Billy jack4/13/2023 Add in that the deeper Otherness focus is centered around still radical ways of being for us even today, including pacifism, creativity, multiculturalism, acceptance of differentness, egalitarianism, and gender equality. Yes, its marginalization of Native American culture in the film (really just played as part of Billy’s narrative, as a way to make him mythical or even otherworldly I think) would seem to negate its seeming primary Otherness element however, I would argue that the film also uses Native American culture as a way of cohering a “ hippie” ( bohemian) Otherness defined by an Earth centered spirituality and via just a general break from the dominant social order, replaced by an alternative (counterculture) sensibility that includes a real “freedom” to explore one’s identity according to nature and not according to a dominant social order ideology (e.g., white supremacy, Christianity/Protestantism, capitalism, patriarchy, hypermasculinity, etc.). ![]() However, despite the film’s weaknesses, I would argue that the film still has something that makes it special, especially in terms of the film’s focus on Otherness, where its real power lies. ![]() (For example, I hate that moment when Bernard is astonished that Martin is shooting back at them, verbalized in a way that almost seems amusing, but then when we get a later cut back to what happened, Martin has been brutally murdered, a jarring rupture of at least my expectations of what was going to happen, what I thought the film was setting me up for, a harmless conclusion of this unnecessary conflict.) Perhaps most painful is how the film purports to emphasize Native American culture but then largely relegates Native American culture and philosophy to the margins, not to mention that white actors fill up most of the prominent roles in the film. Now, let me just say that watching Billy Jack today (as I just did) is somewhat painful: The improv skits the students put on are not very funny (at least not for me they weren’t!) and feel awkwardly drawn out (and there are too many of them!) and the sudden shifts between lightheartedness and verydark are far from seamless, often jarring. If it incorporates all of the timely elements that are going on today, the still oppressive attacks on Native American rights (e.g., the Standing Rock movement though that is just the most recent prominent one) and the attacks on Other vulnerable peoples (African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, LGBTQ people, women, etc.) – and very much make the counterculture element of the original Billy Jack part of its program – in other words, if it makes the film more than just an action film but rather a philosophical-political-action film, then this film remake could be an important, enduring work. That is, if the remake is turned into just another generic, shallow action pic, then it will be stillborn as most action films are these day. And that is surprising, considering that Billy Jack has franchise written all over it, if it is done right. ![]() I’ve read that a remake of Billy Jack (1971/73, Tom Laughlin) has been in the works for a long time, first as a Keanu Reeves project and then as a Mark Wahlberg project, but nothing so far has been born from either of these quarters. Bernard pours flour on a young girl who Billy Jack says they call “God’s Little Gift to Sunshine” he does this despicable act as a kind of mocking thing (the server won’t serve Native Americans because they are not “white”) but this moment speaks to a disturbing deeper implication, that throughout history white ideology has annihilated and/or assimilated Others (in American history, especially Native Americans) of course, in terms of “annihilation,” that means literally turning America “white” in terms of assimilation, a “white supremacist” (Eurocentric/western) ideology has forced or coerced or indoctrinated Others (people of color, non-Eurocentric or western cultures) to adopt “white” (Christian/Protestant, capitalistic, consumerist, etc.) ideology.
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