I'd like to solicit votes from all of you on this network. Please email
your votes to lee@cavern.vortex.com, and I will upload the finished list
to the net.
If you submit an entry, please include the film's title and a short
description (I have reference material available to find its year of
production, director, etc.). I am rating films based on three criteria:
1) The obvious one: is the film sympathetic toward the Native people?
Does it portray them as human beings or filthy savages?
2) Does the film use actual Native actors?
3) Is is accurate in its representation of Native life in terms of
dress, customs, living conditions etc.?
Please give the films you enter a rating for each of these three
categories plus an overall rating. In other words, it might still
qualify as "good" if it is generally sympathetic toward Native people
but used white actors to portray them, or showed a Cherokee village
with tipis!
Examples of "top of the heap" films would include things like "Dances
With Wolves", "Little Big Man", "The Mission", etc. At the bottom of
the barrel would be films like "Drums Along the Mohawk", in which the
only "good" Indian is one who has converted to Christianity and is
portrayed as an incredible dunce, while the rest of them are all typical
scalp'n'burn savages.
Hope to hear from all of you! Let's have at it!
= Lee =