long legacy of genocide and forced assimilation whose remnants still threaten Native communities
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I agree with everything Beach says in this article, and I’m really glad he wrote this to explain an issue than many people aren’t familiar with, and that most people (including me) have an incomplete understanding of. For context, I read the original essay, so this comment may be mentioning aspects of what he said that weren’t in the Colorlines article’s abridged version. I think one takeaway from this article surrounds his decision with “Windtalkers”. He took a pretty major career risk on principle, but as a result he achieved more accurate representation of Native Americans, specifically the Navajo Nation. This choice might not have panned out, but if we all collectively start taking personal risks to stand for what is morally right, eventually we can see improvements. That can be little things like making a point of seeing movies that promote accurate representation and refuse to see films that whitewash the stories of Native Americans (or people of color in general). We can also refuse to work on such projects. Film and TV influence our culture, values, and understanding of the world, but that goes both ways. If we make it clear by how we spend our time and money what we do and don’t want to see from the entertainment industry, the industry will follow.
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