Devery Jacobs, a Native actress who stars in Reservation Dogs, a comedy series about four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma, has slammed Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a film based on the true story of the Osage murders in the 1920s, when members of the Osage Nation were killed for their oil wealth.
Jacobs watched the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and had a negative reaction to it, saying it was “further dehumanizes our people”. She criticized the film for portraying Native people as helpless victims of white violence, without showing their culture, joy, or agency. She also expressed her discomfort with the film’s graphic and explicit scenes of murder and trauma.
Jacobs praised Lily Gladstone, a Native actress who plays Mollie Burkhart, a prominent Osage woman who married a white man and became a target of the murders, in Killers of the Flower Moon. She said Gladstone was “phenomenal” and “one of my favorite actresses”. She also acknowledged the performances of other Indigenous actors in the film, such as Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, and JaNae Collins.
“Lily Gladstone is phenomenal. She’s one of my favorite actresses. And I think that she did an incredible job with what she was given,” Jacobs said. “I think that there are some really great performances from Native actors in this film. And I don’t want to take away from that.”
However, Jacobs said the film was painful and dehumanizing to watch as a Native person. She said she felt like she was watching a “snuff film” that exploited the trauma of her ancestors.
“I’m not going to lie, I was very uncomfortable watching it. It was very graphic. It was very explicit. And it was very triggering,” Jacobs said. “I felt like I was watching a snuff film. I felt like I was watching the exploitation of my ancestors’ trauma.”
Jacobs said she hoped that stories like Killers of the Flower Moon could be told in a way that empowers Native people rather than victimizes them. “I think that Reservation Dogs is doing that. I think that we’re creating a space for ourselves to tell our own stories. And I think that’s what we need more of.”
Relevant articles:
– Devery Jacobs Has “Strong Feelings” About ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ & Says Film “Dehumanizes People” by Dino-Ray Ramos, published on Deadline on October 24, 2023
– ‘Reservation Dogs’ Star Devery Jacobs Slams ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Says Film ‘Further Dehumanizes Our People’ by Tim Baysinger, published on The Wrap on October 23, 2023
– Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs says Killers of the Flower Moon ‘dehumanizes our people’ by Maureen Lee Lenker, published on Entertainment Weekly on October 23, 2023