Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals is a turning point in film history. For the first time, Native Americans control the entire movie making process. Why is this important? For a century, their culture has been greatly distorted by Hollywood. An injustice that reflected stereotypes and the closing of the frontier.

Smoke Signals is focused on the struggles of the main character, Victor. Victor is young man, who struggles dealing with his father's past.  He wants to be a strong stoic Native American compared to his friend Thomas. Thomas plays the role of the geek with oversized glasses and counteracts the anger and frustrations of Victor.

I love the role of Victor. Throughout the movie, he confronts Native American stereotypes. It feels natural. Not over the top. He struggles with friends like Thomas not standing up for what he believes in. When Thomas has to travel with Victor to pick up his father's ashes, we begin to see the plot take any many diverse themes related to Native American history. The writing is simply amazing for this film.
Somehow, the two opposing forces will learn from each other. They revisit Victor's father and the world they live in using humor and truly touching examples of grace. All while allowing us the viewer to examine Native American culture. It opens our minds to understanding the oppression committed by this country to our native ancestors.

This is a great movie presenting the point of view of Native Americans trying to regain their identity that was stripped from them from the invasion of the Americas. The movie is based on the book Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fight in Heaven. The combination of the book and movie would be a great double feature.