Anthony
Burtman
Professor
Stephanie Brown
English
306
15
April 2016
The
Speech: Unfinished, The Oscar: Unaccepted
The evening of the 1973 45th Academy Awards Ceremony
at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles ended in astonishment,
disbelief, and realization. The top actors in lead roles of 1972 productions
were to be commended with runners-up for the “Best Performance” Oscar award
including Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier in Sleuth, Peter O'Toole in The
Ruling Class, Paul Winfield in Sounder,
and Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Brando,
who was selected for the award, did not arrive at the ceremony, but instead
sent a speech with Native American representative Sacheen Littlefeather to
decline the award on the grounds of the treatment of Native Americans in the
film industry. This act of refusal attracted the attention of viewers of the
event, Brando’s fans, and the Native American community who were being
represented by Brando’s speech and Littlefeather’s appearance to reflect on the
country’s past injustices over Native American tribes and the portrayal of
Native Americans in the American media.
Marlon Brando was a famous American actor and activist who starred in
the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972) which
earned him the Oscar nomination in 1973. By this point, he had already made
himself a name with his iconic role of the Biker in The Wild One as well as the New Jersey longshoreman in On The Waterfront. Aside from his roles
as an actor, however, he also had a history of being a political activist
participating in the Zionist movement, the Civil Rights movement, and a fighter
against the negative image of Native American Indians in the media. ("Brando for Our Times").
Just before Brando’s nomination for
the award, the Wounded Knee Incident occurred in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The
action was led by the American Indian Movement (AIM) with around 200 Sioux
Native Americans occupying Wounded Knee and taking hostage of 11 residents in
the Oglala Sioux settlement. The AIM had been proactive in occupying land
claiming the right to unused federal lands and demanding that the U.S. launch
investigations of Indian treaties broken by the U.S. government (History.com Staff).
The incident, up the point of Brando’s protest, was a recent occurrence and with
the night of 45th Academy Awards Ceremony following the events of
Wounded Knee so closely, it was the perfect opportunity to seize the public’s
attention and confront the United States’ treatment of the Native American
Peoples.
Marlon Brando did not show up to the Academy Awards ceremony and instead
had actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather stand on stage in his place to
refuse the award and bring up the topic treatment of Native Americans in the
film industry and in media. “When
Indian children watch television, and they watch films, and when they see their
race depicted as they are in films, their minds become injured in ways we can
never know” (Brando). Sacheen Littlefeather, a native Apache, was
at the time president of the National Native American Image Association and was
not well known to the general public. She was able to act as a representative
for the group as well as Native Indian Americans national-wide.
Brando knew that by refusing to accept the award he would get his
audience’s attention. He used his popularity as an actor of one of the previous
year’s most grossing film to his advantage in controlling the direction of the
media in this particular broadcast. By doing this on public television, he was
able to amplify his outcry of reoccurring images of Native Americans depicted
in film, political dishonor over treaties broken, and over the recent events in
Wounded Knee. However, showing up to the ceremony himself would defeat the
point of his protest. As such, the replacement of himself on stage with an
unknown Native American woman gave the Native American community the
representation that they have been lacking. Bringing the underrepresented to
the big screen is what he achieves here as he stated “It was the first time in
history that an American Indian ever spoke to 60 million people” (“Brando for Our Times”).
Sasheen Littlefeather’s appearance on stage can also be deemed as a
“performance.” In addition to being president of the
National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, she was also an actress. In the early 1970’s, she attended the
American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California to begin her acting
career (“Sacheen Littlefeather”). As
an actress, her delivery of Brando’s message was
particularly strategic. She employed many dramatic effects from the moment
Brando’s name was called for the award. Even the entry music, the theme of The Godfather, caused a dramatic shift
in tone as the camera panned to find not Brando, but Littlefeather standing
from the audience. She appeared on stage dressed in stylistically Apache
clothing wearing a cotton calico-like dress appropriated for the formal event
with bedazzled jewels across the top. At the very start of her speech, her presence
on stage was strong but humble, her voice was full of somber with quivers on
occasion, and her eyes gleamed with sadness ("Marlon
Brando's Oscar® Win for The Godfather"). This was a clear appeal to pathos as she mentions the regretful
circumstances under which Brando decided not to arrive. The device of the
argument was logos based with the discussion of why Brando felt that evening to
be the suited time to protest these matters. Littlefeather discussed the events
at Wounded Knee and how its recent occurrence led Brando to believe it right to
discuss the issue with the public. This is also an ethos argument on the basis
that Brando’s refusal of the Oscar protests the ethics of the U.S. government’s
interactions with the Native American communities and past treaties not
honored.
Furthermore, Littlefeather only read part of summary of Brando’s fully
pre-written speech. This was a cleaver strategy to lure the audience and the
press into curiosity of what the raw speech said. She stated that she would
share the full speech with the press shortly after the ceremony, only allowing
for the message to be broadcast through other outlets of the media ("Marlon Brando's Oscar® Win for The Godfather").
Ultimately, Brando fought for Native American Indian
justice through the end of his life (“Brando for Our Times”). His protest was
able to capture the attention of many of his followers and viewers of the
program, but sadly, the image of Native American Indians in film has not been
improved much lately. His effort, however, have put his name up as one of the
great activist actors for Native American Indians and can be served as a role
model for those to come.
Works Cited
"1972
(45th) Academy Awards." Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database. N.p.,
n.d.
Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
"Brando
for Our Times." Official Marlon Brando Website. Brando Enterprises, n.d.
Web. 13
Sept. 2016.
"Marlon
Brando's Oscar® Win for The Godfather"
YouTube. YouTube, 02 Oct. 2008. Web.
13 Sept. 2016.
Brando,
Marlon. "That Unfinished Oscar Speech." The New York Times: Best
Pictures. The
New York Times Company, 2002. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
History.com
Staff. "AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee Begins." History.com. A&E
Television
Networks, 2010. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
"Sacheen
Littlefeather." Sacheen Littlefeather. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Your analysis of this protest movement is spectacular. I was very impressed by the logical flow of your analysis that began with the background, shifted to an introduction into the injustice and historical context surrounding the movement and finished with your analysis: job well done. I only have a few pieces of criticism. For one, there are multiple points that you bring up in the middle of your analysis that could appeal to pathos, egos, logos or a mixture of the three that you either decide not to explain or save for a later time. For example, in describing her traditional garb, could she be appealing to ethos (establishing herself as a prominent and important figure in the Native American community)? Also, now thinking back, it may help to include sections of the speech such as word choice, tone and vocal emphasis in your analysis. Your introduction makes me anticipate an analysis of the refusal to accept an award when you focus on other aspects of the movement. I fear that the argument/analysis made in my own paper will have similar ideas that spawn from the main idea I am trying to get across. If I am understanding correctly, your analysis is based on Brando’s refusal to accept the Oscar as the main protest and you cite historical context, Littlefeather’s speech and Brando’s popularity as a vessel to accomplish such protest. It may be a good idea to preface your thesis with a “blueprint” of what the reader can expect from the idea Brando’s refusal is actually protest. Lastly, there is only a very small section devoted to the analysis of the movement as it relates to “audience” or “identity.” I am not sure what was said in her speech, but based on the vocabulary in that, she may be appealing to the sympathies of a specific Tribe while portraying an identity of “justice” or “morality.” Overall, you did a fantastic job.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Tannen
Flows very well Anthony. Evidence is well backed up and I understand very clearly of what your argument is. Very vague and to the point. Only thing I didn't quite wrap my head around was the "pathos" argument. If you could explain that a little more that'd be perfect. Other than that, the essay is solid.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very fine rough draft. The flow is a little slow because of the influx of background and event information but all that information was necessary considering many audience members probably know very little about this particular act of protest. So the summary is detailed but to the point, which is what I like to read. I only have a couple of small changes. At the end of paragraph 6, you talk about the appeal to ethos in this protest as Brando's lack of presence. It is my thinking that using the president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, her credibility and experience would be an added example of the use of ethos for this protest. This might help you add some body to the appeals portion of your paper. The only other change I would note would be your conclusion paragraph. I like the summation of the effect of Brando's protest but I feel it could use a little more detail. For example, when you stated "but sadly, the image of Native American Indians in film has not been improved much lately", you could add an example such as "we still see Native Americans portrayed as a savage, painted, and primitive society". Just need some sort of supporting example there. Otherwise, very nice job on the outline as you went from introducing the incident, to a summation of events, to the analysis of devices, to effectiveness. I wouldn't make any other changes here. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteRevision Plan
ReplyDelete1. Decide whether issues are micro/macro – this depends on focus
a. Figure out direction
1. What is the protest exactly?
a. Nested doll/inception or simple squamous?
b. Is the protest Brando’s or is it Littlefeather’s?
i. Was Brando simply a key for Littlefeather to break through to the media and disburse her protest?
2. Am I going to focus on one main protest or analyze the complex interfolding of the protest?
a. Or not go into too much complex detail but mention this idea?
2. Expand identity Ethos, Pathos, Logos
b. Evidence
c. Imagery
3. Conclusion – aftermath, true result, remediation, access to public screen
a. Financial contributions—how effective the protest was
How to accomplish Revision Plan
1. Lean towards Sasheen’s essay, the declining of the Oscar gives rise to her protest
2. Use evidence for EPL argument including: Boos and applause, Remediation of the boos/applause over television. Cite DeLuca and peoples access to media, remediation
3. Research effect of treatment of native Americans – have things improved? Elaborate on aftermath in conclusion with examples of native American activism, progress, etc…