Marlon Brando was not just one of the world’s greatest actors, twice winning an Oscar, but he was also a big time civil rights activist. In 1972 he won his second (and last!) Oscar for The Godfather. But Brando wasn’t impressed with Hollywood in the slightest — he felt they peddled stereotypes for profit and contributed to racism through the way in which they belittled, among others, Native Americans. So Brando decided to not pick up his Oscar, and instead sent a young Native American girl called Sacheen Littlefeather to the stage…
Sacheen gave a speech Brando wrote for her, denouncing Hollywood’s racism and asking for people’s attention to the protests going on at Wounded Knee at that same time. However, she was booed and failed to complete the speech. John Wayne, a notorious bigot who became famous for shooting Natives on the silver screen, reportedly had to be physically restrained by his friends from running on stage and dragging the girl off, as Brando just sat there, smirking.
He didn’t care about anyone’s feelings, Marlon Brando. He didn’t mind if what he said or did was controversial. He didn’t mind if it would affect his career, either — he never won an Oscar ever again, and it isn’t hard to see why — because all Brando cared about, at the end of the day, was just saying what he felt needed to be said.
In his words:
“I think awards in this country at this time are inappropriate to be received or given until the condition of the American Indian is drastically altered. If we are not our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner.”
I would say refusing an Oscar out of principle is a pretty big flex.
Image source Google
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