Movie Boycott -Stereotyping Native People

[ECOLING at aol.com]

I have *not* seen this movie,
and I am *not* making assumptions about what it really contains.

But I am commenting about the response to the original posting.

Based on my knowledge of many other misrepresentations
of pre-European cultures of the Americas,
I would bet that this movie may be much of what the author
of the first message under this title says it is.
At least the author deserves the respect of considering that
he or she may be correct in this.

I would bet:

1)  That the sacrifice aspects of ancient American cultures are exaggerated
     and sensationalized in a way Europeans would never want to see
     their own less savory attributes exaggerated.
     That would be a form of dishonesty, if so.
     People get away with that sort of thing, when they do, primarily
     because it is about "primitive others", not about those currently in
power.

2)  That the high-culture aspects of ancient American cultures are greatly
     understated.
     That would be a form of dishonesty, if so.
     People get away with that sort of thing, when they do, primarily
     because it is about "primitive others", not about those currently in
power.

I am simply amazed at the degree of insensivity to inequality in treatment
of "us" (in power) vs. "them" (not in power).

Claiming that a particular fact is TRUE is in no sense by itself evidence
that a presentation about another is TRUE in any sense of balance
or realism.

And even some things which are true, our own culture
agrees by common consent not to talk about in public.
At least when it is a member of "us".
But it's OK to do it when it is about the "other",
whether someone of another political party or of another culture?

A real loss of the most basic decency,
something that makes me despair of culture being able to overcome
this.

(We used to agreee
by the voracious appetite of media for scandal at tearing people down
in order to boost revenue.)

So get real, and stop pretending that the "others"
who are not currently in power are treated in any balanced way,
with any respect for their virtues.

They are not, and we all know it.
Let's at least try to do something about it,
to at least *reduce* the level of violation,
instead of pretending it isn't so.

Lloyd Anderson
Ecological Linguistics