I believe that the film Medicine River was made generally for a Native audience because it has a lot of Native undertones. I was reminded of our discussions about Sherman Alexie where Native Americans find their humor in exposing very personal situations. Harlen seems to be the best example of this, telling everyone that Louise is pregnant; making Will play basketball even though he’s older and out of shape; etc. However, the movie made it easy for a foreign culture (not Native American) to associate with the problems that Will faces; missing his mother’s funeral, torn between two women, and whether to choose his family or his dream job.
There was definitely a tuned down presence of Native American stereotypes compared to
Harold of Orange, in that the movie didn’t poke fun at them in an ironic sense. Although there were a few examples of this; when Harlen first tells Will about the calendar they were discussing
what pictures they were going to take. Harlen said it was going to be of moose and elk because that’s what people expect from a Native American calendar. As we know, Harold of Orange took almost every stereotype that there was about Native Americans and beat it to death with the “humor stick”. Overall, I think there was a very big difference in the general feel of the stories, while Harold of Orange was made as a comedy for Natives Medicine River was more a story about a lost man finding his way back home.
Terrence Straight
I agree with the fact that Harold of Orange used a lot of stereotypes associated with Native Americans. I think this has to deal with the plot of the story. They are trying to get money from the whites and they think in order to do this they have to be as "Indian" as possible. In Medicine River, the plot of the story is a lot different. It focuses on more of a serious decision, which is whether to stay on the reservation or leave. Medicine River is able to relate to a more general audience because many people face tough decisions in their lives. I think the difference between the movies also has to deal with the genre, and Harold of Orange is more of a comedy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how the comedy part in this movie is more aimed at Native American's because we didn't understand most of it, or at least I didn't. And the fact that they did she a lot of problems associated with them and how he was torn between more then just one decision and the fact that he had to pick and choose didn't make it easy on him.
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