cutcharislingbaldy.com
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Books
  • News
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Books
  • News
  • Media
  • Contact

Sometimes Writer-Blogger
​Cutcha Risling Baldy​

I wrote about the first two seasons of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and then forgot to write about the third one

6/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Maybe I’m too busy. Maybe it was because I watched basically the entire season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in the middle of grading final exams and cannot be responsible for anything I did during that time as my brain is still not exactly back to full capacity. Or maybe it was because Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt finally did what I suppose it wanted to do, it kind of made me go “wait, Jacqueline is Native? There’s a sort of Native (character) on a show?”
​
Not for nothing but if Titus Andromedon wasn’t a consistent part of this show then really the entire season would have boiled down to “huh? Does Kimmy ever actually row in a competition? Is she any good? Does she win? Did I miss that episode?”
I was waiting with bated breath for any mention of taking down the Washington Re*skins and when the episode finally came where Jacqueline was headed to the owners meeting for her big showdown I wanted to root for her. Sure, she’s a white actress playing a Native character who passes for white and sometimes pretends she is white and sometimes tries to reconnect to her Nativeness only to be wholly rejected by her parents, but I’m willing to go with it. Just like I’m willing to go with Kimmy being some kind of rowing wunderkind who never actually ROWS in anything. I’m willing to go with Kimmy getting into Columbia and not actually, oh I don’t know, getting a tutor, or taking advantage of her sheer luck when there are so many other people who, you know, didn’t get into Columbia or have no chance of getting into Columbia (on a freaking scholarship) so why not put in some extra hours?
​
I wrote only two sentences in my rigorous note taking that I often do when I’m trying to watch these shows and offer some kind of response: 
  1. Why do Jacqueline's  parents hate her?
  2. Have they ever met their grandchildren?
Picture
​That’s it. That’s all I wrote for the few episodes where Jacqueline was finally going to take down the Washington Racial Slur Team. And then just as soon as this storyline about Jacquelyn reclaiming her Lakota roots started it was over. She solved it. With capitalism. And something else happened later with her new boyfriend/kind of husband where he become beautiful and then he went back to his family to run the evil empire which is fine because now they changed the name.
​
Look, Jacqueline character is “interesting” in so much as she represents a Native person who must deal with complex ideas of identity and representation. When the writers, or the show runners made a decision to go all in with Jacqueline as a Sioux person, they inherited this conversation whether they knew about it or not.

​As Native people we express, understand and debate our identities because of legacies of colonialism (like blood quantum or boarding schools); because we are still defending and reclaiming our sovereignties and self-determination and because there isn’t a universal answer to how a Native character would feel, act, look or fit into a “quirky” sitcom like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. 
Picture
Titus’s blackness is not the only defining thing about his character but it is something present (ever present). Kimmy, her whiteness is as much a part of her character as her naivete. But Jacqueline occupies this incredibly complex and layered space as a Native character who presents as an upper east side white woman who feels Lakota who craves her Nativeness in a way, but also does not make any real connection to it unless you count watching a football game with her parents wearing Washington (New Names) gear. There has to be something more for her character than “I solved this decades long problem that Native people have been fighting for and have faced threats and derogatory slurs because… I could. What were you all doing for so long protesting outside the building when you just should have found your way in?” 

I’m not looking to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to be the best little sitcom with a non-Native actress playing a Native person who passes as a white person who wants to connect with her Nativeness. I’m just saying couldn’t we push it? What if we went from the “oh yeah,
Jacqueline’s Native” to “F-yeah, Jacqueline is Native!”  
​
Master of None (another Netflix series) did this fantastic episode this season which (spoiler alert if you haven’t binged watched it yet, WHY NOT? GO TO THERE. Now. I’ll wait.) followed for an entire episode characters that were not part of the main cast. One right after the other the audience was able to see into the lives of other New Yorkers. It was fantastically done, thoughtful, and basically solidified for me that you can do anything now if you’re on Netflix so you have no excuse. 

Here is my proposal for you Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt writers:

Next season give us an episode. Just one. In my mind, Jacquelyn realizes that her kid has never met his grandparents and that he knows NOTHING about his Lakota heritage. She insists on taking him back to her family home where she meets up with her cousin Irene (played by Irene Bedard of course) who is the Tribal Attorney and basically the most badass awesome Native lady you’ve ever met. Jacqueline and her have always had a bit of a rivalry with each other and now Irene is like the perfect Native in Jacqueline’s mind. Any “Native” thing Jacquelyn tries to do, Irene does it better (and she has tons of inside jokes with Jacqueline's parents). At some point Jacqueline leaves in a huff convinced that she can go out and find the herb that her Mom was talking about needing. She gets lost. Eats some crazy berries. Trips out and finally gets found by Irene where they both fall in the river and get all cold. Irene can’t start the fire and Jacqueline is finally able to do it on her own. They have to hug it out into the cold night until the next day when they are found all snuggled up and sleeping. Turns out they were only like just around the corner from the hotel. Later Jacqueline dad asks Irene “why didn’t you just use the lighter you always carry in your boot?” And Irene just winks at him. *End Episode*
 And now back to House of Cards, which BTW my review so far is: I never thought I'd say this but I kinda miss those corrupt Native American casino owners. At least they were making jokes about Andrew Jackson.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Click to
    Email Me

    Sometimes Writer-Blogger Cutcha Risling Baldy

    Promote Your Page Too

    Author

    Cutcha Risling Baldy is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Native American Studies at Humboldt State University. She received her PhD in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis.  She is also a writer, mother, volunteer Executive Director for the Native Women's Collective and is currently re-watching My Name is Earl...


    (5) Top Posts

    On telling Native people to just "get over it" or why I teach about the Walking Dead in my Native Studies classes... *Spoiler Alert!*
    Hokay -- In which I lead a presentation on what happens when you Google "Native American Women" and critically analyze the images or "Hupas be like dang where'd you get that dentalium cape girl? Showing off all your money! PS: Suck it Victorias Secret"
    In which we establish that there was a genocide against Native Americans, yes there was, it was genocide, yes or this is why I teach Native Studies part 3 million
    5 Reasons I Wear "Indian" Jewelry or Hupas...we been bling-blingin' since Year 1
    Pope Francis decides to make Father Junipero Serra a saint or In Which I Tell Pope Francis he needs to take a Native Studies class like stat

    I need to read more Native blogs!

    A few that I read...
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    June 2020
    December 2019
    September 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011


    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    1491s
    562 Project
    Act For The Government And Protection Of Indians
    Adam Beach
    Adrienne Keene
    American Indians In Children's Literature
    American Indian Stereotypes
    And Old Episodes Of Ally Mcbeal
    Armie Hammer
    Balas Chonas
    Beyonce
    Book Reviews
    Bundy Militia
    California Missions
    Catholic Church
    Columbus
    Cultural Appropriation
    Debbie Reese
    Deborah Miranda
    Disney
    Federal Indian Law
    Flower Dance
    Genocide
    Gold Rush
    Graduate Student Mantra
    Hobbits
    Hupa
    Indian Humor
    Indigenous Epistemology
    Ishi Last Of The Yahi
    Jack Forbes
    Jack Norton
    Jenna Maroney
    Jim Ruel
    JK Rowling
    Johnny Depp
    Jon Stewart
    Junipero Serra
    Kevin Bacon
    Klamath River
    Klamath Trinity Restoration Agreement
    Lone Ranger
    Magic In North America
    Matika Wilbur
    Mihesuah
    Natalie Diaz
    Native American Studies
    Native American Worldview
    Native Appropriations
    Native Cameo
    Native Representations
    NBC
    Network Television
    No Doubt
    Play
    Pope Francis
    Reflective Posting
    Representation
    Review
    Sacramento State
    Save Our River
    Scalia
    Settler Colonialism
    #SettlerNonsense
    Simon Moya-Smith
    Supreme Court
    Television
    That's Right CHRIS ROCK
    Theatre Dance And Performance
    The Daily Show
    Tiffany Midge
    Tina Fey
    Tonto
    Tonto Syndrome
    Uc Berkeley
    Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
    Vine Deloria Jr
    Winnemem Wintu
    Women
    Zambo Dende

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.