Does Thunderheart rely on negative sterotypes?

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Negative Stereotyping The portrayal of a particular culture to the entire world is one of the common themes in the movie and film industry. Usually, such movies may do very well in addition to exposing a particular culture to the entire world. The appreciation of different cultures and cultural practices throughout the world is one of the key reasons behind the integration of the modern world. However, in an attempt to maximize profits in their trade, people in the movie and film industry may misrepresent various cultures through exaggeration, inaccurate information and Negative stereotyping. Even though done to serve an economic purpose that is the maximization of profits, the images portrayed by such movies soon come to be accepted as the reality of the particular culture. This is especially if the particular negative stereotyping has been used before in other movies that feature the culture in question. The culture of the Native American has been stereotyped a lot by the film industry. The movie Thunderheart, though a great movie that features the Native American culture, the movie also heavily relies on negative stereotyping. The paragraphs that follow will be used to illustrate various instances of harmful stereotyping in the movie.
A good example of bad stereotyping of Native Americans seen in various films and movies is that of being superstitious. This is also a theme in the movie Thunderheart where members of the Native American community are seen talking to inanimate objects such as talking to the water and the wind.

Even though such practices may be existent in that community, it is inaccurate to represent the whole community through that picture while there may be members of the same community who lead a different way of life. In the movie Thunderheart, even the main character, Ray (Val Kilmer) is visualized also having visions despite having grown up in a different society and only being a half-blooded Native American.
The interracial relationship between the Native American and the white race is also a common form of negative stereotyping in movies that feature Native American communities. Rarely does this relationship have a happy ending? A good example in the movie Thunderheart is the relationship between the Native American man and a white woman that led to the birth of our key Protagonist, Ray (Val Kilmer). As it had been portrayed in various movies on the same subject, the Native American male is an extremist in our case a drunkard whose behavior ruins his family. In the movie, the main protagonist hated his father and had completely denounced his Native American roots before he was assigned the case in the badlands.
Another common stereotype in Native American movies is that of going native or going home. In this theme, a Native American who was not in touch with his/her roots undergoes an experience or is faced with a particular challenge that forces them to get in contact with their Native American roots. This experience reveals to the person going back home that his heritage is not what he had thought of all along. This theme may also be exhibited by an outsider who comes along a community of Native Americans who induct him/her to their native ways. In the case of our Movie Thunderheart, our Main Protagonist Agent Ray Levoi is assigned a case by the FBI that forces his back to his Native American roots that reveals a lot about their traditions and the conspiracy in his community that even those that know are afraid of witnessing. The experience makes Levoi embrace his Indian roots and for the first time acknowledge them.
Even though negative stereotyping rakes in major income in the movie and film industry, it also has negative repercussions to the community being featured and also to the audience of such films. For the society being featured, they are trapped in an ancient era which makes them be seen in the mirror of the Film industry rather than who they are in the modern era. A good example is that of Native Americans who at the time are depicted as hostile, savage, and less intelligent. Being prejudged on such traits in the modern society may be detrimental especially in the job market. For the audience, being presented with inaccurate information where relevant information is being withheld intentionally is also a deception that shapes their thoughts in the wrong direction and could affect the interaction between various societies.