Review of Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) by Lee M — 17 Jun 2007

Buffalo Bill and the Indians delivers a powerful mix of emotions. Sharp humor, blended with beautifully delivered characters and a couple of deeply troubling themes threaten to turn the American tradition of creating heroes and the ridiculous façade of racism upside down.

First, a little background. The movie centers on the backstage happenings of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as Bill (played incredibly well by Paul Newman) adds a new act to his program. The show was once one of the most widely known "circuses" in American history. It combined recreations of Western battles and Indian attacks with big name celebrities like the gun slinger Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill himself. The new act is Sitting Bull, a chief (although really a medicine man) accused of slaughtering white men in the Battle of Little Big Horn. Sitting Bull has come to the show in order to help his people, but he causes Bill a lot of pain by refusing to go along with the inaccurate recreations of Indian ?savages? being conquered by heroic white men.

That is where the main theme lies. When Sitting Bull first arrives at the show, he is lead by an assistant who embodies the commonly held image of an Indian "savage" tall, stoic, and draped in a bright red shawl. An oddly funny moment ensues when Sitting Bull is revealed to actually be a small, soft-spoken man. This seems to be the director's approach to many of the important themes. Although the scene itself is funny, I was disturbed to realize that I, myself, had grown-up knowing that exact same stereotype of the stoic Indian leader. The scene takes a stab a stereotyping in a retrospective, yet painfully present way.

This movie was created on the tail end of the American Civil Rights Movement, and it expands that classical prejudice of Indians into a much larger statement on racism in general with on scene where Bill tells a black man that his father died trying to keep slavery out of Kansas, that his father loved slaves. He follows that his father actually hated slavery so much that he simply fought to keep all black people out of Kansas, so they wouldn't become slaves. This skewed logic again is delivered with a sense of humor, although it strikes at the heart of racism across America, which can still be found today in parts of the country.

This is a film for people who like to think. It is delivered in an enjoyable way, with smart humor, but it would be tragic to watch it without noting the dark themes. Perhaps the chaos of the Buffalo Bill Show is a commentary on the ridiculousness of stereotypes and racism. Furthermore, it challenges the American tendency to raise historical figures, many of whom are as faulty as we are, to the level of heroes.

If themes aren't your thing, then watch it for an enjoyable account of the Buffalo Bill Show, but still be ready to think. The acting is superb; the recreations are outstanding; and the thought behind this film is more than in any new films. Add it to your Netflix!