Controversy over the portrayal of Aborigines in the film David Loman 2 (大尾鱸鰻2) continued yesterday, with activists protesting outside the offices of movie producer Vision Film Workshop Ltd.
Members of the Indigenous Youth Front held incense sticks while bowing before a picture of film director Chiu Li-kwan (邱?寬) in a mock memorial service, fumbling as they peeled through sheets of joss paper before flinging them in the air.
Activists said their inappropriate use of the “Han Chinese” ceremony was meant to spotlight the misrepresentation of their culture in David Loman 2.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
The film has been criticized for a scene in which the main characters run into Tao Aborigines protesting against nuclear waste being stored on their native Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), with one character speaking gibberish to the protesters, who call him a “lunatic.”
“When you take something you are not familiar with and put it in the film as a joke, your racism is rubbing salt deep into 30-year-old wounds,” said Indigenous Youth Front member Savungaz Valincinan, a Bunun Aborigine.
She said Tao Aborigines had been deceived about the purpose of the nuclear waste site, which she said was built in the 1980s without any public hearings or consultation.
“The impact of movies goes far beyond what most people think,” she said, citing as an example the 1980s film Yes, Sir! 2 (報告班長2), which has had a lasting impact in spreading stereotypes about Aboriginal accents, with variety show hosts still using long drawn-out syllables at the end of sentences to tease Aboriginal guests.
“In the future when people see Tao Aborigines wearing their sacred hats and armor made of vines, will they think it’s funny?” she asked.
She demanded that the film producer issue a “sincere apology” and remove the controversial scene when the movie is released on video.
“Regardless of whether or not racism is ‘intentional,’ it still creates a huge amount of damage,” she said, calling for education reforms to bring in Aborgines’ perspectives and for the removal of nuclear waste from the island.
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