Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous Six has been mired in controversy and general stupidity ever since its inception. Earlier this year, Indian Country reported that nearly a dozen Native American actors and actresses, as well as the Native American cultural advisor, left the film’s set “after the satirical western’s script repeatedly insulted Native women and elders and grossly misrepresented Apache culture.” Examples of profound disrespect, the article explained, included “Native women’s names such as Beaver’s Breath and No Bra, an actress portraying an Apache woman squatting and urinating while smoking a peace pipe, and feathers inappropriately positioned on a teepee.”
Netflix defended the film by explaining that it was a satire, because Netflix doesn’t understand the definition of satire; Sandler later defended the film by explaining that “it was just a misunderstanding and, once the movie is out, will be cleared up.” As someone who has literally never understood Sandler’s films or Sandler’s entire appeal, I agree with him: Much of the movie has been and will likely continue to be lost in translation.
Now that we’ve reviewed why and how this movie has angered and insulted the very population it purports to depict, let’s watch its newest trailer!
The trailer seems to purposefully steer clear of lingering on any of the Native American characters for very long — a smart marketing move by Netflix — and instead focuses on the titular Ridiculous Six: Tommy “White Knife” Stockburn (Sandler) and his five incompetent brothers (Luke Wilson, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider, Terry Crews, and Jorge Garcia), who’ve joined forces to search for their outlaw father. The trailer seems also to steer clear of actual humor, despite attempts at humor that include a Native American baby holding a tomahawk, several actors running into inanimate objects, and a gap-toothed Taylor Lautner saying “gol dang!”
If any of these things interest you, feel free to catch The Ridiculous Six on Netflix December 11. (The cast is great, though. I’ll give you that one, Sandler.)
