Is Peter Pan/Pocahontas/Twilight offensive towards Native Americans?
We have always portrayed the Native Americans as either (noble) savages, nature-worshipers, childish, or as supernatural beings. Especially Twilight, which kinda made me laugh cause Jacob in the films is not even remotely Native.
I feel guilty of how I (a white person) have always used racial stereotypes continuously without any second thoughts of how real people might feel.
I want to write about Native American Characters in my stories as well, but I am afraid of what I might write and if I go to a Native American community to learn from experience, I have a feeling that they won't trust me considering how they have been mistreated over the last years.
either way, I feel like I have no right to portray people not of my own kind.
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
You are correct in that those are bad stereotypes. Look here-
http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stharm.htm
It is not that you don't have a right to portray other cultures, but that you have a responsibility to portray them accurately. To do so, you need an inside view of our culture, something you can't get unless you spend time among us, listening to us.
Yes, if you go to a reservation to gawk and ask questions, you will find people hesitant to talk to you. You are right in understanding that we don't like to share certain things, because of the way our culture has been twisted and misrepresented and sold.
Look at the popularity of dreamcatchers. Non-natives are obsessed with them, without having a clue that they are only cradle decorations invented in the early 1900's by the Ojibwe people, and that they have no spiritual significance. They aren't magic.They aren't mystical, they aren't ancient.They are like crib mobiles, nothing more.
Or the new age people who think we have animal spirit guides. That's not a native belief at all, that's completely fabricated.
style of a humorous question to me. I on no account grew as much as not be BIAS and none of those issues have given me an effect approximately all people. And 2nd White isn't even a skin shade pigmentation in people. it is purely a tag for mild skinned human beings. yet Indian smart I truthfully have been around lots of them and likely we do tend to furnish them a bad rap because of the fact of history and undesirable activities that have surpassed off. We do have a project approximately going and asking human beings their comments approximately issues we write or make movies of. It purely sounds like myths and legends are the driving tension in the back of them. each and every physique can locate one ingredient or yet another offensive.
as long as you think of them as not of yoru kind your are doing a bigger misservice to them. This country will be better off when African Americans, Native Americans, and Latino Americans become just plain and simple Americans as for not wanting to write about them you will nto go very far as a writer if you refuse to portray other people and are constantly worried about hurting someone elses feelings, inevitably there will be people who disagree with you and think your a racists but the bottom line is every race has its up and downs and good and bads. I would read actual accounts from non fiction sources of people who deal with Native Americans in the past and today. Canada's first nations has a lot of good info on the subject.