“Horse says you are a spirit walker, man who has been to the other side and returned. Man who cannot be killed in battle.” Beat. “Something very wrong with that horse.”

Such are the lines Johnny Depp delivers as Tonto, the controversial Native American character, in the trailer for The Lone Ranger. Alongside his trusty white stallion, Silver, Tonto is speaking to man-of-the-law John Reid, played by Armie Hammer. In the film, the two unlikely heroes eventually team up to fight against greed and corruption.

Being director Gore Verbinski’s first live action project since his first three Pirates of the Carribean films, The Lone Ranger has already gathered its fair share of buzz. But the reactions haven’t all been positive. Though only released in July, the film is receiving a heavy dose of criticism from the First Nations community. In a time when the community is increasingly advocating for its rights and establishing itself as a modern culture, many First Nations people believe reintroducing a character like Tonto—which literally means “stupid” in Spanish—is both regressive and stereotypical to the culture as a whole.

The Lone Ranger is an offshoot of the original 1930s WXYZ radio show of the same name, which eventually spawned an entire television series and several follow-up films (including the western classic starring Clayton Moore). In these earlier times, racist representation of the aboriginal community in films was particularly rife. Actors often appeared in “redface” and acted like uncivilized savages. Even the 1990 film Dances With Wolves, a more modern approach to the western film genre, had Kevin Costner befriending a group of horse-riding natives living up in the mountains.

But now, in a time when cultural insensitivity in Hollywood is being increasingly scrutinized, a character like Tonto simple comes off more like a caricature than a character. This reductive take on the culture includes Tonto sporting ambiguous war paint and speaking in broken English, which is a mixture of pidgin and Potawatomi. He says things like “justice is what I seek,” and frequently uses the term Kemo Sabe, which loosely means “friend” in the Central Algonquian language. Caity Weaver, a writer at Gawker, notes his choice of costume, saying it looks “pretty much exactly like Captain Jack Sparrow, but with a bird on his head, and a whole lot of Kiss-style face paint.”

According to Depp, his intention was not to reinforce these cultural stereotypes but to battle against them. “The whole reason I wanted to play Tonto,” Depp told Entertainment Weekly, “is to try to [mess] around with the stereotype of the American Indian that has been laid out through history, or the history of cinema at the very least.” Whether he succeeded or not, though, is up for debate. Perhaps the film will prove us all wrong.

Dealing with the depiction of aboriginal people on film is, certainly, no easy feat. On one hand, historical evidence does show that aboriginal tribes did, indeed, ride horses and wear feathered headdresses. But on the other, it feels indolent to consistently show this one side of the culture. Show something over and over and, eventually, it becomes the truth—except this narrow-minded truth isn’t the truth at all. Aboriginals nowadays live in cities, go to cafes and restaurants, and (shockingly!) look just like everybody else.

If The Lone Ranger must take this old world-view on the culture, perhaps it would be justified if the film had an actual native actor play Tonto (Depp does claim to be native, but he doesn’t seem entirely certain). Surely there are native actors out there who could have auditioned, actors who are actually sure of their own identity. Maybe they could even offer a bit of historical insight. But Depp draws in the viewers—that’s what counts.

Airing content similar to this film—where the film or TV series may not be the most accurate depiction of the culture—is something programmers must wrestle with all of the time. A network like the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), for instance, promises viewers 80 per cent of Canadian content, but often feels pressured to deliver other popular programs viewers will actually watch. A prime example of this is APTN’s constant re-runs of ‘The Young Riders,’ an American series that has as much to do with the Canadian First Nations community as Pocahontas does.

Though representation of the aboriginal community is a tricky thing to handle, it’s not to say it can’t be done. Many aboriginal-centric films have gone on to both succeed and win the approval of First Nations people, such as the cult classic film Smoke Signals. Its key to success? Self-awareness, smart writing and a vast knowledge of the culture.

There’s a particular scene in Smoke Signals that toys on this idea of aboriginal stereotypes. Following two native friends leaving their reserve on a road trip, the scene takes place on a greyhound and has Victor, played by Canadian Saulteaux actor Adam Beach, teaching his traditionalist friend, Thomas, on how to be a modern “real” Indian. “Indians ain’t supposed to smile like that, get stoic. White people will run all over you if you don’t look mean. You gotta look like you just came back from killing a buffalo.”

“But our tribe never hunted buffalo. We were fisherman,” says Thomas.

“What? You wanna look like you just came back from catching a fish?” says Victor.

Though the film exaggerates how a member of the First Nations community should act, playing both on the old and new stereotypes, its message is surely poignant: there is no one image that the culture needs to belong to. That the culture is a culture, not a costume.

Even if The Lone Ranger is an entirely different kind of film, this message should not have been lost in translation. There ultimately should have been a greater discussion towards reviving a character that, nowadays, is considered largely racist. In the trailer, there is even a paralleling discussion that occurs between Tonto and Reid, which touches on this idea of putting on a costume – projecting an image that one wants to portray.

“There comes a time,” says Tonto, “when good man must wear mask.”

But perhaps it’s time for the mask to come off.

A while back, I wrote an article on Kickstarter–the crowd-sourcing site that allows people to campaign for funding for various projects–and how designers are increasingly using them to back up their collections. At the time, I found the tactic sort of tacky (I called it panhandling, oops) but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Why not use social media to build a fan base and gain financial support from people who genuinely believe in your product?

On that note, super cool Toronto label Klaxon Howl has started a Kickstarter campaign to launch a New York pop-up shop. As a fan of the label, I encourage any and all fans to support the venture–the label focuses highly on materials and cuts and everything and oh my god they just need to be in New York already. Click here to learn more on the project.

It may not be as bad as the ironic headdress motif–god forbid, headdresses worn by giddy sorority girls or white pop singers–but this “totem” sneaker certainly is not good. As of lately, I’ve been pretty vocal when it comes to cultural appropriation in the fashion industry. It’s around a lot more than you would think (and if you’re not aware of it, check out this article I did for Toronto Standard last year, which is a not-so-subtle plea for people to stop — stop buying, stop calling this a “trend,” just, stop).

More often than not, fashion designers try to take “inspiration” from the aboriginal community but end up creating more of an ostensible attempt at it. The recent Jeremy Scott x adidas Originals “totem” sneaker is a prime example of this. Though not blatantly disrespectful to the community–which, in itself, is an achievement–I’m left wondering why? What’s the point? The shoe is ugly, the concept is ugly. There’s literally no pros. It’s a sad attempt at shock factor, but at the expense of a real-life awesome culture. I wonder if Jeremy Scott or adidas Originals even knows what a totem pole represents: though it has many different meanings to different cultures, one stands out as particularly ironic. Totem poles, or often called “shame poles,” sometimes represent aboriginal caricatures that are meant to be ridiculed: murderers, stealers, those in debt. It serves as a reminder for the aboriginal community to live a more honest and respectable life — to be characters, not caricatures.

Yet this shoe treats us like the latter.

“You have your wonderful memories,” people said later, as if memories were solace. Memories are not. Memories are by definition of times past, things gone. Memories are the Westlake uniforms in the closet, the faded and cracked photographs, the invitations to the weddings of the people who are no longer married, the mass cards from the funerals of the people whose faces you no longer remember. Memories are what you no longer want to remember. — Joan Didion. 

I am not cool with No Doubt’s latest video ’Looking Hot’ (it’s since been removed) and neither should you be. Following in the footsteps of both racist Halloween costumes and Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ride’ video, the band is participating in an increasing (and frightening) trend that can only been described as aboriginal appropriation. Not only are they blatantly sexualizing aboriginal women (who are among the highest of sexual assault victims, HELLO) but they are using the ceremonial headdress in a typical offensive way. To spell it out: headdresses are meant to be worn by aboriginal people of highest honour, typically reserved for soldiers or chiefs in aboriginal communities. Not to be worn by some blonde pop-rock singers. The other problem I have: it also promotes aboriginal stereotypes. Us natives have fought long and hard to be viewed as “everyone else” in a modern society, yet society still treats us like teepee-living, wilderness-loving, smoke signal-ing “others.” Celebrating our culture and its beautiful regalia is one thing, using it in a blatant way is another. And what does ‘Looking Hot’ have to do with cowboys and indians? It’s just like, why? WHY STEFANI? Read more on the topic here.

Update: The band just posted an official apology on their site. Not sure who these “Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California” that they consulted are, but at least they realized their wrongdoing. Baby steps, folks. Baby steps.

***

You become something
that is not a fictional
being, but alive.

***

Your pigeonhole will
garner you candy and laughs
but we aren’t laughing.

***

A character, we
have become a likelihood
to ghouls and monsters.

***

Store to store, a different social environment. In one, I am student among students, sifting through $5 t-shirts. In another, I am a—or I pretend to be—son to my rich and famous parents. In one, I try on a jacket in the middle of the store. In another, I don’t dare touch.

***

A coat falls from the hanger but nobody bothers to pick it up. Sale racks are occasionally rummaged through but, mostly, ignored. The music is loud; the prices are low. There are no security guards. There is no recessed lighting. But there is a neon pink tank top, very neon, which emits enough lighting for days.

***

Why are malls called malls? Palamaglio—an Italian ball and mallet game—was played in the eighteenth century, on a ritzy London avenue named the Mall (where aristocrats shopped and strolled). But now, malls, they range from ritz and glitz to kitsch and materials that itch. Perhaps malls are meant to unite. To a-mall-gamate.

***

“What’s tweed?” said the salesclerk, folding sweaters, to his inquiring customer.

***

The people, the shoppers, they are divided. Christian Louboutin stilettos in one; Nike runners in another. But, in fact, we are all one in the same: we are consumers. Consuming what we can. Consuming what we can afford. Consuming, consuming, consuming.

***

You enter a mall and you ask yourself where to go first. Perhaps you take a gander at the map. Perhaps you stroll until a beckoning mannequin picks your interest. Perhaps you walk mission-like, no map-consulting needed, until you arrive at your destination. But the point is you, whichever of these is you, are searching for something. Something you need; something you want; something you think you need but only want.

***

The homeless woman outside of the mall—the Palamaglio—receives no glances. She is a spectator of her own game. For every smile she receives, she will smile back. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, pass by. Plastic bags in tow but no spare change. She smiles only once, but at her own reflection in the glass window.

***

Some leave with nothing in their hands. The neatly folded sweaters presented no allure. The appealing prices did not entice. In their minds, they have had no luck. Better luck next time. But perhaps they are the lucky ones.