-->

Theme Layout

Boxed or Wide or Framed

Theme Translation

Display Featured Slider

Featured Slider Styles

Display Grid Slider

Grid Slider Styles

Display Trending Posts

Display Author Bio

Display Instagram Footer

Dark or Light Style

Powered by Blogger.

Comments system

top navigation

Labels

Pages

Menu

Pages - Menu

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Poverty Porn or Helping Our Youth? Chase & Status Video shot on Blackfeet Reservation





This video was released this week by the UK techno band Chase & Status.  It has cause a firestorm of controversy in the Native community detailed here in Indian Country Today - Controversial Video Set on Rez Depicts Drug Use, Violence and Sundance.  

My morning after thoughts (I saw this yesterday) on Chase & Status video shot on the Blackfeet Reservation are that yes, it was beautifully shot and I think youth will identify with the story, because, drug use is epidemic in many of our communities. I do worry that it glorifies it a bit and the resolution (his girlfriend dies after they smoke crack all night) and he does the Sundance (they depict this) is a bit stereotypical. They also never speak (it is a music video) but this lack of voice by the protagonist makes "Indians" what we have always been: a blank slate to project others ideas on of who we are & what we think. The director worked with a Blackfeet society who approved the script and I sense his heart is in the right place. He, himself, is from a similar background in the UK. I don't know, it just comes off as exploitive all the same. I know some will be happy to see themselves depicted, but as it is being used to sell the band's music it feels a bit like Slum Tourism. The band is well-known in Europe, but not here, so it won't have the same cultural effect in the United States (it won't be on Good Morning America or Anderson Cooper). Chase & Status gains the cultural cache (they do not plan to donate any of the proceeds to Native youth), their audiences in Europe get a particular type of cultural voyeurism that makes them feel good when they buy the song, a few donations trickle in, perhaps, just perhaps, and this is everyone's greatest hope, a few, even just one Native youth decides to take a different path in life. I suppose, for our community our hopes are small but they are always for the next generation.

jfkeeler
2 Comments
Share This Post :

You Might Also Like

2 comments:

aznnoodles said...

Can I pin this onto Pinterest?

jfkeeler said...

Yes, no problem!