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Brando’s refusal to accept an Oscar through Sachen made a bold statement about the mistreatment of Native Americans. Brando felt that world issues deserved more attention and prioritized social justice over his acting career. Despite the backlash, Brand and Sachen’s actions paved the way for celebrities to use their platforms for important social issues.
Now in its 96th year, the Oscars have a history filled with surprises, snubs and scandals. One of the most undisputed Oscar wins in history was Marlon Brando’s Best Actor win for The Godfather. Marlon Brando received more than enough praise and recognition for his portrayal of Vito Corleone. Obtained an analysis of the reasons for this. But more interesting is what happened after the performance. So Marlon Brando stunned everyone by refusing to accept an Oscar and having a woman named Sacine Littlefeather appear in his place and give a speech about America’s mistreatment of Native Americans.
godfather
Don Vito Corleone, the head of a mafia family, decides to pass on his empire to his youngest son Michael. However, his decision unintentionally puts the lives of his loved ones in grave danger.
Release date: March 14, 1972
Director Francis Ford Coppola
Runtime 175
Main genre crime
Screenplay Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Tagline: An offer you can’t refuse.
Production company: Paramount Pictures, Alfran Productions
Marlon Brando wasn’t interested in fame
The Godfather is a big deal for Brando, whose career has suffered a major downturn over the past decade due to his problematic behavior and the controversy of films like One-Eyed Jack, Mutiny and A. It was a comeback. She is a countess from Hong Kong. His name had been virtually tarred and feathered, and he was greeted with some of the best reviews of his career, with the highest awards in the entertainment industry bestowed upon him by his colleagues and supporters. You would think he would be very grateful to have you. . Sadly, he had bigger things in mind.
A common theme in William J. Mann’s definitive biography of Brando, The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando, is that throughout his life, Brando was more interested in sociopolitical and social justice causes than his acting career. It’s about whether they felt like they were working hard. He stuck to his belief that “acting was not an important profession in his life when the world was still facing many problems” and that the only reason he pursued an acting career was because of his death. He said it was a promise he made to his mother, Dodi. He also said that the idea that he was entirely faithful to the “Method” as an acting philosophy was popularized by Lee Strasberg, the legendary acting teacher and head professor at the studio where the Method became famous. He also said it was a lie. In Brand’s mind, Strasburg had only stopped by a few times for fun, so he spread such misinformation to increase the number of students coming to study. He later found it insulting to keep nagging him using this method.
In short, Brando took his inner work seriously, but had little, if not outright disdain for all outward aspects of his career/fandom/media. Or didn’t take it seriously at all. Even when he won his first Oscar for “On the Waterfront,” he said years later that accepting the award felt like a “misjudgment,” “stupid” and a gross hypocrisy on his part. Ta. So we flash back to 18 years ago and imagine an older, increasingly weary, and more socially conscious Marlon Brando winning another award he never wanted in the first place. Please try it. Do you really want to push that guy back to the center?
What happened on Oscar night?
Brando didn’t bother to appear at the Academy Awards ceremony. According to The Contender, everyone knew Marlon didn’t show up and was going to send a mysterious “someone” to accept the award. When he was officially announced as the winner, cameras swooped around the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to capture the young woman with her long dark hair and traditional Native American buckskin dress. She took to her podium, silently refused to accept her award, and began speaking about how the American film industry has historically mistreated and ridiculed Native American communities. This was met with a mixture of nervous applause and loud boos.
What just happened? Who is this woman no one has ever heard of? Why would Marlon Brando, the world’s most famous actor, choose someone with no social clout to convey the most important social message of his life, especially at the Oscars? Indeed, nothing more controversial has happened at the Oscars since then. right?
How did Marlon Brando and Sachen Littlefeather meet?
Accounts of how Brand and Little Feather met vary. Littlefeather himself, interviewed by the Akron Beacon Journal in 1974, claimed that they met Francis Ford Coppola when he applied to the company, and Coppola learned of the brand’s interest in the Native American experience. He claimed that he introduced her to the brand because he was However, in 2021 she changed her claim, stating that she and Brando met after hiking in the hills of San Francisco together, and that she then asked about Brando’s interest in Native American issues. Once they got to know each other, she repeatedly visited his home and was able to further educate him about Native American issues.
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In any case, Mann’s book makes clear that Brando was deeply passionate about fighting for Native American rights. After seeing the Wounded Knee Incident on February 27, 1973, when the American Indian Movement took over the Wounded Knee reservation in South Dakota and held ten hostages at gunpoint. This trend has particularly increased. rampant corruption in the management of indigenous presence and tribal affairs; ”
Brand, who has been a lifelong advocate for social justice change, felt inspired to see such radical action. He calls how the United States has historically treated Native Americans part of “the same deep-seated and corrosive racism that has denied us the extension of civil rights to African Americans.” Oscar felt far more invested in dealing with that kind of ongoing issue than whether or not it should be considered and accepted. In other words, anyone who knows Marlon Brando as a person knows that he’s never going to accept that award, not that he’s going to use his position to make an important statement. I might have had the slightest doubt.
Marlon Brando’s ‘Godfather’ Oscar rejection sparks drama
As expected, there was some backlash. Mann explained that while Marlon received some blessings from his children and people like Jack Nicholson, most mainstream media viewed this as a shameless affront to American values. They denounced it as perhaps what could be called empty virtue signaling. Numerous television, newspaper and tabloid publications quickly called him a “coward” and “boring as hell” and suggested he should withdraw from the public eye entirely. Gossip columnists will claim that all the letters they received were unanimously against Brando’s actions. In addition to that, Littlefeather’s name suggests that she was not an actual Apache princess (even though she never claimed to be one in the first place), that her original last name was Cruz, etc. It was dragged into the quagmire by people who pointed it out. (as if that immediately negates her Native American heritage) and that she entered a Dark Shadows publicity contest specifically to raise awareness of the Alcatraz tribe (as if that would immediately negate her Native American heritage) as if that were somehow a stain on her name). The experience left Littlefeather disappointed, heartbroken, and convinced that she had been “cruelly and viciously exploited by the media.”
The strangest part of the whole incident may have happened on March 31, 1973. The American Film Institute honored John Ford’s career and accomplishments. This moment was so important that President Richard Nixon himself showed up and gave a speech about how John Ford had spoken. Ford was a great man who made films that showed the best of America. Is it a coincidence that this event happened only a week after Marlon’s rejection? most likely. Media coverage of the event comes after Marlon and Sachen issue a statement condemning the racist rhetoric and stereotyping of Native Americans that John Ford’s films popularized and legislated into an entire generation of Americans. Was it a coincidence that you decided to do this? That’s highly doubtful.
What made things even worse regarding Brando’s involvement was that he ultimately chose not to appear on Wounded Knee to provide support, even though that was his full intention. According to The Contender, his friends told him that it would be embarrassing to go to Wounded Knee and be inevitably arrested by law enforcement, and that the publicity would be a huge loss to the brand and his efforts. It is said that he persuaded her that this was the case. With this logic in mind, he decided to stand by his statement, but as expected, the press used his not going as evidence of a hypocrite. Nevertheless, several journalistic sources defended the brand and praised him for drawing attention to such an important issue, and Native American activists at Wounded Knee deeply appreciated his actions. Was.
Marlon Brando and Littlefeather made history
Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Brando’s life was more or less unaffected by this scandal, but it is a strange footnote in an illustrious and legendary life. Eventually people moved away from it, and so did he. But in Littlefeather’s case, her legacy was complicated by allegations from her family. For the San Francisco Chronicle, Navajo author Jacqueline Keeler interviewed Littlefeather’s sisters, Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, and said her sisters had no Native American heritage in their family. She claimed that she had stolen her upbringing from her father, who had a history of abuse. childhood and poverty. Given that Littlefeather herself admitted to having a history of mental illness, it is tragically plausible that her personal struggles influenced her interpretation of life.
Either way, Marlon Brando and Sasheen Littlefeather worked together to pave the way for future celebrities to follow. Today, it’s much more the norm, if not the outright expectation, for people in the film industry with a platform to use their power to raise awareness about important social issues. It is thought that. When public figures fail to do so, they are viewed as actively irresponsible and disrespectful. Brand and Littlefeather were betting on a moment in history that would pave the way for all their future endeavors, knowing full well the criticism they would receive. The present generation should be very grateful.
The Godfather is available to watch on Paramount+ in the US
Watch on Paramount+
