Marlon Brando's Interview with Dick Cavett

Brando’s interview with Dick Cavett clearly depicted his rebel personality that was discussed in Richard Dyer’s Stars. Although this label was in reference to his personality in movies, Brando’s rebel attitude also applied in his actual life. Brando’s comments on Native Americans in films showed that he was a rebel because a typical actor probably would not have voiced their opinion about the treatment of Native Americans in film, in fear of upsetting their audience. Brando was unlike other actors because he didn’t care and he did what he wanted even if he lost popularity. In this interview, Dick Cavett served as a representation of the public opinion of Brando by the specific questions that he asked Brando, and the way he approached these questions. Cavett seemed to be concerned about offending Brando or making him feel uncomfortable in anyway when he suggested that Brando “give [him] a signal” if at any time he brought up something that Brando didn’t feel like discussing (Brando). Cavett did this because he was not sure how Brando would react to him asking him about the Academy Awards incident because it was such a bizarre and unusual situation. When Cavett did ask Brando whether he would do the Academy Award nights over if he could, Brando answered calmy and provided his thoughts as to why people reacted the way they did when a Native American accepted his award and gave a speech. This showed that Brando was aware of the fact that people did not appreciate the great involvement that he was putting into helping minorities gain equal rights, and also that the opinions of others would not stop him from doing what he felt was right.

Marlon Brando: A Great Actor Who Stood Against Racism

Monica Moorehead’s article on Marlon Brando’s political involvement clearly indicates that many people were not happy with Brando’s political engagements. Moorhead says that critics “labeled Brando as eccentric” because he was “anti-hollywood and anti-establishment” (Moorhead). These statements indicate that Brando was different from most actors of his time because he did not care about being a star and maintaining his star image. Instead, Brando used his fame to help others in need which was not common for other actors of his time. An example that Moorhead uses of Brando's deviance from the norms of Hollywood stars was when she says that “[t]here were not too many celebrities who supported the Black Panther Party, but Brando was one of the most prominent” (Moorhead). This statement clearly shows that many celebrities did not share the same interest in supporting the Black Panthers as Brando did.

Brando & Racism

Opening Statement

This blog was created to recognize the great contribution of the actor Marlon Brando to the advancement of minorities within the film industries and society. This recognition was accomplished through the brief analysis of various articles and interviews about or featuring Brando and his involvement in the strive for equal rights of minorities. The analysis of these sources serve to support my belief that Brando’s active involvement in obtaining equal rights for minorities in films and American society was not positively received by a majority of his audience because it was different from most actors of his time.