[True Detective: Night Country, the fourth season of the HBO/Sky
drama, is a twist on its familiar neo-noir mystery format, starring
Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the lead detectives. It’s the first
time women have been at the show’s helm.]
[[link removed]]

PORTSIDE CULTURE

TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY’S INDIGENOUS REPRESENTATION OFFERS
HOPE FOR DECOLONIZING TELEVISION  
[[link removed]]


 

Agata Lulkowska
January 18, 2024
The Conversation
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ True Detective: Night Country, the fourth season of the HBO/Sky
drama, is a twist on its familiar neo-noir mystery format, starring
Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the lead detectives. It’s the first
time women have been at the show’s helm. _

,

 

True Detective: Night Country’s indigenous representation offers
hope for decolonising television

Agata Lulkowska
[[link removed]],
_Staffordshire University
[[link removed]]_

True Detective: Night Country
[[link removed]], the fourth season of
the HBO/Sky drama, is a twist on its familiar neo-noir mystery format,
starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the lead detectives. It’s the
first time women have been at the show’s helm.

The season is set in Ennis, a fictional mining town in Alaska, during
a polar night. The local indigenous community, Iñupiat
[[link removed]], (a real group
of indigenous Alaskans) have formed families and social ties with
incomers over the years, but their coexistence is not without hurdles.

The investigation of the disappearance of a group of scientists from a
local research lab brings to the fore a forgotten case of the murder
of an indigenous woman.

True Detective: Night Country trailer.

The appeal of indigenous life

Cinematic descriptions of indigenous communities are usually the
domain of documentary films. But in recent years, more fictional films
and television shows have included indigenous motifs. For example, the
acclaimed films The Wind Journeys (2009) and The Embrace of the
Serpent (2015), are both directed by Ciro Guerra.

Films and television shows that depict indigenous characters and
cultures risk overly relying on stereotypes or exaggerations for the
sake of narrative. These result in inaccurate depictions of indigenous
life
[[link removed]].

Part of the appeal of seeing indigenous life represented on screen is
the western viewer’s longing for discovering a “forgotten
spirituality” which could remedy the worries of contemporary life.
But characters in True Detective: Night Country often mock or
disregard indigenous viewpoints.

The main investigator, Liz (Foster), constantly sneers at her
detective partner, native Iñupiat state trooper Evangeline (Reis),
about her “spirit animal” giving her clues.

Evangeline, in turn, resents the dismissal of the historic
investigation of the brutal murder of Annie, a native Iñupiat woman.
She claims that only the disappearances of “white boys” seem to
matter. Evangeline sees the removal of Annie’s tongue as a symbol of
“silencing the indigenous voice”.

At the bottom of the matter lies the question of land ownership (“We
were here before”, indigenous activists shout in one scene) and
environment protection – two things most indigenous communities
across the world have in common. The two groups inhabiting Ennis
distrust each other and do things behind each other’s back, although
their lives are inevitably entangled.

Although the story and location are fictional, the Iñupiat
[[link removed]]
are a real community of Alaska (“Iñupiat” actually means “real
people”).

The politics of indigenous representation

Indigenous communities on screen often serve the function of the
“other”. This means they effectively help to define the identity
of the non-indigenous protagonists and audiences by showing what they
are not.

This “otherness” focuses on their differences, and it often
follows the stereotype of an unrefined victim lacking the benefits of
civilisation or a “noble savage” holding forgotten secrets to lost
spirituality.

The often mysterious symbolism of indigenous culture is used to convey
the fear of the unknown. Anna Lambe, an Inuk actress who is part of
the True Detective cast, says that
[[link removed]] representations of
indigenous life are frequently inaccurate and deeply grounded in
stereotypes. True Detective contrasts local traditions with western
law enforcement and science – although the solution comes from
marrying the two.

Decolonising the screen

In 2012 the Berlin International Film Festival introduced a
“NATIVe” section
[[link removed]]
for indigenous filmmakers. The section allowed indigenous cinema (both
fiction and non-fiction) to be part of a large international film
festival. The initiative was a breakthrough, offering a high profile
opportunity to screen indigenous issues. Unfortunately the section was
discontinued in 2019, having not been hugely attended.

My own filmmaking projects
[[link removed]],
first with the Yanesha community from the Peruvian Amazon and then
with the Arhuaco [[link removed]] from
Colombia, taught me something crucial: that my vision of their ways of
life is just my interpretation, filtered through years of
preconceptions about indigenous peoples.

Watching these indigenous peoples’ own films showed me not only who
they really are, but also what they think about western filmmakers who
think they know how to represent them.

What I am impatiently waiting for is to see more indigenous filmmakers
making their own representation of their culture. After all, showing a
couple of animal skins or native face tattoos is not enough to claim
we have decolonised television and cinema.

But True Detective offers a nuanced portrays of the Iñupiat. They are
not “bad” nor they are “good” – they are ordinary people
just like everyone else, with their own problems and valuable
heritage. The show’s creators have gone beyond cheap and overused
stereotypes to allow for a more realistic depiction of contemporary
indigenous lives: one which is not trapped in the past but still
benefits from traditional values. Let’s hope this trend continues so
that we see more representations of diversity across film and
television.

_Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully
curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions,
straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here
[[link removed]]._[The
Conversation]

Agata Lulkowska
[[link removed]], Senior
Lecturer in Film Directing and Producing, _Staffordshire University
[[link removed]]_

This article is republished from The Conversation
[[link removed]] under a Creative Commons license. Read
the original article
[[link removed]].

True Detective: Night Country
[[link removed]], the fourth season of
the HBO/Sky drama, is a twist on its familiar neo-noir mystery format,
starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the lead detectives. It’s the
first time women have been at the show’s helm.

The season is set in Ennis, a fictional mining town in Alaska, during
a polar night. The local indigenous community, Iñupiat
[[link removed]], (a real group
of indigenous Alaskans) have formed families and social ties with
incomers over the years, but their coexistence is not without hurdles.

The investigation of the disappearance of a group of scientists from a
local research lab brings to the fore a forgotten case of the murder
of an indigenous woman.

The appeal of indigenous life

Cinematic descriptions of indigenous communities are usually the
domain of documentary films. But in recent years, more fictional films
and television shows have included indigenous motifs. For example, the
acclaimed films The Wind Journeys (2009) and The Embrace of the
Serpent (2015), are both directed by Ciro Guerra.

Don’t let yourself be misled. Understand issues with help from
experts

Get the newsletter
[[link removed]]

Films and television shows that depict indigenous characters and
cultures risk overly relying on stereotypes or exaggerations for the
sake of narrative. These result in inaccurate depictions of
indigenous life
[[link removed]].

Part of the appeal of seeing indigenous life represented on screen is
the western viewer’s longing for discovering a “forgotten
spirituality” which could remedy the worries of contemporary life.
But characters in True Detective: Night Country often mock or
disregard indigenous viewpoints.

The main investigator, Liz (Foster), constantly sneers at her
detective partner, native Iñupiat state trooper Evangeline (Reis),
about her “spirit animal” giving her clues.

[Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in True Detective: Night Country.]

Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in True Detective: Night
Country. FlixPix/Alamy Stock Photo
[[link removed]]

Evangeline, in turn, resents the dismissal of the historic
investigation of the brutal murder of Annie, a native Iñupiat woman.
She claims that only the disappearances of “white boys” seem to
matter. Evangeline sees the removal of Annie’s tongue as a symbol of
“silencing the indigenous voice”.

At the bottom of the matter lies the question of land ownership (“We
were here before”, indigenous activists shout in one scene) and
environment protection – two things most indigenous communities
across the world have in common. The two groups inhabiting Ennis
distrust each other and do things behind each other’s back, although
their lives are inevitably entangled.

Although the story and location are fictional, the Iñupiat
[[link removed]] are
a real community of Alaska (“Iñupiat” actually means “real
people”).

The politics of indigenous representation

Indigenous communities on screen often serve the function of the
“other”. This means they effectively help to define the identity
of the non-indigenous protagonists and audiences by showing what they
are not.

This “otherness” focuses on their differences, and it often
follows the stereotype of an unrefined victim lacking the benefits of
civilisation or a “noble savage” holding forgotten secrets to lost
spirituality.

The often mysterious symbolism of indigenous culture is used to convey
the fear of the unknown. Anna Lambe, an Inuk actress who is part of
the True Detective cast, says that
[[link removed]] representations of
indigenous life are frequently inaccurate and deeply grounded in
stereotypes. True Detective contrasts local traditions with western
law enforcement and science – although the solution comes from
marrying the two.

[Isabella LaBlanc in True Detective: Night Country.]

Isabella LaBlanc in True Detective: Night Country. Landmark Media
[[link removed]]

Decolonising the screen

In 2012 the Berlin International Film Festival introduced
a “NATIVe” section
[[link removed]] for
indigenous filmmakers. The section allowed indigenous cinema (both
fiction and non-fiction) to be part of a large international film
festival. The initiative was a breakthrough, offering a high profile
opportunity to screen indigenous issues. Unfortunately the section was
discontinued in 2019, having not been hugely attended.

My own filmmaking projects
[[link removed]],
first with the Yanesha community from the Peruvian Amazon and then
with the Arhuaco [[link removed]] from
Colombia, taught me something crucial: that my vision of their ways of
life is just my interpretation, filtered through years of
preconceptions about indigenous peoples.

Watching these indigenous peoples’ own films showed me not only who
they really are, but also what they think about western filmmakers who
think they know how to represent them.

What I am impatiently waiting for is to see more indigenous filmmakers
making their own representation of their culture. After all, showing a
couple of animal skins or native face tattoos is not enough to claim
we have decolonised television and cinema.

But True Detective offers a nuanced portrays of the Iñupiat. They are
not “bad” nor they are “good” – they are ordinary people
just like everyone else, with their own problems and valuable
heritage. The show’s creators have gone beyond cheap and overused
stereotypes to allow for a more realistic depiction of contemporary
indigenous lives: one which is not trapped in the past but still
benefits from traditional values. Let’s hope this trend continues so
that we see more representations of diversity across film and
television.

Author

[[link removed]]

Agata Lulkowska
[[link removed]]

Senior Lecturer in Film Directing and Producing, Staffordshire
University

Disclosure statement

Agata Lulkowska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive
funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this
article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their
academic appointment.

_Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully
curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions,
straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here
[[link removed]]._

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which I help produce. It brings you a selection of our most
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[[link removed]]

Chris Calimlim

Editorial Associate

_Article originally published on The Conversation._

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