Portrayal of Native Americans in Film Essay - 4573 Words

When Columbus first set foot in the New World, he believed that he had arrived in the islands just off the coast of Cipango, known today as China. Thinking this, he called the people that he met Indians, as they lived on the islands that he falsely believed were the Indies. The term Indian spread back to Europe, as did the term Indies, and to this day, Native Americans are known as Indians, and the Caribbean islands are referred to as the West Indies. The Indians populated a much greater area than Columbus could have imagined, covering the land of two Continents. The Native people of these lands, known already by a term in their languages that roughly meant the people, were now thrown into one large group called Indians, which stretched†¦show more content†¦The movies will also be evaluated in how they portray the Native American culture, including clothing, housing, and language. The films 1492, Christopher Columbus and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery are unique in that they all cover the same time period, the same Native Americans and the same general story, which should be common to nearly everyone in North America. Due to this, it is easy to compare and contrast the Tainos, who have the dubious distinction of being the first to come in contact with the white man during the Age of Discovery. It would be quite easy to construct a paper simply contrasting the historical stories that are told within these three films. Not only do the stories vary, and the relationships between certain characters change, but the portrayal of the Native Americans also varies. The first meeting of the Spaniards and the Indians was shown differently in all three of the movies. Christopher Columbus and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery were both similar in that they met with the Indians on the beach, while in 1492, the first encounter did not occur until Columbus moved farther inland, along a stream in the dense jungle. In all three movies, the Tainos were armed with staffs, at least, but in reality the Tainos only used staffs for hunting and fishing purposes. In 1492, the Indians were depicted withShow MoreRelatedFilm Analysis : Reel Injun1626 Words   |  7 PagesReel Injun The film Reel Injun, is a documentary of how Hollywood is portraying Native Americans as well as showing how it is distorting U.S. history. However, that is not the only concern that the movie brought out. The other concern was how Hollywood portrays Native Americans is negatively affecting Native American. Also, the film Reel Injun will be talking about how this view on Native American is changing as time pass by in our own time. 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