Well Here’s a Good, Fitting Use for That Money You Saved Seeing ‘Prey’ at Home
One of the main criticisms I’ve seen about the fifth installment of the Predator series starring Amber Midthunder, Prey, comes from the fact that it was a direct-to-streaming movie when there’s desire to watch this film in theaters. While the CGI was a bit wonky at times, the epic fight scenes and sweeping aerial landscape shots of the Dakota region would’ve been great to see on a large screen and with an expensive sound system.
Unfortunately, Prey is unlikely to release in theaters despite its success. However, if you love the movie, a Comanche language consultant for the film, Dr. Kathryn Pewenofkit Briner, has another idea to support this and future projects.
If you enjoyed watching Prey, then join us in making a difference! I’m raising money to benefit the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee [CLCPC], and any donation will help create an impact.
The Comanche language inclusion was just one of many cool things about this movie, but this can only be possible in the future through projects like the CLCPC and the Comanche Nation Language Department. Between colonization bringing on genocide, displacement, and family separation (like the boarding schools), many Indigenous languages have been lost. With the looming case in which the Supreme Court may strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act (especially after the Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta decision), these threats are still very present. The few enduring languages, like Comanche, are present through a handful of elders and language revitalization programs.
In an interview on KSWO (ABC 7 in Oklahoma), Briner discussed how recently passed producer Juanita Pahdopony reached out to her and, later, Jhane Myers (also a producer) worked to translate the script and aid with pronunciation for the scenes shot in Comanche. She hopes that this film will excite people to learn Comanche and help the language survive.
Despite also wishing I could see this in theaters, there are two pros to the streaming release. The obvious one is that it allowed greater access to the film during an ongoing pandemic in which safety precautions have been thrown to the wind in favor of “returning to normalcy.” Another plus is that while the film was pitched to be entirely in Comanche from the jump, the studios pushed back on this. Having it on a streaming platform where dubs and subs are common allowed many to experience this film in such an (unfortunately) rare way. Yes, in case you missed that, you can watch it in Comanche or English!
You can donate to the GoFundMe here.
(via Twitter, featured image: Hulu)
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