This article
first appeared
in 1989 as a two-part series...
|
COYOTE GOES HOLLYWOOD
STORY BY RENNARD STRICKLAND
Ph.D
The media-radio, television,
film-is powerful. The messages dominate our thinking, particularly
when the viewer has little or no opportunity for firsthand observation.
How many Americans see "Indians" anywhere but on the
screen? And either way, who is able to distinguish fact from
fiction? There is a story told about the shooting in Monument
Valley of one of the epic Westerns directed by the renowned John
Ford. The cameras stop. The Navajo actors dismount and take of
their Sioux war bonnets. One of the film crew says to the Indians,
"That was wonderful, you did it just right." An Indian
actor replies, "Yeah, we did it just like we saw it in the
movies."
|
|