Success of ‘Flower Moon,’ Gladstone should lead to more Native stories in film

“Poor Things” was one of my favorite films of 2023, and a major factor in its high quality was Emma Stone’s performance. In the film, she did work that is absolutely Oscar-caliber, and recognition from the Academy was certainly earned.

However, the same can easily be said about Lily Gladstone’s acting in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and I was rooting for her success during the award season campaign. Her Golden Globe acceptance speech, where she spoke in the Blackfeet language, was an inspiring moment.

I had hoped she would be able to make a similar speech during on Oscar night. Sadly, it didn’t happen. Still, Gladstone’s work in “Killers of the Flower Moon” was worthy of recognition and deserves to be remembered.

And it can’t end there, either. That performance, and the work of other Native American actors in “Killers of the Flower Moon” should inspire Hollywood to tell more stories about Indigenous people on the big screen.

Of course, that’s not to say Native Americans haven’t been featured in film. However, the portrayals for many years were poor, and even films from the last 30 years or so has shown them in just supporting roles.

Gladstone even said in her acceptance speech that in older Hollywood, “Native Actors used to speak their lines in English, and the sound mixer would run them backwards to accomplish Native languages on camera.”

In more modern times, portrayals on the big screen have improved, but there’s still ground to make up. For example, in recent decades Native Americans have rarely, if ever, held leading roles.

It’s true even for the best of movies out there. Fantastic films such as “Hell or High Water” and “Wind River,” both movies that ended up on end-of-year Top 10 lists on this site, and boasted developed Native characters, were centered on white leads.

Even the film that inspired this column, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” mainly focused on two white characters. In fairness, it thoroughly told the story of injustices to the Osage Nation that was wronged, but it was also led by the characters played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

Looking to the next half of the 2020s, Hollywood producers, directors and writers should take it upon themselves to not only tell more Native stories, but have them be main characters, too. It’s of course doable, as the last 20 years have shown that there’s a demand for more diverse film projects.

Since I started reviewing films in 2008, I’ve seen the industry create many movies that have wonderfully told the stories of minorities and the LGBT+ community. On top of being compelling pieces of cinema, they’ve also introduced audiences to new screenwriters, actors and other talent.

The time has come for Native Americans to be in the conversation. And in some cases, it has. “Prey” was an awesome example when it comes to film, while “Reservation Dogs” and “Rutherford Falls” have been strong examples on television.

On that point, Hollywood should also create more films about Indigenous people that aren’t period pieces. Over the course of this website, I’ve reviewed several films with Native Americans set ages ago (and led by white characters), such as “The Revenant,” “News of the World” and “Flower Moon.”

Even though some were quality movies, and the case of “Flower Moon” dramatized something that many Americans aren’t aware of, they also perpetuate Indigenous stories set long ago. The fact is, there are stories today on Native American reservations that should absolutely be told.

I’ve been a journalist since 2012, and in that time, I’ve reported on a lot of Indigenous issues. During my time at the Daily News in Wahpeton, N.D., I regularly covered the Circle of Nations Indian School. Then I worked at the Pioneer newspaper in Bemidji, Minn., which is surrounded by three tribal communities.

They included the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the White Earth Nation. During my time with that paper, I often reported on matters happening at the three. I’ve even written about Native-owned businesses in my current role at a trade magazine.

I know for a fact that there’s a lot of matters happening in Native communities that are worthy of being featured in cinema.

The aforementioned “Reservation Dogs” and “Rutherford Falls” are great examples of the creative possibilities for current happenings on screen. The same is true on the independent film circuit. It’s now possible and necessary to take them to the bigger budgets of Hollywood, and that’s true for smaller dramas and large-scale films alike.

Hopefully, the big studios start making and distributing these types of films. Casting Gladstone is a great place to start, too.