Adam Sandler's 'Ridiculous Six': Native American Critics and Defenders Sound Off
Sandler at a press event last year (Hannah Yoon/The Canadian Press via AP)
The controversy over Adam Sandler’s Netflix film Ridiculous Six continued to unfold this weekend, as some of the movie’s Native American actors weighed in on its portrayal of their culture. Last week, it was reported that half a dozen Native American background actors walked off the set of The Ridiculous Six, on the grounds that Sandler’s satirical Western insulted and misrepresented the Apache people.
“We were supposed to be Apache, but it was really stereotypical and we did not look Apache at all. We looked more like Comanche,” Navajo actor Loren Anthony told Indian Country Today Media Network. “One thing that really offended a lot of people was that there was a female character called Beaver’s Breath.”
Background actor Allie Young, a Dartmouth College graduate and a member of the Navajo tribe, told the Valley News that she objected to a scene in which a female character urinates while smoking a peace pipe, which is a sacred object. “It’s tacky and tasteless comedy,” she said.
In the wake of the controversy, several pages from the Ridiculous Six script have been leaked to the media. An early draft printed by Defamer contains the peace-pipe urination scene, and includes one male character asking a female Native American, “Say honey, how ‘bout after this, we go someplace and I put my peepee in your teepee?” A different page from the shooting script, obtained by Indian Country Today Media Network, includes Apache characters (named Beaver Breath, Smoking Fox, and Never-Wears-Bra) conversing about how they use dead animals instead of toilet paper.
On Friday, actor Goldie Tom leaked a video of Native American actors voicing their misgivings to the Ridiculous Six production team on set. (Watch it below.) During the conversation, the actors express concern that the script is “selling out” their culture. They specifically mention the character named Beaver Breath (“I understand completely, but we’re not changing Beaver Breath,” a member of the production says). The production members listen to the actors’ complaints, but they appear unwilling to consider changes. “Here’s the thing: If you are overly sensitive about it, then you should probably leave,” one person tells the group. Several actors reportedly walked off set shortly afterwards.
Some Native American actors, however, have voiced their support for the movie. Ridiculous Six extra Bonifacio Gurule told KOAT7 Albuquerque that out of more than 100 native actors, only a handful walked off. “It’s a comedy, not a documentary,” he said. Ricky Lee, one of the actors at the videotaped meeting, told the news station that producers agreed to put a disclaimer at the end of the film, “Something to the effect that (this) is not a historical film, it’s not meant to diminish any Indian nation in any fashion, that it’s a comedy.”
Another defender of the film is Vanilla Ice, who was cast in a small role as Mark Twain. The entertainer, who says he is part Choctaw, told TMZ that he can “see both sides” but denied that the film is offensive. “I don’t think anybody really had any ill feeling or any intent or anything. This movie isn’t [Dances] With Wolves — it’s a comedy,” he said. “They’re not there to showcase anything about anybody — they’re just making a funny movie.”
Although most of the Native American background actors in Ridiculous Six remained on set, 71-year-old actor Dan Hill, who was one of the walk-outs, told the radio show “Native Trailblazers” (via NPR) that others wanted to leave. “There were some elder ladies there who were almost in tears over this because they know they’re going to be in a movie, and they need the money to take care of their families and stuff,” he said.
A spokesperson for Netflix said that The Ridiculous Six is “a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke.” There has been no official comment from Adam Sandler or his production company Happy Madison.