This weekend, Adam Sandler returns to the multiplex with "Pixels," and other than offending our senses of comedy, it’s likely the movie won’t be remotely controversial. However, his next film, the Netflix produced "Ridiculous Six," has already been the focus of trouble. Some Native actors walked off the set this spring citing saying the movie was an affront to the culture, and leaked script details certainly don’t paint a sensitive portrait of the Native community. However, Sandler has finally responded to the chatter around the western comedy, and he says Native Americans are not the target of "Ridiculous Six."
"I talked to some of the actors on the set who were there and let them know that the intention of the movie is 100% to just make a funny movie. It’s really about American Indians being good to my character and about their family and just being good people. There’s no mocking of American Indians at all in the movie," he told Screen Crush. "It’s a pro-Indian movie. So hopefully when people see it — whoever was offended on set and walked out, I hope they realize that, and that’s it. It was kinda taken out of context."
With lines about putting "my peepee in your teepee," perhaps Sandler, who co-wrote the script with longtime collaborator Tim Herlihy, might understand where the concerns with the movie lie. I’m not sure that "context" would add any legitimacy to that kind of juvenile humor, but maybe I’m wrong.
There will certainly be plenty of time for Sandler and co. to get the tone right as the movie doesn’t debut on Netflix until December 11th. We’ll see if the controversy around the movie was justified.