Prey star Amber Midthunder recently praised the upcoming Predator prequel's representation of indigenous people. Set 300 years before the events of the original Predator film, the latest franchise entry will center on Naru (Midthunder), a young Comanche hunter who comes face to face with the iconic alien. Armed with only a bow and arrow, makeshift weapons, and her hunting prowess, Naru must track and kill the Predator before it kills her and her people. Along with Midthunder, the film will star Dakota Beavers, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush, and Dane DiLiegro, a 6'9" former professional basketball player as the Predator.
Other than the Predator performer and a few French actors, the majority of the cast will consist solely of Native American and First Nations stars. Director Dan Trachtenberg found it incredibly important to cast indigenous actors in the film for authenticity as well as for the fact that there historically have been very few positive roles for Native Americans in Hollywood. The director has also revealed that the film will feature both an English and Comanche voice track with subtitles in the Comanche language as well, a first for a Hollywood movie.
In a recent discussion with EW, Midthunder praised the representation and accuracy of indigenous people in the upcoming prequel. The star explained that for decades, Native Americans were typically portrayed as one-note "caricatures." Midthunder says that Prey features indigenous people in a far more positive light, as real people with "full personalities." Read what the actor had to say about Prey's indigenous representation below.
"The thing personally that I'm most proud of when it comes to the movie is the representation and the accuracy. Because so rarely, especially in a period piece, do you get to see a variety of indigenous characters. Oftentimes if we get anything, it's usually one subhuman, overly spiritualized, or hyper-savage, violent, one-dimensional character — caricature almost."
"So rarely do you get to see a multitude of people with full personalities and intellect and relationships. And it also gets to show that — in this time of our history, we're not represented as being intelligent or innovative or even really well-kept in terms of hygiene, but that is the truth of history, is that we were."
Midthunder recognizes that Native Americans have rarely been portrayed in a positive light in a major Hollywood motion picture. And if they were, they were generally simple characters without any proper nuance to their personalities. With the assistance of producer and Comanche Nation consultant Jhane Meyers, Prey has reportedly become an example of positive indigenous representation.
While Native American characters often featured prominently in the Western movies of the past, the history of their portrayal is marked with bigotry and inaccurate representation through tropes and stereotypes. Many Westerns saw indigenous people as ruthless, uncivilized savages. These portrayals in media tainted the perception of indigenous peoples for decades, however, films like Prey are looking to change the narrative with positive representation. According to its star, it does a pretty good job.
Source: EW