The awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognize the best of the cinema that is released each year. Over time they have also become an entertainment show and a forum for various artists in which they position themselves on political, environmental, gender issues, among others.
Despite being one of the most coveted awards in the world, several celebrities have rejected the award, one of them was the renowned actor Marlon Brando, nominated for the Best Actor category for his portrayal of the legendary Vito Coleone in The Godfather (1972).
At the 45th edition of the Oscar Awards, held in 1973 and in which Francis Ford Coppola's film received a dozen nominations, the actor sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American, to the ceremony who took the stage to reject the statuette and read a speech by the actor where he criticized and showed his rejection of the Academy for the mistreatment received by indigenous populations and the stereotyped image that was projected of them in Hollywood movies.
“I am an Apache and president of the National Committee for the Affirmative Image of Native Americans. Tonight I come on behalf of Marlon Brando and he has asked me to tell you (in a very long speech that I cannot share with you now due to lack of time, but which I will share with the press later) that he unfortunately rejects this generous award. And that's because of the mistreatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television. And also because of what happened recently at Wounded Knee. I pray that I have not been a nuisance tonight and that we may in the future meet our hearts and minds with love and generosity. I thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando."
At that time Brando was strongly criticized, but thanks to his action, the conflict that existed in South Dakota was put on the agenda, where the government had failed to comply with the treaties with the native communities and made the national and foreign press deal with it. about the topic.
“When I was nominated for The Godfather, it seemed absurd to me to go to the ceremony. It was grotesque to celebrate an industry that had systematically smeared and disfigured American Indians for six decades, while at that time two hundred Indians were under siege at Wounded Knee," the star commented a few days later in an interview.
The following year, Marlon was nominated again for Best Actor for the film Last Tango in Paris (1973), but the award went to Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger (1973).
