Native Americans quit Sandler film

Actor Adam Sandler's spoof of 'The Magnificent Seven' has offended Native American cast members. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Actor Adam Sandler's spoof of 'The Magnificent Seven' has offended Native American cast members. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Published Apr 26, 2015

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New York - A group of Native American actors have walked off the set of Adam Sandler’s latest film, The Ridiculous Six, saying it insults and misrepresents their culture.

According to Indian Country Today, about 12 actors, including the production’s Native American cultural adviser, left the film’s New Mexico set after concluding that the script “repeatedly insulted native women and elders and grossly misrepresented Apache culture”.

It is understood the film features two Native American woman characters called “Beaver’s Breath” and “No Bra”, and includes a scene in which an Apache woman urinates out of doors while smoking a pipe. Navajo actress Allison Young told Indian Country Today: “Nothing has changed. We are still just Hollywood Indians.”

Loren Anthony, of the Navajo Nation, said he had initially refused to appear in the spoof on The Magnificent Seven, but the producers persuaded him it would represent Native American culture tastefully. “They told me it was going to be a comedy, but it would not be racist.”

The film will be released on Netflix, which is producing the film with Sandler’s company, Happy Madison Productions.

The company said: “The movie has ‘ridiculous’ in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous. It is a broad satire of Westerns and the stereotypes they popularised.”

The Independent

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