After discussing John Wayne’s movies in class, I came across an article that was posted in August of this year that brought attention to the 1973 oscars. To sum up the article, in 1973, Marlon Brando’s (from The Godfather) won the best actors award in which he had Sacheen Littlefeather (actor in The Godfather and Indigenous civil rights activist) reject on his behalf. Brando rejected the award to boycott the industry that was mistreating North American People (Vasell, 2022). The rejection was met with both applause and boos from the crowd. In response to this John Wayne tried rushing the stage and pulling off Littlefeather only to be restrained by six individuals (Vasell, 2022). This was never publicized at the time, but 49 years later a proper apology was given. This ties into our class discussion about how John Wayne's iconic status has declined. In the poem Dear John Wayne we see the stereotypes that were made towards Indigenous people in the John Wayne films (Erdrich, n.d.). The fact it is written like a break up letter connects to this idea of boycotting the awards to address the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples. It uses mosquitoes as a metaphor for racism. Innocent people are going to drive in theaters to watch John Wayne movies, for the sole intention of entertainment. What they don’t know is there are always mosquitoes or racism present that pierce our skin and infect us. The racism in the movies will influence people regardless of their intentions of watching the film. This manifest destiny mindset was the root of all John Wayne's movies and was even at the forefront of an award show. It is important to know that such films are brainwashing us and distract us from becoming better people. It should not have taken nearly five decades for an apology to arise from the discrimination towards Indigenous people. Nor should John Wayne movies be idealized in today's growing ethic society.

References-

Erdrich, L. (n.d). Dear John Wayne poem [PDF]. Blackboard. https://bb.mhc.ab.ca
Vassel, N. (2022, August 18). Sacheen Littlefeather: Actor says John Wayne tried to remove her from
Oscars stage after political speech. Independent.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/john-wayne-sacheen-littlefeather-1
973-oscars-b2147462.html