Scene4 Magazine | the readers blog

Stuff "poetic license." That's the term to describe when film or television producers take a book, or worse yet, historical facts, and play fast and loose with the truth to suit a lower purpose. In other words, appealing to my peers in middle-class suburbia who are the coveted demographic for said poetically licensed production because they have the damned cash to buy whatever it is they're hawking.

Yep. That's what it's called.

"Poetic license" is coming 'round the mountain once again, this time in HBO's upcoming movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, based on the 1971 book by Dee Brown. To be aired Memorial Day weekend, the film has taken the life of Charles Eastman and seasoned and spiced it to make him McTastier.

And just who is Charles Eastman? Portrayed in the film by Adam Beach, he was the Santee political activist, Dartmouth-educated doctor and cofounder of the Boy Scouts who HBO thought, in their supreme wisdom, wasn't interesting enough even though he was a political activist, Dartmouth-educated doctor and cofounder of the Boy Scouts. Apparently, that wasn't sufficiently palatable, especially to mainstream audiences whose knowledge of Native America is limited to Little Big Horn, casinos and Russell Means.

Thankfully, no references to Russell were added, ditto for casinos probably 'cause the movie is set in the 19th century. So what's left? Huzzah--let's put Charles Eastman at the Battle of the Little Bighorn! So that's what HBO did. Forget the fact that the real Eastman was attending school hundreds of miles away in Nebraska at the time.

This is what y'all call "poetic license."

According to the New York Times, the network carefully considered its decision. Daniel Giat, who adapted Brown's book for the screenplay, recently said to a group of television writers "Everyone felt very strongly that we needed a white character or a part-white, part-Indian character to carry a contemporary white audience through this project."

At least that's the truth.

Of course, apologists tell us that it's the "bigger issue" that's paramount. That "poetic license" is standard practice in adaptations; therefore adding and cutting and fabricating is just dandy and a-okay as long as it remains intellectually honest.

Intellectually honest? Not when you have a real-life person engaging in a major battle he never fought in. Intellectual honesty is when you add dialogue and scenes to flesh out the story but remain faithful to the known facts. That ain't the case here. HBO IS FABRICATING HISTORY TO APPEAL TO WHITE FOLKS.

As Bury My Heart producer Dick Wolf was quoted in the Times article, "It is a dramatization, and we needed a protagonist."

Hey, let me share something with you. As a bona fide white person, I don't need made up history to swallow what actually happened. Believe me, we CAN handle the truth and the time has come for my fellow white folks in the media to acknowledge that.

So please o' please--stop already. This has nothing to do with "poetic license" and even more so, "intellectual honesty." This has everything to do with making the lead Native character a superhero Mr. And Ms. Mid-America could love. Think Little-Spidey-on-the-Prairie.

Not to take "poetic license" here, but I bet that wasn't Dee Brown's intention when he wrote his groundbreaking book 36 years ago. Nevertheless, I'm sure my hunch is helluva lot closer to the truth than Charles Eastman wielding a tomahawk against Custer's Seventh Cavalry along a dusty Montana creek.
Carole Quattro Levine

The producers have implied they didn't want to make an anti-government movie. It would've been too negative, too hard to sell. Instead they watered down Dee Brown's book to make it palatable to viewers. That may have been a marketable choice, but it sure wasn't a moral one. Wolf and company have said all the right things in published interviews. They may not even be aware that they softened Brown's emphasis. But a lack of conscious intent doesn't change the results. HBO's movie is prejudiced against Indians. To recap: According to "Bury My Heart," the Indians massacred the soldiers at Little Big Horn. The Army was merely emulating the tactics of the Sioux before them. Dawes had a noble plan to save the Indians. Sitting Bull cared more about his perks than his people. Modern life was too much for Indians such as Eastman to handle. The deaths of Sitting Bull and the Sioux at Wounded Knee were unfortunate mistakes. If that isn't an anti-Indian bias, I'm not sure what is. "Bury My Heart" takes a clear case of wrongdoing and muddles it. In this version of history, there are no good or bad guys. Flawed Americans, flawed Indians ... they're all the same. For the full review, go to Bury My Heart Review.
Rob Schmidt

Thanks for this fine look at this fine actor. He's what theater is all about.
J.J.
read Carole Levine's article

I concur with everything that the author said in her story. I saw Graham Greene in those two plays in September and he was awesome!
Lana Boldi

read Carole Levine's article

Graham Greene is the most under-appreciated actor I have ever met. Those of us who have been his long time fans have watched his excellence in his craft get little recognition or few greatly admired alocades. As for those of us who recognized his immense talent in Dances with Wolves, we have had nothing but wonderful preformances time and time again. He has been worth every ounce of praise we have given him.
AngelofLight
read Carole Levine's article

So there is this Swedish lady who carried a feather across the globe to find the rightful owners of the sacred symbol? It is indeed a very touching story, despite the fact, that one person does not represent the entire Europe. Europe is a continent consisting of 48 countries (49 if you include Vatican City) and 230 spoken languages. And each of these countries has a history, a culture; they have TV, newspapers, schools and Universities. I don't know if the population in Sweden believes "that Native Americans don't even exist", buy maybe one shouldn't fall into clichés? Maybe Annika Banfield can plan a trip through Europe in the near future to explore all these "culturally starving Europeans" (this time without a feather, but an open mind) before returning to her Danish sweat lodge? Which reminds me, that Sweden and Denmark are two completely different countries.
Andrea Kapsaski
read Carole Quattro Levine's article

It's good to see the Swedes over there doing some good. Or, are they? When, I was first contacted by Paula Horn then introduced to Annika and Folke, the two Swedish filmmakers, it was with good intention to talk and get to know each other by phone and email. Then a contract was made by the Swedes stating that I had the rights to the movie in the U.S. No money was going to be made from it. There would be a Native version, as well as a Swedish version. Annika stated her only intention was too show it over in Europe to educate people on what not to do and I would have a say in the direction of the story. So far, the documentary has been shown in the U.S. but they left me out in any say. Broke the contract and disrespected the Minicojou Lakota people of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. My name is Jerry Clown, descendant of Crazy Horse, co-producer of the award-winning documentary, "Riding with Ghosts" You are being fooled because they are exploiting themselves.
Jerry Clown
read Carole Quattro Levine's article

I don´t think this is the right forum for solving legal or economical issues. But the fact is that the producers of "Spirits for Sale" are getting increasingly tired of threats and slander, hearing about film festivals getting threatened and attempts to intimidate reputed spiritual leaders. All this done by one single man.
Jerry Clown was introduced by Paula Horne since he had promised to finance our film. We made an agreement with Mr. Clown. He promised to invest in the film, we promised that if he did so, he would be a co-producer with the rights to the film in the US. (Making one version for Natives and one for Europe has never been an option. There has been no discussions about making the film "for free". ) Mr. Clown never invested a cent but instead had us pay for him and his girlfriend during the two weeks he worked with us in SD. All the costs have been paid by me and the producer out of our own money. So obviously it was a disappointment when Mr. Clown broke the agreement. The "contract" Mr. Clown refers to is an application for money, written to a foundation for filmmakers. It states that Mr. Clown will be the co-producer if and when he invests in the film. It is not signed by the production company. We did not get any money from the foundation and Mr. Clown did not invest, thereby he is not a co-producer. I have an agreement with Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota Nation that my profit from the film will go back to him and to poor elders on the reservations in South Dakota. Mr. Clown knows this, yet tries to prevent us from selling it in the US by intimidating people and organizations. It is my obligation to stand up for the elders in SD and to keep my promise to Mr. Looking Horse.
We would like to thank Mr. Clown for his help during the shootings in SD. Credit has been given to him in the film. We kept our promise to Mr. Clown - to send him the finished film - and we have paid him for his work. Further more, in helping Mr Clown to make his own version of the subject, we supported him with 8h of filmed material. This material is still free for him to use by courtesy of the Swedish production company.
The attempts to discredit the film and the filmmakers also fall back on all the elders, spiritual leaders and traditionalists who have supported us in the making of this film.

Annika Banfield, co-producer
Folke Johansson, producer

read Carole Quattro Levine's article

Sometimes, I ask myself? Why why why? I remember a vision I had a time ago. One, where we can do justice for our people, give hope for our children. You know--a better tomorrow! One where we can remember yesteryear, where we can say, "we are making change slowly, but in small steps.." because, that's the way they work, the Otherside to this side! Its not I, or it's not you, or them....its Mitakuyase, our relatives who come and give us visions of the past, present and future. They are the ones who give us hope, courage, and the gifts to carry them out. The simple fact is that they are trying to tell us something. What? Well, these ways are sacred. These ways are powerful! They must be done without question the Right way, because they were made to be simple and yet done with love and compassion. Yet, we teach and promise and Promise to the eager, determined, vulnerable, the ones who will pay money, for what? So they can be Lakota, pray like Lakotas...be Lakotas...if that's the way it rolls..then what have we learned from them...some of them know better...but do they care...no....is it power and control which drives people to become self-proclaimed Medicine men overnight?. Like buying a pipe from Praire Edge in Rapid City...like saying buy me, then I will make you Lakota....is it the good feeling they get when someone is abused and abused in sweat or ceremony! Is it the White man, or who is the White man these days? I dont know who's a better man, the White man saying he's a Lakota Medicine Man...or i the Lakota man abusing our children in ceremonies and getting away with it. My many adventures and travels around the country have led me to witness--the butchering and mutilation of these sacred Lakota ways. I get a sick feeling, a very sad feeling of a vision for tomorrow. Like watching our relatives who lie there at Wounded Knee, knowing they were sacrificed to please the pride of the invaders. How many more people will be sacrificed on our reservations? How many more must suffer generations of the same cycle over and over of Genocide and abuse of our ways? So I must say this--it's time to take these ways back! When will we stand together as a nation of visionaries, healers, and protectors of this way of life? When will people know, or is the excuse they just dont know any better? I'm all about healing and being happy to live a beautiful life. So being a co-producer of "Spirits for sale!" my message is simple: dont sell these ways. Tunkasila is watching, always. The Swedes just dont know how it is. I jumped on board because it was exciting to actually put a part of my vision in the movie. We sat down at the bottom of Bear Butte and talked. This was never about fame or making money...it was about a vision that came from the heart....the vision that flowed thru my Minicojou blood, remembering my relatives on the other side...its why I push and promote the movie. I couldn't care less about a Swede carrying a feather to my res...what a story huh! To hand it to our White Buffalo calf keeper! Now, that made them famous, like saying look at us, the White people, who infiltrated the Cheyenne River. I hate to see what would happen if they gave her a turkey feather! Where might she travel...to the country Turkey? Maybe! All I can say is--go see the movie.
Jerry Clown
read Carole Quattro Levine's article
read other comments about "Spirits for Sale"

At last! At last! At last! I want to thank the author for bringing us this news of a national native television station in the USA. My every visit to Canada has always included ample hours to watch APTN, Aboriginal People's Television Network, which has been around for decades! It has it all: news from the people's communities, national news impacting the First Nations, excellent, even brilliant children's programming with world class animation, movies, fitness shows, cooking, interviews on urgent issues of concern to native people, etc. etc, etc. Every such visit ends with a return to the USA and "desert wasteland" TV. Native issues NEVER make a spot on CNN or any other news program. Remember, even non-native people will watch the Native American Television programming. The general American public just might learn a little more about how we really live, who we really are and what we are thinking about and why. Hooray!

Rosalie Jones

read Carol Quattro Levine's article

Absolutely love the page opener with the montage of moving photos and the jazz playing! Veeerrry classy! I am the partner who accompanied Mr. Bobkoff to the Wild Magnolias blowout at Harro Ballroom. Being Native American myself, I felt it was an excellent opportunity for me to finally see the "Mardi Gras" Indians. I knew it would be a mix of influences, but it proved to be pure theater, as the author so expertly describes.This phantasmagoria is an excellent example of a kind of intercontinental cultural diaspora: when displaced peoples loose the homeland moorings, adaptability attaches itself to survival. On the way out, the lead "Spy Boy" autographed the CD I bought while I commented admiringly on the beadwork on his "outfit". Glancing behind him, however, I saw his feathered headdress lying unceremoniously on the floor. A Native American dancer would never let those feathers touch the floor. So much for authenticity. In terms of survival, however, perhaps he was the one who was admiring us, by way of imitation, after all. The "good time" became a sobering insight.

Rosalie Jones

read Ned Bobkoff's article