In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Big Eden| 179 Dear Diary: Finally, an old fashioned bromance: boy meets boy, boy loses boy, boy finds Indian boy. How I wish Johnny Ford (that old softy) had been around to direct this tender love story with his faithful companions: John Wayne, cast as its star, and Jeffrey Hunter, costar. Of course, Ford would have insisted that the whole thing be shot in Monument Valley and titled Searchers 2. Note to Self: Call studio to discuss 3-d possibilities. Love ya, Hollywood Big Eden f f f P. Jane Hafen Big Eden (2000) is acclaimed as part of a second generation of gay cinema. The film is more romantic comedy than coming-out drama or confronting AIDS and its consequences. While those early gay films are certainly significant,thewriter/director,ThomasBezucha,presents gay relationships as normal parts of the community. His desire for that normalization is most clearly portrayed in his more mainstream film The Family Stone (2005), in which a family argument at Christmas Eve dinner unfolds over whether or not being gay is “normal.” In that film, the Sarah Jessica Parker character is confronted with her own homophobia, and is put in her place by Diane Keaton, the protective mother of a gay son. In Big Eden, homosexuality is the norm, and the community of ranchers, storeowners, teachers, and trades workers conspire to bring a gay couple together. The main character, Henry Hart, played by Arye Gross, is an artist in New York City. He is comfortable with his life, living among accepting friends. He returns to his hometown, Big Eden, Montana, to care for his ailing grandfather, played by veteran actor George Coe. Henry assumes that no one in his small hometown knows he is gay. He is afraid of disappointing his grandfather, and also assumes someone of his grandfather’s generation would be less tolerant than his hip New York friends. His high school crush, Dean, played by Tim DeKay, has also recently come back, but is deeply closeted, married, and has children. 180| P. Jane Hafen A meddling widow (Nan Martin) acts on her assumptions of heteronormativity and offers to set up Henry with a number of eligible single women. However, as soon as she realizes he is gay, she then moves seamlessly to have him meet other men. Eventually she and the townspeople would prefer to see Henry with Pike, the lone and generic Indian played by Eric Schweig. Pike is an imposing figure and stands out as the only person of color in the cast. As if we didn’t know his ethnic heritage, he has a leitmotif of Indian flute music to emphasize his exotic character. In Pike’s first appearance, he is nearly speechless and classically stoic, a Noble Savage with emphasis on the noble. The background music is “Together Again” by Buck Owens. Later, when thefilmiscrosscuttingbetweenHenry’soglingDeanandPike’sgourmetcooking,thesongagain emphasizes that Henry and Pike should be together. Pike’scharacterisdouble-edged.Ononehand,havingacontemporaryIndianwhofunctions in the mainstream and is cared for by the townspeople is idealistic. This modern character, who plays against historic Noble Savage stereotypes, is portrayed by the actor Eric Schweig (Inuit). SchweigisbestknownforhisleadroleasRudyYellowDoginChrisEyre’sSkins(2002),andother iconicrolessuchasUncasintheLastoftheMohicans(seethereviewinchapter4),andasthetitle character in Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale (1994). He observes the contrast to those earlier roles: “[I was]happytogetupinthemorningandputonapairofpantsinsteadofleggingsandmoccasins.” On the other hand, as far as Indian characters go, Pike is generic—without tribe or community —and exists in a cultural vacuum. The director comments: “Very late in the writing of the script [I] figured out that he was Native American.”1 To underscore Pike’s ethnicity, music wasaddedtohischaracterization—asBezucharemarked,“Themusicwasindigenousthatwould pull out the Pike character, so we talked about the flute and the Native American drumming.” Since the film is set in Montana, filmed around Glacier Lake on the edge of the Blackfeet Nation, having an Indian character in the plot is reasonable. However, the Blackfeet Nation is invisible to the white community in the film. The film denies the reservation border-town issues of resentment, racism, and colonialism. Pike is the lone Indian, the last relic of nature in the spectacular setting. Additionally, the situation in the film is condescending. The writer’s comments show a superficial understanding of Native issues. A person or a character does not simply become or turnintoanIndian,especiallynotlaterinlife,andespeciallynotbylisteningto“Indian”music; IdonothaveanindigenoussoundtracktomylifetoremindmeandothersthatIamIndian.Even de-tribalized Indians, those who are reared without family or cultural support, know the Indian core of their being. Considering the flute music, stoic silences, and conversations...

Share