As “Killers of the Flower Moon” garners critical acclaim and box office returns, some members of the indigenous community have expressed dismay over the film.
On Monday, Devery Jacobs, who plays Elora Danan Postoak in “Reservation Dogs,” shared her “painful” experience watching the film on social media.
“I HAVE THOUGHTS. I HAVE STRONG FEELINGS,” the thread she wrote about began X, formerly known as Twitter. “This film was painful, grueling, unrelenting and needlessly graphic. For me as a local, watching this movie was bloody hellish. Imagine the worst atrocities committed against your ancestors and then having to watch a movie that’s explicitly about them w/ the only break being 30 minute scenes of murderous white people talking about the murders or they plan.
Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Kevin Winter/Getty; Mike Marsland/WireImage
In a 15-post thread, the actress addressed specific reasons for her criticism while also acknowledging director Martin Scorsese’s achievements and why the film might be of interest to cinephiles. However, she criticized the violence depicted on screen for not allowing any “honor or dignity” in the horrific depiction of the deaths of the real people portrayed. “In contrast, I believe that showing more murdered Native women on screen will normalize the violence perpetrated against us and further dehumanize our people,” she continued.
Jacobs noted that she was particularly disturbed by the outpouring of response to the film online. “And to top it all off, seeing movie nerds celebrating and eating up this shit? It makes my stomach hurt,” she wrote. “I can’t believe it needs to be said, but Indigenous people exist beyond our grief, trauma and atrocities. Our pride in being indigenous, our languages, cultures, joy and love are much more interesting and human than showing the horrors white men inflicted on us.
Jacobs also praised Lily Gladstone, who portrayed Hokti in two episodes of “Reservation Dogs.” “It must be noted that Lily Gladstone is an absolute legend and carried Mollie with tremendous grace,” Jacobs added. “All the incredible Indigenous actors were the only balancing factors in this film. Give Lily her damn Oscar. But while all the performances were strong, when you consider the proportions, each of the Osage characters felt painfully repressed, while the white men were given much more politeness and depth.”
She concluded by calling for more Indigenous people behind the camera, stating that this would have made a significant difference in the way the events were portrayed in the film. “To the Osage communities involved in the making of this film: I can imagine how liberating it is to see these stories and histories finally recognized, especially on a platform as prestigious as this film. So many Wazhazhe did wonderful work on this film. “But admittedly, I would love to see a $200 million film by an Osage filmmaker telling this story any day of the week.”
In “Reservation Dogs,” Jacobs played one of four Native American teenagers living in present-day Oklahoma dealing with grief, growing up and life on the reservation. It was the first American television series to feature exclusively Indigenous directors and writers.
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