Why Tonto Matters

It's been a week or so since the original photos of Johnny Depp as Tonto have surfaced, and the internet has been abuzz with Depp defenders and Depp defectors--and while the Native Appropriations community and my internet circle have been on the "oh dang, this is real bad for us" train, I've been surprised at how many people have basically told me and others with similar opinions to STFU and "get over it" (with also some more choice words than that...).
But I still stand by the fact that Tonto and his portrayal matter to Indian Country, and should matter to Indian Country. And here's why.

Defenders of Depp-as-rodeo-clown-Tonto's arguments basically boil down to the following: Tonto is a fictional character. The Lone Ranger is a fictional movie. Johnny Depp is a great actor. We should be glad to have him portray Tonto. No one thinks Tonto is representative of a real Indian. There are bigger things to worry about in Indian Country, this is so trivial it shouldn't even be an issue.

Here's the thing. Yeah, Tonto is a fictional character, and there are plenty of white actors and actresses who play fictional characters, and we don't automatically assume that white people are fictional, so it shouldn't matter, right? We saw Natalie Portman as an evil-crazy-swan-human in the Black Swan, and we don't assume that Natalie Portman's character is representative of her, or all white people, in real life. But that, my friend, is white privilege at work. Everyday we see millions of representations of white people in varied and diverse roles. We see white actors as "real" people, as "fantasy" characters, and everything in between. 
But for Native people, the only images that the vast, vast majority of Americans see are stereotypical in nature. You go to the grocery store and see plenty of smiling white children on cereal boxes, contrasted with the only readily recognizable Native image--the Land o' Lakes butter girl. In advertising we see plenty of non-Native folks participating in everyday life, and then we get ads like this featuring Native people. There are also hardly any (if any) Native people in current, mainstream television shows. And this carries over even more strongly into Hollywood.

The last big blockbuster series to feature Native characters was the Twilight series, and we are portrayed as wolves. Think of every recent major studio film that featured a Native character or Native actor. All of the ones I can think of off the top of my head were set in a historical context, were a fantasy film, or were offensively stereotype laden. There have been so few accurate, modern, nuanced portrayals of Native people it's not even funny.

So, when we live in a world where there are other, more nuances portrayals of Native people for non-Natives to draw upon--when there are Native people featured in mainstream romantic comedies, dramas, sitcoms, even reality TV,  or news--then, maybe, will I be able to be looking forward to a stereotypical mess of a Tonto on the big screen. But I doubt it.
Comedian Ryan Mcmahon has a fabulous podcast series called "Ryan McMahon Gets Angry", and he just did an awesome 5 minute rant on Johnny Depp as Tonto, and the responsibility we have as a community to question these representations. I can't recommend it enough (language slightly NSFW):


Here's a transcript of the end of his podcast:
So is Johnny Depp putting a bunch of Indians on the back of horses for this Lone Ranger Jerry Bruckheimer car crash gonna be good for us? Hell no. I m not looking forward to it, I don t think we should be happy about it, and I don t think we should immediately go to that excited-happy-place everytime we see ourselves on TV. Because more oftentimes it hurts us more than helps us.  I think the time to take back our stories, to take back our pride, and to start empowering and helping each other to rise is the time that we re in now. That s what I look forward to, that s what I m trying to do, that s what a whole bunch of other people are trying to do. Is Johnny Depp being on the back of a horse with a g*ddamn crow on the his head supposed to help us? Probably not. But it s definitely not going to. So don t get happy when you see four or five other brothers sitting on the back of a horse in their loincloth. Don t be surprised, don t be happy about it, don t celebrate it, cause it s bullsh*t. The time to reclaim, recapture, redefine, our own stories, in our own ways is now, and g*ddammit we gotta do more of it. Demand more from the producers, demand more of the television people, demand more from the people who are writing these stories. Because the stories are there. We are strong, proud people, and we need to be represented, by ourselves, as such.
I couldn't agree more. There are several sub-arguments that I've seen in the last few days, citing how many Native actors would miss out on work as extras if this movie weren't made, or how Johnny Depp's "star power" was needed to get the film made in the first place. Those arguments are upsetting to me. We need to demand more. We can't be complacent with just going to that "excited-happy-place" every time we see any representation of an Indian on screen. We can't be thankful that 50 Native actors are able to ride around bareback in the background of a film, or be psyched that a big name Hollywood actor put a crow on his head to "honor" us--talk about ongoing colonization of the mind. Our community is so much better than that. We are worth so much more than background roles and misrepresentations.
Ryan also said something that resonated with me beyond this issue alone, quoting his grandmother:
Everything you do, grandson, is going to be political because you re Anishinabe.The way we represent ourselves is, therefore, inherently political. These "trivial" issues are representative of deeper, darker, larger issues within Indian Country. For those who live in predominantly Native communities, fighting against cultural appropriation and misrepresentation may seem like the cause of a privileged few who can sit in their ivory towers and point fingers all day, ignoring the "real" issues in Indian Country. I've said it many times before, and I'll say it as many times as I can until it sticks:

Yes, unequivocally, we have big things to tackle in Indian Country. We have pressing and dire issues that are taking the lives of our men and women everyday, and I am in absolutely no way minimizing this reality. But we also live in a state of active colonialism. In order to justify the genocide against Native peoples in this country, we must be painted as inferior--that's the colonial game. These images continue that process. The dominant culture therefore continues to marginalize our peoples, to ignore and erase our existence. We are taught everyday, explicitly in classrooms, and implicitly through messages from the media, that our cultures are something of the past, something that exists in negative contrast to "western" values, and something that can be commodified and enjoyed by anyone with $20 to buy a cheap plastic headdress. These stereotypical images like Johnny Depp's Tonto feed into this ongoing cycle, and until we demand more, our contemporary existence (and therefore the "real" problems in Indian Country) simply doesn't exist in the minds of the dominant culture.

How can we expect mainstream support for sovereignty, self-determination, Nation Building, tribally-controlled education, health care, and jobs when the 90% of Americans only view Native people as one-dimensional stereotypes, situated in the historic past, or even worse, situated in their imaginations? I argue that we can't--and that, to me, is why Tonto matters.

Earlier:
Native Appropriations: Johnny Depp as Cultural Appropriation Jack Sparrow...I mean Tonto. 

Further background reading:

If you want to read Ray Cook call me out and tell me that my writing is "So much hog-wash, so much wasted cyber-space, so much wasted oxygen" (awesome!): Tontomania: Who are we'z anyways?

Guardian: Why I'm Willing to Believe in Johnny Depp's Tonto

Reel Injun (documentary about stereotyping of Indians in Hollywood): 

Academic Article on Hollywood Stereotypes: The White Man's Indian: Stereotypes in Films and Beyond

Ryan McMahon gets angry episode 4: I Ain't Gettin On No Horse

PS- There are other things that I think need to be addressed with the controversy, but I didn't have space here. The issue of Depp being "Indian enough" is a big one, or what "Indian enough" even means, or the historical accuracy of his costume, or the role of Native people in the film overall. I'd recommend a read through the comments on my first post for some great, interesting, and intelligent conversations.

EDIT 3/20--I switched out the cartoon at the top of the post because of my complete ignorance to the homophobic undertones to the original. My deepest apologies to the LGBTQ community for using an insensitive image, it was definitely not my intention to marginalize anyone. I definitely try to be aware of when my hetero/cis privilege comes out--so please continue to call me out on it, and I'll definitely do better moving forward. Wado!

Posted in: Why Tonto Matters