Event Title

Reversal of Fortune: Musical Stereotypes in South Park’s “Red Man’s Greed”

Location

Hart 116

Start Time

11-5-2017 10:10 AM

End Time

11-5-2017 10:25 AM

Description

In the South Park episode “Red Man’s Greed,” the creators upend the historical narrative of the encounter between Native Americans and the white settlers by reversing the role of colonizer and colonized. The Native American casino owners want to acquire land to build a superhighway to their casino. The citizens of South Park rally to fight off the aggressors.

On South Park, the creators underline racial stereotypes and assumptions about those stereotypes. They use exaggerated musical gestures that rely on knowledge of the musical style to highlight the social commentary. Generally, audiences lack competency regarding Native American music, though many are familiar with musical tropes such as pounding drums and “war whoops.” Though musical signifiers for “Indian” are used, they are not exaggerated in the expected way. The resulting lack of musical satire reinforces the un-interrogated stereotype of the greedy casino Indian, thus perpetuating the Hollywood cliché of “recognizably Indian.”

Comments

Moderator: Khadija Monk

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May 11th, 10:10 AM May 11th, 10:25 AM

Reversal of Fortune: Musical Stereotypes in South Park’s “Red Man’s Greed”

Hart 116

In the South Park episode “Red Man’s Greed,” the creators upend the historical narrative of the encounter between Native Americans and the white settlers by reversing the role of colonizer and colonized. The Native American casino owners want to acquire land to build a superhighway to their casino. The citizens of South Park rally to fight off the aggressors.

On South Park, the creators underline racial stereotypes and assumptions about those stereotypes. They use exaggerated musical gestures that rely on knowledge of the musical style to highlight the social commentary. Generally, audiences lack competency regarding Native American music, though many are familiar with musical tropes such as pounding drums and “war whoops.” Though musical signifiers for “Indian” are used, they are not exaggerated in the expected way. The resulting lack of musical satire reinforces the un-interrogated stereotype of the greedy casino Indian, thus perpetuating the Hollywood cliché of “recognizably Indian.”