Yet another Wannabe Indian presentation from Kevin Costner. A mixture of woodland, plains, and Southwestern imagery. A white guy finds out that he's Indian, and of course lives, not as Indians do today, but as Americans ASSUME Indians lived five hundred years ago.
There's only one thing missing that would make this musical worthwhile: Reality. Yes, many people decided they were ashamed of being native, as producer Joseph Rael tells PBS during a telethon, but guess what? The 70s saw an Indian renaissance.
All in all, this performance is fairly archetypal: White guy finds out about Indian heritage. Why is it always a white guy? I mean, there are numerous black people with Indian ancestors; until the 60s, things like straight hair and high cheekbones were a mark of beauty in the black community. What about a Mexican with Indian ancestors? (As if there are any Mexicans without some Indian ascent.) Secondly, where are the Indians? We have no idea what the Indians are going to say about him.
There's only one thing missing that would make this musical worthwhile: Reality. Yes, many people decided they were ashamed of being native, as producer Joseph Rael tells PBS during a telethon, but guess what? The 70s saw an Indian renaissance.
All in all, this performance is fairly archetypal: White guy finds out about Indian heritage. Why is it always a white guy? I mean, there are numerous black people with Indian ancestors; until the 60s, things like straight hair and high cheekbones were a mark of beauty in the black community. What about a Mexican with Indian ancestors? (As if there are any Mexicans without some Indian ascent.) Secondly, where are the Indians? We have no idea what the Indians are going to say about him.