Sherman Alexie is a Native American artist, who has written several Native- inspired novels and co-produced films, including Smoke Signals. In the film Smoke Signals, Victor Joseph and Thomas Build-the-Fire (two Native young men) venture from their reserve to Phoenix, Arizona, after receiving news about the death of Victor’s father. Alexie attempts to battle and poke fun at Native stereotypes, as well as remodel the idea of the modern Native. The movie is comical, yet serious therefore, it captivates the viewer and provides an insightful perspective of the story that has unfolded. Alexie uses humour to appropriately display his messages, and defeat stereotypes. In Kedong Lui and Hui Zhang’s paper, Self- and Counter-Representations of Native Americans: Stereotypical Images of and New Images by Native Americans in Popular Media, they mention,
“The white readers will often find that they are laughing at themselves. That laughter is part of the desired outcome of Alexie’s artistic strategy, for humor and laughter can relax readers and lure them to be off guard. Alexie observes, “People like to laugh, and when you make them laugh they listen to you. That’s how I get people to listen to me now” (as cited in Courtney-Leyba, 2001, p. 86). Humor makes readers accept the work readily, and the uncomfortable message would be only an after taste.”
Stereotypes are demonstrated throughout Smoke Signals, including the Indian as a noble warrior. During the film, Victor influences Thomas to change his look in order to look more Indian. Victor advises Thomas of 3 things: his hair must be let free (Thomas has cute braids in.), he must look mean so people respect him, and he needs to dress more casual (Thomas also has a cute suit on). Thomas attempts Victor’s look, however immediately after, Thomas and Victor encounter a couple of rude Americans who refuse to give Thomas and Victor’s seat back. This realization reflects how the Indian warrior look, gave them no respect to white Americans. At Victor’s father’s place, Thomas changes back to his regular attire and continues his journey, still as native as when he dressed more ‘’native.” All in all, the movie was humorous and effectively portrayed an integrated and respectful native figure.
josholiveira 