Indian in the Cupboard

     The time has come.  Netflix has finally sent me the film 'The Indian in the Cupboard', so now I have a real chance to look at the content and see how it relates, if at all, to any of the things we've discussed in class.  In my initial nostalgic thoughts about the film, I entertained the idea that there was some kind of meaning behind the relationship between the onscreen characters that went a little deeper than 'kid has tiny magic Indian friend' but alas, it seems nothing of that sort is actually going on.  The film is strictly children's fare in terms of content.  It was interesting to find out, however, that the film was directed by none other than Frank Oz, the man who frequently worked with Jim Henson, voiced Yoda in the Star Wars films, and previously directed the wonderful Rick Moranis musical Little Shop of Horrors.
     More relevant to our class material, the main Indian in the film was portrayed by a Native American rapper with the incredibly Indian stage name 'Litefoot'.  (His real name is Gary Paul Davis... that's right.  Three, count them three, white guy names)  I also found out that he portrayed another Native American character in an awful awful film I was already familiar with, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.  In that movie ( a sequel to a bad film based on a series of occasionally good video games), he was known as 'Nightwolf'.
     Further examination of his wikipedia page has revealed some interesting details.  Apparently, his work in music has created a distinct style which he calls 'tribalistic funk' meant to blend several influences including Native American reservation life and African American street life.  He has won six Native American Music Awards (more on those later), started several clothing lines, and has a radio show called Reach the Rez Radio. His latest album, released in 2008, was his first one to receive nationwide distribution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litefoot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ96yeb897k
     As far as these Native American Music Awards, I had no idea these even existed.  Apparently they've been around since 1998.  Now I don't see any reason to rephrase the description here so I'll just pull it straight from wikipedia.  "The Annual Native American Music Awards, which USA Today urges to “take seriously” and Indian Country Today has called, “Awesome & Incredible,” is the largest professional membership-based organization for Contemporary and Traditional Native American Music Initiatives and consists of over 20,000 registered voting members and professionals in the field of Native American music. They also hold the largest Native American Music Library in the World with a national archive featuring a collection of over 10,000 audio and video recordings in all formats housed since 1990."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_Music_Awards
     While the film has little entertainment value (mostly thanks to its annoying and untalented child protagonist) there were a few moments that attested to the kinds of relationships I was hoping to see in it.  At one point, the little boy hands the tiny Indian a plastic tipi to sleep in.  The Indian responds by saying that his tribe built longhouses and never used tipis.  So it is nice to know that they paid some consideration to actual Native Americans at the time and not just the 'reel injun' we're so familiar with.  On the other hand though, they went a bit overboard when the brought in a tiny cowboy to fight with the Indian in the second half of the film. (The cowboy's performance was so over the top that I almost forgot how awful the child actors were)
     So there you have it.  What i was hoping would be a meaningful and cool film with a robust commentary on American-Indian relations is just a dull Hollywood kid's film wit little of anything to offer.  Nostalgia has once again lied to me.  I hope that Litefoot has moved on to bigger and better things.