Tonto? Tont-no.

First things first, I saw this on GAWKER so follow that link for the original post.

Johnny Depp is playing Tonto in the upcoming huge Hollywood movie 'The Lone Ranger'. Of course, right? Because Johnny Depp is Native American. No. Well, maybe. I know! Let's ask Johnny Depp:

 "I guess I have some Native American somewhere down the line. My great grandmother was quite a bit of Native American, she grew up Cherokee or maybe Creek Indian."

Oh, my bad. Johnny Depp is for sure 'maybe' Indian...'I guess'. Plus, look how awesome he looks in his totally authentic Native American costume! I bet he asked his 'quite a bit of' Native American relatives for some input. 

No. Johnny Depp's Tonto is based off of a painting (above, right) done by a white guy named Kirby Sattler who makes his living selling paintings of Native Americans that he dreams up in his minds eye.

From Kirby's "About the Artist" page:

"The subjects are a variety of visual references and my imagination. I am not a historian, nor an ethnologist. Being of non-native blood, without personal history, it would be presumptuous to portray the subject I paint from any other view than as an artist with an innate interest in the world's indigenous cultures.I attempt to give the paintings an authentic appearance, provoke interest, satisfy my audiences sensibilities of the subject without the constraints of having to adhere to historical accuracy."

Oh, dear.

But back to Johnny Depp. Why? Why would he agree to participate in this?  He must have something totally not offensive to say about it:

"The whole reason I wanted to play Tonto is to try to mess around with the stereotype of the American Indian that has been laid out through history or the history of cinema at the very least."

 

Ack! 

How is this OK? I mean, yes, as discussed in a previous post Hollywood clearly has issues with allowing Indians to portray themselves in anything. But why are we OK with this? I am unclear on how this is different than if George Clooney played Cliff Huxtable in a movie adaptation of the Cosby Show.

Here is a link to the Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor who played Tonto in the 1950's Lone Ranger television show Jay Silverheels.