Today in class we discussed appropriation in film. Throughout our discussion, I could not help but think of a prime example of appropriation in regards to the myth of the noble savage. My example of this is a documentary film from 1922 by Robert Flaherty called Nanook of the North. Nanook of the North was a popular documentary film that follows Nanook and his family in their everyday happenings up north. This film incorporates the myth of the savage in that Flaherty shows footage of typical behaviour of Nanook and his family like making igloos, and lighting campfires. At the same time he creates a fantasy of what it is like to live up north by making Nanook revive a dangerous method of walrus hunting that Nanook’s people had abandoned when they became able to trade pelts for guns. This staged scenario only perpetuates the myth of the noble savage because Flaherty is making the lives of these people seem more difficult then what they are. He is also showing their lifestyle as timeless and unchanging; that the modern world has had no affect on them, even though it has. I’ve always felt that documentary film is a tricky medium. It is a genre of film that people assume to be true, and that is why they do not question its content. Nanook of the North is an example of appropriation because it shows how aboriginals are preserved not in real life but on the terms of the dominant western culture. Although Flaherty is able to capture a lot of what it is like to live up north, through editing he is showing a fantasy of what it is like to be native. He is taking the myth of the dying race and turning it into consumption. He is creating a film that he knows people will want to watch and buy because it represents ‘the other’. What people do not realize is that it is not completely accurate. Nanook of the North represents how the dominant culture is trying to preserve native culture yet they are doing it through their own perceptions of what it is to be native. Does this form of documenting really help preserve the native culture or is it just us idealizing what it is like to live up north since we will never really experience it. The film shows western culture what we want to see instead of what is actually real. Flaherty is trying to show the native’s point of view yet by romanticizing the images he is actually taking away from their culture.

Here is a clip from Nanook of the North:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLERFRQl5EY

In this clip you can see how Flaherty idealizes their life by introducing them. He makes it seem like the family can all fit in a kayak and that this is the way they travel. In reality this is a staged scenario that comes off as quite humourous, yet the audience may see it as real. What implications does doing this have? I think that this romanticizes the way they live and bares a false representation of the native culture. Instead of showing their lives, Flaherty is more interested in entertainment value over truth.

 

Laura