Indian Comics Irregular #35

On 6/28/00, the juvenile cable cartoon "South Park" tackled a Native
American subject with the title "Cherokee Hair Tampons."
Surprisingly, the show didn't indulge in many offensive or insulting
stereotypes. In fact, it was more positive than not.

The episode concerned one of the show's brats becoming sick and
needing a kidney transplant. Desperate, the Anglo town folk
beseeched two "Native Americans" to help the ailing youngster.
"Native Americans are more in tune with the earth than we are," they
proclaimed. "Give him some spiritual healing."

Befuddled, the two "Native" men played along with these blatant
stereotypes. One pulled a coat hanger from his bag of groceries and
called it a dreamcatcher. The other pulled what looked like a packet
of hair and called it a Cherokee Hair Tampon. As the "Natives"
chuckled to themselves, the onlookers threw money at them to buy
these and more "holistic items."

In the end, the pair turned out to be Mexicans, not Indians. As they
noted, they had never claimed to be Indian, which effectively capped
the satire. Yes, to many of us, "those people" all look and act the
same.

Unfortunately, the satire wasn't perfect. The Anglos introduced the
"Natives" as Chief Running Pinto and Carlos Ramirez. If the two
hombres never claimed to be Indians, why would the Anglos call one of
them by the puerile Pinto name?

And the episode included a mock commercial touting the benefits of
Cherokee Hair Tampons, with a phony Indian maiden showing how
absorbent her hair was. Mm-hm, sure. If this was supposed to be a
comment on either tampon commercials or Cherokee culture, it came
across as gratuitous. Traditional people who consider a
woman's "moon time" sacred might easily find it offensive.

Overall, "South Park" did a good job. Give it a B+ for effort. But
don't bother tuning in unless your idea of humor is people laughing
so hard that snot comes out of their noses.

P.S. Two shows in a row ("Saturday Night Live" and this one)
attacking Indian stereotypes more than Indians? Wow. At that rate,
this publication may go out of business soon. But don't count on it.
<grin>

Making Dollars and Sense

Last year Fortune Magazine reported that "companies that pursue
diversity outperform the Standard & Poor's 500." Record companies
seem to have gotten the message, which may be why they're raking in
the bucks. Why don't movie studios, TV networks, and comic book
publishers also get a clue?

Washington Potato Skins?

From a friend:

A commentator on ESPN proposed a solution for those in the Washington
Redskins organization who wish to keep the team's name as it is. He
considers the name "indefensible," but said if they really want to
keep it, they should simply add a potato to the team's helmets.

My comment: Go, Spuds!

Spreading the Word

I'm happy to report that Carlos Reynosa is handing out the flyer we
did for him (http://members.xoom.com/peaceparty/reynosa.htm) on the
powwow circuit, and other friends of PP are distributing materials
as well. Meanwhile, Turtle Tracks
(http://www.turtle-tracks-for-kids.org) and Drum Talk (contact
ltlant@...), two online newsletters, reprinted our "Us Vs.
'Them'" story (http://members.xoom.com/peaceparty/usvsthem.htm).
Thanks, people. We'll create a buzz about PEACE PARTY yet.

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics