| |
| author |
Genesis Perez
| | title |
The Representation of Native Americans in Film: Focalization, Political Economy, and Anachronistic Space
| | abstract |
While minority representation in American film is very low, it seems as if Native
Americans might be one of the least represented groups. Additionally, most portrayals in film
today are of Native Americans in historical settings. These types of filmic representations
relegate Native Americans to the distant past, almost as if they do not exist today, erasing the
richness of their culture and the urgency of their current struggles. In this thesis, I begin from this
observation in order to analyze the different types of films that feature Native American
characters, and how their varying approaches reveal the current narrative Hollywood has created
about these groups. I draw on post-colonial theory, theories of representation of marginalized
people in film, and studies of the political economy of Hollywood films, including the Western
genre. The films I analyze in this thesis are: Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939), Dances with Wolves
(Kevin Costner, 1990), The Lone Ranger (Verbinski, 2013), Even the Rain (Icíar Bollaín, 2010),
The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005), Pocahontas (Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg, 1995),
Avatar (James Cameron, 2009), and Smoke Signals (Chris Eyre, 1998). The thesis concludes by
demonstrating the ways in which film can become a meaningful medium to remind the world of
the presence of Native Americans in the present day and their ongoing struggles with the effects
of colonialism.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2022)
|
| advisor |
Shakti Jaising
|
| full text | GPerez.pdf |
| |
