Review of The Indian in the Cupboard

Now that I've grown and educated myself, I can't stop thinking about how politically incorrect the title is. People say it should be called 'the Native American in the cupboard'. This is a very very common misconception in America. Yes, for a while they were called Indians. Christopher Columbus did not call them Indians because he thought they were from India. He called them "Gods people". The word in his language for "God's people" sounds very similar to the word Indian that we use today. It's just that the pronunciation we use now has changed a little after all this time. As for people saying that the "correct" term is "Native American" is highly offensive and frankly kind of stupid. How is it that taking the name from which the conquerors's gave them(American) supposed to be the correct term? That makes absolutely no sense. The word American has no relation whatsoever to Indian culture. Therefore "Native American" is utterly ridiculous, as well. If there is to be a title, it's should be call 'The Iroquois in the Cupboard'. No matter, what it is, call. The movie and book is not racist. The movie and book is trying to show tolerance through it's metaphor for how ignorant people have subjugated and marginalized the Indian populations of America by refusing to understand, listen to, or accommodate Indian heritage. The film opens up, a lot of things that people rarely knew about Native Americans. The film starts with a young boy, Omri (Hal Scardino), receives a cupboard. He uses a "magical" key, which belonged to his great-grandmother, to bring a plastic 18th century Native American figurine to life with the cupboard. The now-living Iroquois reveals his name as Little Bear (Litefoot). Litefoot, a real rapper does a great job in teaching role, not only in teaching the child about Iroquois's culture, but also the morality of playing God. There is a Frankenstein feel to the film. My favorite line in the film "God does play with little men'. Author Lynne Reid Banks and Director Frank Oz did an excellent job conveying the worry and angst the young boy felt for for his little toy come to life. I appreciate how the author had the boy evolve from seeing the Indian as a plaything to realizing that, regardless of his size, the Indian was a person with needs, feelings, and a right to live his life. What struck me about it was not that it was racist, or dated (it didn't feel so as much as you'd think,) but that it is a deconstruction of the idea that magical toys would be fun to have, and possibly of imagination as well. Omri seem just the typical kid protagonist, kinda generic if you ask me. But I still think his acting was unintentionally funny. Just weird out with all the close ups on Omri's face, the odd relationship between him and Little Bear, the weird fears, and how he reacts to others. Examples when Omri's dad confronts him about the saw blades, and Omri says he buried them. Odd lying by him and his parent accept that lame excuse. What kid can cuss to his mom as well? What is with his relationship with brothers being super cool in the beginning of the film and then for no reason Omri turns into a complete jerk with him? The worst thing, the kid does is abuse an animal. That poor thing was abused through the whole film. Whether it was real or not, it was still animal abuse and shouldn't be shown in this movie. The treatment of that rat was appalling. Omri still wasn't nearly as annoying as his friend, Patrick. One minute he's Omri's best friend, and all docile and quiet, and then like a switch, he's evil and defiant with seeing them as nothing more than animated toys. He brings in Boone (David Keith), a bigot Injun hating cowboy whom at first conflict with Little Bear, but grows to be friends with him, once they got to know each other. One of the odd things about the film is scenes that go nowhere or has nothing to do with the story like the Mohawk bully. Another thing is the degrading of women in the film, from the kids watching Montley Crue 'Girls' music video (it's the 1990's, why were they watching it anyways?) to Bear demanding a wife so she can cook. I put aside my critiques and squelched my inner squirming and found much to like about the film. The special effects were top notch, and it was really neat to see Little Bear, Boone and Tommy (Steve Coogan) the medic brought to life on the screen. It was pretty cool to see the Star Wars, Jurrasic Park, G.I Joe, and Robo-Cop reference. The movie is pretty close to the book, minus little changes such as the toy shop. I laugh at the kid that loves JFK. While the movie isn't that bad, it's not going to hurt the kids watching it. I like it when I was a kid and still kinda do.