Scholarly Work - Indigenous Research Initiative
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/15852
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Item Escaping suburbia : the return to nature and the noble savage(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2014) Maddaus, Ian Frederick; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertNoble Savage mythology appears in many films that depict Native Americans. In these films a character or characters will represent the wild, natural and savage side of this myth and other characters represent civilized society but also moral corruption. The natural and savage character will clash with members of civilized society and will be threatened or killed. In this paper I will show that the events and characters in some suburban films draw from these same Noble Savage myths and cultural beliefs. I will discuss these tropes in the films E.T. The Extraterrestrial, The Ice Storm, American Beauty, and Ordinary People. In these films the wild and savage side is valorized and the civilized side is denounced. I will show that this mythology has permeated into our cultural beliefs so thoroughly that it appears in films that have little to do with the original cultural, geographical and historical context that first produced this mythology.Item An assessment of historic and contemporary models of native representation from ethono-entertainment films to experiential education films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Chaikin, Eric Justin; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter Metz; Dennis Aig (co-chair)Ethno-entertainment is a term that makes apparent the merger of entertainment and science in the depiction of the Native presence in film. This approach to filmmaking is assessed and is determined to be defunct. Experiential-education filmmaking is offered as an alternative approach. It is suggested that Native science can inform this approach in a way that allows a contextual understanding of Native language and culture. My video thesis work, K'anecho'xdekdiigh- I'm Not Going to Teach You, is suggested as an example of how the prominence of Native science may promote survivance rather than perpetuate ethno-entertainment's focus on absence.