Looney Tunes, a popular cartoon from the 30s to the 60s brought many children hours of entertainment, with its entertaining plot and hilarious antics, which people of all ages enjoyed. In many of its early episodes, there were many times Native Americans made appearances. Many of the characters go off of the stereotypes that had been passed down from the 18th and 19th centuries. In this paper, I focus on the images of Native Americans in the children’s classic cartoon, Looney Tunes, while also exploring the interactions and portrayals of the Native American characters. With a closer look at how the stereotypes surrounding Native Americans from the 18th and 19th centuries continued to thrive into the 20th century, this reveals how these stereotypes were embedded into a person’s mind from a very young age. This paper will argue how both positive and negative stereotypes of Native Americans were reflected in a predominant children’s cartoon, Looney Tunes, and how that has led to educating an entire …show more content…
generation with outdated and in most cases, incorrect information. First, we will take a look at the various images and characters portrayed in the show and then, second, we will explore the origins of the image. Finally, we will compare that imagery to the images of real natives. In the conclusion, I shall see how much change was brought about in modern day images of Natives. Native Americans are referred to by many names such as Indians, American Indians, and Indigenous people, but throughout this paper, I will refer to them as Natives or Native Americans.
Natives have been a part of media coverage from the early days of media itself. Most of the time, however, they have been portrayed in an incorrect way and that has persisted throughout centuries. Natives had this image of them created from the first time they appeared in newspapers which were either as a savage or a noble. Miranda J. Brady in her article, “Stories of Great Indians by Elmo Scott Watson” says that the noble savage was an image created of Natives that portrayed them as spiritual or the white man’s friend by Elmo Scott Watson (22). Natives had this image of them created that either portrayed them as someone spiritual or someone that hunted animals and had primal instincts. Both of these types of images were carried on into the 20th century despite being incorrect and
outdated. The images that were created by Elmo Scott Watson were incorrect, but they were widely accepted and in any form of media that had Native images they would portray them as one or the other. As shown in the popular children’s cartoon, Looney Tunes, whenever there was an episode involving Natives, it would portray them as either a savage or a noble. In one of the episodes called “The Oily American,” a Native is shown as a rich person who owns an oil company and lives in a big mansion. We open to a butler accepting a package and then walking through the entire mansion to a tipi in a lavishly decorated room and inside the tipi the Native is sleeping. The Native then proceeds to talk in broken English and brings out a gun because the package that has arrived is the moose he will hunt. The entire episode is the Native running around and trying to hunt a moose in which he never succeeds and his butler ends up quitting on him. Throughout the episode, we see the Native portrayed as a person who despite having all these luxuries does not want to move on. He talks in broken English despite being such a big businessman and wants to hunt despite having food provided for him. All of these details about the main character portray an image of the savage Indian, as he wants to hunt and cannot speak properly. This was an image that was portrayed of Natives from the 19th century and it persisted through to the 20th century. In most of the episodes of the show, the characters were given the image of the savage, as a person that loves to go to war and has bloodlust. In another episode called, “Horse Hare,” we have the main character, Bugs Bunny, as a Sargent who is left in charge of a fort but gets into a conflict with another main character, Yosemite Sam. Yosemite Sam has the Injuns, which is a derogatory term to refer to Natives, back him up as he attacks the fort that Bugs Bunny is protecting. In this episode as well we see that Natives are shown as people who do not speak proper English and love to fight as they are shown shooting and firing guns. The image that was created by Elmo Scott Watson prevailed in showing that Natives were savages who did not deserve to be called by the name they wanted to be referred to by as shown in this episode with the constant use of the term Injuns. The image of the Natives as savages or beings that were lower than the White American, an American that was considered truly American, was portrayed in various forms of media. Especially as film and television got more popular Natives were the focus of it. Angela Aleiss says Hollywood's early movies were about Natives ranging from various topics such as their Pow Wows to even going as far as portraying a Native woman that can fight thugs in order to return a white child to his parents (1-5). As we continued through the change of eras Natives stood up and started a movement to let people know that they were still here we started to see a bit of a shift in the portrayal of Natives in the media. Although it was not drastic there was a bit since Natives started to take charge of making movies and presenting themselves, as they wanted to be portrayed. Unfortunately, children’s cartoons never saw that much of a change as we can see in Disney’s Pocahontas. Though there is a bit of a change as shown in one of the main songs of the movie “Colors of the Wind” in which Pocahontas is shown asking John Smith why it is that she is characterized as the savage when there is much that he does not know. Though the movie makes a good point at showing that the Natives felt that the settlers were savages and were also willing to fight them and not give into the settlers as it is shown many times, there is still a bit of fabrication present. As Pauline T. Strong says in her article, “Playing Indian in the Nineties Pocahontas and The Indian in the Cupboard” that the Pocahontas that is portrayed by Disney is one that was crafted to fit the Western image (197). The true story of Pocahontas was different and one filled with many troubles such as her being baptized And eventually dying on a ship to Europe but in Disney’s version we see a Pocahontas that looks like Barbie and instantly falls in love with John Smith to fit the ideals of the West. As Pocahontas is a prominently known children’s film that has been recent it shows some changes in the portrayal of Natives to children but there is not much truth to the image as it is still Westernized. There have been more Native people that have come out and started making movies to show their problems and to prove that they are still here. One of the movies that are a prime example of how far Natives have come is Smoke Signals, a movie that is fully written and produced by Natives with all Native actors. The movie describes the Natives in a true and raw form not in the romanticized Hollywood version as in many of its pervious movies such Dances with the Wolves. Aleiss says many of Hollywood’s movies were made to romanticize the oppression faced by Natives (159). Natives are now trying to show the truth behind many of the romanticized versions of their suffering. It is still a struggle as the romanticized versions have set up an image that is false in stone. Many of the movies that romanticized Natives have been box office hits and classified as classics while they set up a completely false image of Natives. Therefore making it a bit of difficult task to write it off as an entire generation has grown up with the images portrayed in those films. There has been some change in the movies as more and more Natives have started to step up in order to correct an image of theirs that has been portrayed incorrectly for years. Children grain a lot of knowledge from watching cartoons and there is a classic cartoon that is loved by many that has been a huge factor in the education of many children. Looney Tunes, a cartoon that was and still is popular portrayed Natives in a light that showed them to be below that of the American. It predominately showed Natives as savages that only knew how to hunt and fight, an image of them that is false and was created in the early days of media. As there has been progress made to correct the image that has been preset since the 19th century it is a long battle. Natives are combating images that have been burned into the minds of people from a very young age. Looney Tunes adopted the image that had been created in the 19th century of Natives as savages and made countless episodes. As young children are impressionable they saw what was shown as the truth and continued to believe this false image into adulthood.
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
In The White Man’s Indian, Robert Berkhoffer analyzes how Native Americans have maintained a negative stereotype because of Whites. As a matter of fact, this book examines the evolution of Native Americans throughout American history by explaining the origin of the Indian stereotype, the change from religious justification to scientific racism to a modern anthropological viewpoint of Native Americans, the White portrayal of Native Americans through art, and the policies enacted to keep Native Americans as Whites perceive them to be. In the hope that Native Americans will be able to overcome how Whites have portrayed them, Berkhoffer is presenting
Neil Diamond reveals the truth behind the Native stereotypes and the effects it left on the Natives. He begins by showing how Hollywood generalizes the Natives from the clothing they wore, like feathers
Cowboys and Indians is the popular game played by many children played as a game of heroes and villains. Natives are villainized in American pop culture due to the history being told by educational institutions across the nation. There are not many positive roles popular in the media about Native Americans. Many roles are even played by white people. The costume representation is not accurate either. The disrespect towards them is especially seem on Halloween, when people dress as Natives in cute and sexy ways that they think represent their culture. War paint, beads, feathers and headdresses are ceremonial accessories that represent their culture, it not a fun costume to wear. Only if they are being criticized and ridiculed, like they have been in the past. Racism has also been a huge problem when it comes to using creative names for sports teams, like the Redskins for example. Redskin is a derogatory and offensive term towards Native Americans and many white people do not see it as wrong due to the privilege they inherited throughout history. The disrespect towards them has grown and today it seems that if Natives were not getting ridiculed, they are for the most part ignored. The concerns that King describes in his book explains how the past has wired Americans to believing everything they have once learned. White people
Lliu, K., and H. Zhang. "Self- and Counter-Representations of Native Americans: Stereotypical Images of and New Images by Native Americans in Popular Media." Ebscohost. University of Arkansas, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014
Stereotypes, which often is the foundation of racism, has negative effects on cultures all over the planet. These cultural generalizations are harmful and prove to be negative and untrue. The North American culture appears to be generally ethnocentric, which is clearly shown in this short piece. The short story “A Seat in the Garden”, a narrative by Thomas King, is a fictional piece which makes one realize how these interpretations are in many ways narrow-minded understandings of human experience. King’s piece touches the concept of stereotypes in a variety of ways. He speaks of the overall negative generalization of Aboriginal culture, the impact of the media regarding stereotypes, and how mainstream society continues to uphold these stereotypes.
Stereotypes dictate a certain group in either a good or bad way, however more than not they give others a false interpretation of a group. They focus on one factor a certain group has and emphasize it drastically to the point that any other aspect of that group becomes lost. Media is one of the largest factors to but on blame for the misinterpretation of groups in society. In Ten Little Indians, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans in the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. The story as a whole brings about stereotypes of how a Native American in general lives and what activities they partake in. By doing so the author, Alexie Sherman, shows that although stereotypes maybe true in certain situations, that stereotype is only
It appears the caricature of Native Americans remains the same as first seen from the first settler’s eyes: savage-like people. Their culture and identity has become marginalized by popular culture. This is most evident in mainstream media. There exists a dearth of Native American presence in the mainstream media. There is a lack of Native American characters in different media mediums.
The dispute over whether Native American mascots should be used as a team symbol dates back to the 1970’s (Price 2). There are those who are passionately against Native American mascots. These advocators insist that Native American mascots are degrading to the native population and the mascots do not represent the true identity of Native Americans. What they fail to realize is that this argument focuses entirely on the perception and predetermined judgment that any Native American mascot is discriminatory and dehumanizing. This is simply not the case.
Stereotyping in A Doll's House and The Breakfast Club When you see someone with expensive jewelry, driving a Lexus with tinted windows, rap music blaring from a mega stereo system, do you assume that he is a punk or drug dealer? This is an example of stereotyping. How are stereotypes assigned? Often they are created by society and are based on gender, race, religion, age, or social standing. Henrick Ibsen focused on the theme of stereotyping in his play A Doll's House.
For example, in the local school, stereotypes such as the image of the ‘wild man’ are consolidated by claiming that there was cannibalism among the indigenous people of the northwest coast (Soper-Jones 2009, 20; Robinson 2010, 68f.). Moreover, native people are still considered to be second-class citizens, which is pointed out by Lisamarie’s aunt Trudy, when she has been harassed by some white guys in a car: “[Y]ou’re a mouthy Indian, and everyone thinks we’re born sluts. Those guys would have said you were asking for it and got off scot-free”
The next reason we’ll be looking at are the stereotypical images commonly seen in literature and mascots. Mainstream media such as “Dances with Wolves”, “The Lone Ranger”, and “The Last of The Mohicans” and mascots in professional sports teams like Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Blackhawks all include representations of Native Americans that for some, are offensive. With this in mind, ...
Sherman Alexie’s piece “One stick song” should be presented as an authentic Native American text in a high school classroom. Debbie Reese believes in a fair portrayal of Native Americans in modern day literature. In many stories, native Americans are portrayed as “primitive savages who merely grunt or speak in broken English” (Jeffer, 1991). Reese believes that they should be “portrayed as members of contemporary society who engage in the same activities mainstream Americans do, such as riding bikes, and playing video games.” (Reese 254). In Alexie’s story, he includes multiple instances that exemplify this requirement. It is a common stereotype that Native American’s culture does not coincide with modern day times however Alexie’s story proves
Some childhood movies and television shows have multiple stereotypes, but being young we don’t really notice what is happening or being said, even when things are being put into our mind by seeing the things certain main characters do in the show that is being watched, whether it is a boy or girl that the child is focusing on, certain stereotypes are being put in their mind without even realizing it. In the television series,” Scooby Doo: Where Are You” it shows two females known as Velma and Daphne, Daphne being the more beautiful character, having bright red hair, a skinny waist and a good body type, while Velma was the type that is portrayed to be more of the ugly girl, being short and more on the heavier side, wearing thick round glasses,
There have been many stereotypes on Native American women that have been shown in television shows and movies throughout history. In the popular media, native men are a lot of times portrayed as fierce warriors and wise men, while the women are depicted as beautiful maidens and often falling in love with the white protagonist. A good example is the Indian maiden on the cover of the Land O’ Lakes butter products. But representations of Native American women have had some real world consequences too. American Indian women are often targets of sexual harassment. Often times, they have been used for sex appeal, like sex symbol Raquel Welch in The Legend of Walks Far Woman. The “Indian Princess” myth has been greatly