Every Summer, an Adam Sandler movie comes out, and pretty much every Summer, they inexplicably make money. What was funny 20 years ago (we’re looking at you, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore) is formulaic, generally devoid of laughs, and targeted to the lowest common denominator. Yet somehow, Sandler still has a pretty solid film career, as evidenced by the four-movie deal he signed with Netflix last year. If you’re looking for sophistication with his new deal, just note that in a statement, he said he signed the deal because “Netflix rhymes with ‘wet chicks.'”
Which brings us to Ridiculous Six, the first film Sandler is working on for the Netflix deal. A parody of The Magnificent Seven, the film had some Native Americans in the cast, which isn’t surprising, given that the original film was a Western. We say “had,” because a dozen Native American actors walked off the set of the film, reportedly due to “repeated insults to Indian women and elders and “grossly misrepresented” Apache culture. Why are we writing about this? Because Loren Anthony, singer and bassist for Bloodline, was among those that walked off the set, according to the Indian Country Today Media Network. Wait, isn’t Travis Henry the singer of Bloodline? No, that’s The Bloodline. The singer said that he’d initially refused to do the movie, but was told by producers that they’d hired a cultural consultant.
“I was asked a long time ago to do some work on this and I wasn’t down for it. Then they told me it was going to be a comedy, but it would not be racist. So I agreed to it but on Monday things started getting weird on the set,” he said.
He said that the names of some of the characters, like “Beaver’s Breath,” offended him as well. He said that the main director of the film said that there was no disrespect meant, and that it was a comedy. Netflix, when asked for a comment, replied “The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous. It 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.” So it looks like the film is continuing on with a different cast of Native Americans in place of Anthony and those that walked off. Here’s a video of a Bloodline song, should you be interested.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/TMhFhik1DOg[/youtube]
