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http://news.excite.com/news/uw/000221/university-22

'Smoke Signals' filmmaker Sherman Alexie to speak at Michigan State U.
 

Updated 12:00 PM ET February 21, 2000

By Amy Sinquefield
The State News
Michigan State U.
 

(U-WIRE) EAST LANSING, Mich. -- With a impressive knack for answering any
question with a sharp, witty answer, for novelist and screenwriter Sherman
Alexie, humor is something embedded in his personality. "The worst part is
that people don't think you are being serious or that you are not in-depth,"
he said. "It's more difficult to be funny than profound."

Alexie will present his funny and profound thoughts at 7:30 Monday in
Michigan State University's Wharton Center's Great Hall. His appearance is
part of the Celebrity Lecture Series presented by the College of Arts and
Letters and the Dean's Community Council.

Although Alexie guarantees he'll "be funny," he doesn't expect everyone to
be happy with his lecture.

"I'm either loved or hated. I don't inspire ambivalence," he said.

Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, said he prefers one of the two
extremes because ambivalence means a person is too afraid to take a stand
and admit he or she believes in something.

Because he is an avid college basketball fan, Alexie claimed he will spend
most of his time at MSU looking for Mateen Cleaves. But the author of two
novels about Native Americans, "Reservation Blues" and "Indian Killer," said
his lecture will focus on cultural issues.

"Mostly what I do is challenge conceptions about Indians and what it is to
be an Indian, and dismantle those structures that are built around Indians," he
said.

The novelist became a pioneer for the Native American community with his
screenplay "Smoke Signals," the first film written, directed and acted
entirely by Native Americans. Alexie shunned taking full credit for the
movie.

"I like the film, and I'm proud of the film and the work in it, but it's not
mine. It's ours. It's everyone's who worked on it," he said.

It's obvious the film is not entirely his work -- it's much too sentimental,
Alexie said.

"Occasionally, people who see my film or read my books and then meet me say
'I thought he was a nice guy,' and I am, but I'm just more rowdy than the
film," he said.

The final product was much revised from its original early drafts, which he
described as "imaginative realism."

"If I had been left to my own devices, I would have made a weird Indian
movie," he said. "I'm a populist in the sense that I want the film to appeal
to a wide audience, but I also have artistic needs."

Alexie could be considered a populist since childhood. His earliest
influences, including the "Brady Bunch" and Marvel comics, dominated popular
culture when he was growing up in Spokane, Wash.

"Popular culture is a poor people's culture, and I was poor so the things
that moved me and touched me were on television," he said.

He said today's popular culture, however, has gained a negative reputation
in recent years.

"Some people think there's no entertainment value to high culture, or that
there's no intellectual aspects of popular culture," he said. "We shouldn't
punish good art because more people like it. No one ever blamed ballet for
dumbing down America."

The novelist, however, admits popular culture, himself included, is not
always the best place to look for role models. He hopes his work gives
people inspiration, but the most important inspiration lies within themselves.

"People are too willing to not give themselves credit," Alexie said.

"Good art gives people a push and presents options and people make the
choice to do something. Go find a small businessman or a third grade teacher who
has taught for 40 years. Then you'll get good advice."

(C) 2000 The State News via U-WIRE

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