Native Americans walk off set of racist Adam Sandler film

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/04/23/native-actors-walk-set-adam-sandler-movie-after-insults-women-elders-160110

Approximately a dozen Native actors and actresses, as well as the Native cultural advisor, left the set of Adam Sandler’s newest film production, The Ridiculous Six, on Wednesday. The actors, who were primarily from the Navajo nation, left the set after the satirical western’s script repeatedly insulted native women and elders and grossly misrepresented Apache culture.

In the interview, they mention talking to a lot of production staff, but it doesn't sound like their concerns ever reached Adam Sandler himself^HEY Which does not mean he wasn't aware of them; it just means he hasn't had a chance to make a statement yet, giving him a potential opportunity to make a good PR decision; the company could still potentially save face if Sandler issued a statement basically going, "Shit was whack, but Imma fix it now," and then making efforts for a more inclusive treatment of the Native Americans on the project, which would have to include acquiescing to their concerns about the cultural misrepresentation.

But that would mean scrapping a lot of production that's already done, and it doesn't sound like all the Native Americans on the project left. They could just as easily forge right on ahead, controversy and all, and release the movie as planned.

edited 24th Apr '15 10:26:08 AM by TobiasDrake

It would be Adam Sandler that did something like this.

Of course it would. This is what Adam Sandler does. Startlingly heartwarming themes buried under mountains of crude, offensive humor is his M.O. He's like a socially-conscious child lobbying for respect and tolerance when he's not too busy giggling at poop or because someone said weiner.

Actual Native Americans involved in the project are upset that their culture has been reduced to a fart joke, which is a harder matter than usual to reconcile because, while other studios tend to be horribly offensive by accident or slip of the tongue, Sandler almost certainly went into this movie intending to turn Native American culture into a fart joke.

edited 24th Apr '15 10:32:31 AM by TobiasDrake

Sandler turns everything into a fart joke, so maybe everyone should walk off his sets then.

Not all of them left because they desperately need the money. Native American poverty is a major issue among Native Americans. Unfortunately, not a major issue in the US it seems.

The US largely considers them "Out of sight, out of mind." Looking the other way and pretending they don't exist is SOP in the US for dealing with people who are, shall we say, "unconventional".

Plus the reservations are essentially independent countries inside of another country. They're basically allowed to do their own thing.

To quote the article itself, "the examples of disrespect included Native women’s names such as Beaver’s Breath and No Bra, an actress portraying an Apache woman squatting and urinating while smoking a peace pipe, and feathers inappropriately positioned on a teepee." Loren Anthony also noted that they looked more Comanche than Apache because the costuming took a very stereotypical approach.

So, in other words, the exact kind of low-brow racist toilet humor that permeates through all of Sandler's films, though trying to get people involved in racial "jokes" about them takes a special brand of stupid insanity. I'm actually curious how the hell Sandler's going to try to damage control this, if he does at all.

They aren't really independent, but they are sovereign nations.

Sounds like their cultural adviser wasn't doing his job if the script is so racist.

Also, it's all fun and games until it's your culture that's being made fun of.

edited 24th Apr '15 12:20:19 PM by Eagal

He walked off with the others who left. This implies he was doing his job, and they were just ignoring his input.

edited 24th Apr '15 12:19:43 PM by TobiasDrake

Happy Madison movies have advisors?

This one did.

The advisor is also mentioned several times in the article, and it's also stated that his existence in the production is the only reason some of these actors and actresses even agreed to work on the project in the first place.

edited 24th Apr '15 12:22:59 PM by TobiasDrake

Apparently the cultural consultant was ignored in at last one occasion:

Going by that quote it didn't seem like he had any input in the script. Overall, the impression I've got is that the consultant was hired as a PR move, but ignored when convenient.

edited 24th Apr '15 12:55:05 PM by Heatth

Why did Sandler think this was a good idea? "Hey, I'm going to offend tons of people that are a big part of my movie! That won't have any negative consequences!"

Because he's gotten away with it in the past. A part of Jack and Jill that was often missed was that he hired prominent Spanish comedians like Eugenio Derbez and Santiago Segura but just had them rehash the old "Mexicans are illegal immigrants" jokes even though they're capable of way funnier stuff. They took it because they hoped it would at least be a launch platform to better films. That's not what happened.

edited 24th Apr '15 1:26:11 PM by Tuckerscreator

And apparently the reason the movie is a Netflix exclusive is because at least two studios passed on it. So it seems like even before this began people were thinking this was a really bad idea.

Honestly it's on them for getting on board with Jack and Jill thinking that trainwreck could have led... anywhere.

Honestly would not have heard of this movie if it had not been for this. Direct-to-Netflix is the new DTV for films (for TV shows, now, another story).

Indeed. They get all of the good movies and the bad.

Here's the inevitable corporate "fuck you for not getting the joke, buddy" non-apology from Netflix:

http://deadline.com/2015/04/adam-sandler-netflix-ridiculous-six-native-american-actors-leave-1201415074/

“The movie has ‘ridiculous’ in the title for a reason –because it is ridiculous,” said a spokesperson for the streaming service Thursday. “It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke.”

Not sure if they're taking the piss or if they're being serious. If the latter:

edited 24th Apr '15 1:48:55 PM by Quag15

Cle Rly the cast was not in on the joke in this case.

Okay, is there context that reveals that the scene wasn't supposed to be taken a certain way and the cast misinterpreted it?

I (guess) I get not wanting to give the plot away but I'd imagine if I was a PR person I'd just say "The scene seems bad but in the full context of the film it will make sense. We're not trying to demean Apache people."

Of course, given that Apache's weren't given the Apache roles in the first place makes me think it might be an uphill battle.

It's hard to say without seeing the film proper. Doing a good satire does require indulging in the thing being satirized, because you can't have a punchline without a setup - and the jokes we've been told about that were offensive are orphaned punchlines. If the purpose is to make fun of traditional depictions of Native Americans as opposed to making fun of the Natives themselves, being 100% culturally accurate would do that joke a disservice.

However, it's important to note that satire isn't just doing the thing being satirized and expecting people to laugh about it. Satire has elements intended to call attention to why it's bullshit. For an example, Robin Hood Men In Tights satirized, among other things, the use of flaming arrows against a peasant village as a backdrop for the opening credits in Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves by including such lines as "Every time they make a Robin Hood movie, they BURN OUR VILLAGE DOWN!" and "LEAVE US ALONE, MEL BROOKS!"

So without being able to judge for ourselves how the jokes are being played, it's hard to make a judgment.

edited 24th Apr '15 2:02:02 PM by TobiasDrake