2009 Oscars = Hope

The Academy Awards just ended and I’ll be honest, I was extremely happy with the results. A film with a predominantly Indian cast won 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, while Sean Penn won Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to a public office. Although this is only an awards show, I really think tonight’s results will go a long way towards spreading the message of racial/sexual orientation equality into a mainstream consciousness. For those of you who watched or saw clips from the show, it was so evident that the cast of “Slumdog Millionaire” were just happy to be there. Their enthusiasm is proof that the American Dream can exist on some level. However, we all know that for others, the Dream is just a myth as a result of oppression.

Sticking with the Oscar theme, it certainly isn’t a new revelation that acceptance speeches are sometimes used to promote a personal cause or agenda of an actor (See Marlon Brando Says "No Thanks"). Tonight was no different, and it was inspiring to hear the overwhelming applause after each speech instead of the awkward silence which is sometimes followed by a mixture of uncertain boo’s and claps. This means our founding words of, “all men are created equal,” are finally gaining a wider audience many many years later. But, as we know, this was not always the case and we still have a long way to go.

Marlon Brando Says "No Thanks"

A few weeks ago I went home for the weekend and somehow John Trudell came up during a conversation with my father. To my surprise, my dad did not know who he was but he was reminded of Marlon Brando’s Oscar acceptance speech back in 1973. Of course, being the responsible blogger/pop culture nerd that I am, I immediately searched for a video of this speech on YouTube. The following is a video of what happened after Brando won Best Actor for his role in “The Godfather.”

Marlon Brando Speech Link (I apologize for the lack of embedding. YouTube won't let me)

I was horrified by the “boo’s” that came raining down upon this poor American Indian woman in the middle of her speech. It’s hard to tell whether they are booing because they disagree with the cause (I would imagine it would be really hard to “boo” for equal rights but the times were different) or if they just despise Marlon Brando. From what I’ve heard and read, Brando had a reputation for being a jerk as far as the media was concerned. Still, while I think Brando should have been there to deliver the message himself, I respect him for making an effort to help American Indians gain equal rights. The full text of his speech can be found here and he states that he did not attend because he felt he could be more useful helping out the citizens at Wounded Knee.

But, I am very curious as to what all of you think about Brando’s address. Is it effective to use an Oscar speech for a message like this? Could Brando have used a different forum where he wouldn’t have alienated as many people? I’ll end by quoting from Batman Begins (or maybe it’s Spider-Man?), that “with great power comes great responsibility.” Brando was an icon who had more resources than us non-celebrities and he used those resources to try and do what was right. More power to him.

John Trudell Needs To Be Taught!

I respect men like John Trudell. Here is a man who recognizes injustice and fights, not only for himself, but for the generations of American Indians who follow him. It is somewhat sickening that I, along with many other people in the class, have not heard about him before this course. The school systems are really doing us a disservice by excluding Trudell from the curriculum. It seems like he should be mentioned in the same sentence as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X when it comes to civil rights activism.

I was hanging on every word of the Trudell documentary we watched in class. The man was so revolutionary and I loved how one person in the film compared him to Socrates. The person said that Trudell thinks about the world and writes it down, which makes him a philosopher. This alone, however, doesn’t just make one a philosopher. The fact that his message inspired people and gave them hope is what makes him a philosopher. That being said, I am still baffled as to why Trudell has never been introduced to me before. I wonder how much the F.B.I. has to do with the fact that Trudell is not a canonized figure in American history. 17,000 pages in a dossier seem a bit excessive for one man. One of my idols growing up, Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, once said that its healthy to have a thick F.B.I. file if you’re an activist. That means you’re doing your job. I think it’s safe to say that Trudell is doing his part. It’s just a shame that his message never got the chance to reach a mainstream audience.

Leading a successful revolution requires the cause to have an identity. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was the face of the civil rights movement. Even in the present day, Barack Obama is the face of change and a new direction for our country. Both the civil rights movement and the need for change may have gathered less of a following if people weren’t able to put a face to the cause. A leader is needed in order for people to follow and John Trudell is that leader for American Indian rights. I will be teaching high-school English when I graduate. Trudell just became a fixture in my American Lit curriculum. Attempting to make future generations aware of his legacy is the least I can do.