tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post4086146374390563603..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Does Lane Smith's RETURN TO AUGIE HOBBLE tell us anything about his THERE IS A TRIBE OF KIDS?Debbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-89178984414420099202016-07-25T15:35:37.988-05:002016-07-25T15:35:37.988-05:00I really didn't like Return to Augie Hobble at...I really didn't like <i>Return to Augie Hobble</i> at all as a whole, and I totally forgot about this interaction. The book was just very odd and confusing, and I think that the disjointedness of the narrative is really indicative of the book. I'm not saying it's right, but I'm just not surprised.<br /><br />I also found the treatment of trans people in <i>Augie Hobble</i> to be problematic, but that's an entirely different situation.<br /><br />Pamelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01182813280153795199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-72099752813154548852016-07-23T09:56:19.738-05:002016-07-23T09:56:19.738-05:00God, I hope so, but the only way I can see that no...God, I hope so, but the only way I can see that not going poorly is if they're trying to send up white people who claim to have a "Cherokee princess" great-grandmother or something and really don't know what they're talking about. But if they were doing that, surely they would've...made that point in the episode instead of leaving it hanging.<br /><br />Also, I find something quite distasteful about putting anti-Semitism in the mouth of someone from a different oppressed/marginalized group. It smacks to me of trying to off-load the problem from white gentiles onto people who have not historically been the ones persecuting Jews. <br /><br />I'm sorry.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18255579796886276754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-62512777123601482372016-07-23T09:20:21.441-05:002016-07-23T09:20:21.441-05:00Yeah--what do people notice, or not, is on my mind...Yeah--what do people notice, or not, is on my mind this morning. <br /><br />Last night I started to watch CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND. In the first episode, there's a character named Darryl Whitefeather. He tells Rebecca (she's a lawyer and the star of the show) that he's 1/8 Chippewa. He wants her to call him Chief. She thinks that's a bit odd. <br /><br />His office (they go there in episode 1) is full of things that made me hit the pause button. There's goofy mystical prints on the walls. Wolves howling, an End of the Trail print, etc. There's skulls attached to the walls, too, and a dreamcatcher (well, sort of a dreamcatcher). There's an end table that looks like a Pueblo drum... <br /><br />Anyway, the guy is getting a divorce and hopes Rebecca will be his lawyer (there's a custody issue, too), because his wife has a Jew lawyer. Rebecca tells him she is a Jew. He's surprised, saying that her nose is small. Rebecca gets a notification on her phone, so gets up to leave and as she's walking out the door, she tells him they have to circle back to talk "about the Jew thing." <br /><br />Clearly the writer(s) are tending to Jewish stereotypes, but, so far (I watched another episode) there's not been anyone pushing back on the Native stereotyping. I wonder if it is seen as stereotyping or not? <br /><br />Debbie Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-92048764489128991462016-07-23T08:01:01.792-05:002016-07-23T08:01:01.792-05:00I've been thinking about this since I read it,...I've been thinking about this since I read it, and I just don't know. Part of me wants to say, yes, kids will pick up on it, I would've picked up on it. I <i>think</i> I would have. But I also grew up in a very political family with a mother who made great efforts to make me aware of history and issues about American Indians (and even so, did not do so perfectly), so I'm not sure how representative I would have been. And on the other hand, even with my upbringing, I managed to read <i>Peter Pan</i> repeatedly at the ages of 11-13 and <i>not</i> pick up on the glaring, appalling racism that underpins that book (I did understand that the musical was racist), and I read the "Bad Tuesday" chapter of <i>Mary Poppins</i> repeatedly as a child and didn't pick up on the racism there either. So maybe I wouldn't have. <br /><br />In this case, there are multiple cues that he's a jerk--the hitting, for instance. But the objection--"Not very PC"--is so very feeble. I don't like to underestimate children's capacity for reading and understanding. But I'm just not sure. <br /><br />--VeronicaUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18255579796886276754noreply@blogger.com