Native American Inequality and the Media: Anything for a Laugh

Native American Inequality and the Media:

Anything for a Laugh

Written By: Tori Palmberg

            The television show, King of the Hill, is an adult animated 

Photo from wiki.com

situation comedy that has been on the air since 1997 and now airs as re-run’s on many cable stations.  The show features the Hill family, Hank and Peggy (and their son Bobby), as middle-class Texan Methodists who spend a great deal of their time interacting with their neighbors who represent a diverse cast of stereotypical characters including the portrayal of the ignorant redneck, a rich, educated, and obnoxious Asian business owner, and a lustful, wise, loner Native American character by the name of John Redcorn.

Physical Appearance

            This character is a gross conformity to many Native American stereotypes perpetuated in today’s pop culture. From a physical perspective, John Redcorn embodies a uniformed look that the media uses to portray all types of Native Americans. Often he is seen wearing a leather vest or sometimes a suede fringe jacket (for more formal occasions), a colorful beaded head band, feathered earrings, a bone choker necklace, and a medicine pouch around his neck. His hair is long and often blowing in the wind and his jeans are tight with some type of decorated belt buckle. From a historical perspective, it is important to address the fact that Native Americans did not all live in the same type of fashion and dress. Many television shows and movies have portrayed Indian men all the same, with headdresses, headbands, feathers, etc…, which is dress similar to those of the Plains tribes of Native Americans, but very different from many other Native tribes and people. By making Indian men all seem the same in media and on film we dehumanize and devalue their individuality, while making it easier to continue to perpetuate stereotypes that fuel inequality.

Personality and Behavior

            In addition to physical appearance, the character of John Redcorn displays a personality that has often been labeled as very stereotypical. John Redcorn appears as a stoic and noble, wise, new age healer that frequently arrives on the scene to offer moral advice when needed (though many of his actions are amoral). He is also a “smooth talker” with the ladies and has two children with two different married white women. The myth of Indian men as wise sages with rigid dispositions or as lustful savages has been perpetrated for decades on television and the big screen. The idea of Native American’s as wise can be justified by some because it is a “positive” stereotype that attempts to paint a group of people in an affirmative light. Though many Native American’s have a rich cultural history steeped in tradition, it would be incorrect to assume that all of them are brimming with wisdom and spirituality.

            These stereotypes are effective in widening the already monumental gap of social and economic exclusion among Native Americans. By classifying them in generalized categories related to appearance and behavior, and by exploiting these stereotypes in a comedic fashion while achieving ratings and profits, audiences members are entertained and left with lasting impressions about what a Native American (man in this case) looks like and acts like. Overall, John Redcorn is a symbol of how media has continued to perpetuate and reproduce inequality regarding Native Americans. Whether we think it’s funny or not, these stereotypes are harmful, and do nothing to advance the fight against inequality and injustice.

http://kingofthehill.wikia.com/wiki/John_Redcorn

http://www.pbs.org/indiancountry/challenges/stereotypes.html