Native Americans sue Bale movie

 

 

CNN.com - Top Stories

CNN.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more.

Native Americans sue Bale movie
12/27/2013 4:29:59 AM

Actor Casey Affleck and director Scott Cooper speak at a screening of "Out of the Furnace" in November.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Eight of the plantiffs share a surname with the villian in the movie
• The lawsuit says the movie perpetuates untrue stereotypes
• The company that released the film had not answered CNN's request for comment
• The suit was filed in federal court in New Jersey, where the film is set

(CNN) -- Seventeen members of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation have sued the makers of the film "Out of the Furnace," saying the movie portrays their Native American people in a false light and has caused humiliation for the tribe.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in New Jersey District Court, asks for compensatory and punitive damages of more than $150,000 and the costs of suit.

The film stars stars Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Woody Harrelson and is set in the Ramapo Mountains along the New York-New Jersey border about 25 miles west of New York City.

The lawsuit states characters in the film have last names that are common among the Ramapough and that it perpetuates negative and unfounded stereotypes.

In the movie, Bale's character seeks his missing brother who has been killed at the hands of Woody Harrelson's character, named Harlan DeGroat.

Eight of the plaintiffs share the DeGroat surname. Another film character has the last name of Van Dunk, as does one of the plaintiffs.

Relativity Media, which released the film earlier this month, didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. Also named in suit were the writers and producers of the film.

The gang in the movie is called the "Jackson Whites," which the suit says is a well-known derogatory term in the area.

The lawsuit says the Ramapough are a Native American group recognized as a tribe by the states of New Jersey and New York.

"Any reasonable person would be offended by the false light in which the movie placed the people who have the family name of DeGroat and Van Dunk and who are known to live in the Ramapo Mountains and/or be part of the group now or formerly known as Jackson Whites," the suit alleges.

CNN's Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.

 

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at feedmyinbox.com

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions