Posted in: Apple, Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: apple original films, AppleTV, Killers of the Flower Moon, martin scorsese, paramount, Paramount Pictures

Killers Of The Flower Moon: Osage Language Consult Has Strong Opinions

Christopher Cote, an Osage language consultant for Killers of the Flower Moon, has some "strong opinions" and wanted it to be from Mollie's perspective.

It seems that the marketing and the reality are not quite lining up. In the lead-up to the wide release of Killers of the Flower Moon, the film has had to rely entirely on pre-recorded digital marketing, which has let Apple and Paramount control the narrative surrounding this film. It very much made it seem like this was a collaborative effort on behalf of Martin Scorsese and the Osage Nation to tell this story accurately. However, now that people can speak in real-time and now that more people are seeing the film, it appears that the same thing happens whenever a white person tries to tell the story of people of color; somehow, the focus shifts to the other white people in this story. In the case of Killers of the Flower Moon, that meant a lot of focus on Earnest, and while that is absolutely a creative choice that Scorsese and everyone involved can make, it has left some people who worked on the film with some complicated feelings. One of those people is Osage language consultant Christopher Cote, who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how nervous he was to see the film, and now that he has, he has "strong opinions." Also, spoilers for a historical event in the quote.

"As an Osage, I really wanted this to be from the perspective of Mollie and what her family experienced, but I think it would take an Osage to do that," Cote said. "Martin Scorsese, not being Osage, I think he did a great job representing our people, but this history is being told almost from the perspective of Ernest Burkhart [played by Leonardo DiCaprio], and they kind of give him this conscience and kind of depict that there's love. But when somebody conspires to murder your entire family, that's not love. That's not love; that's just beyond abuse."

Cote is not wrong, and Scorsese himself has spoken about the love story between Earnest and Mollie, and that might seem like something you can swing until you see the film itself. Love is complicated, but as Cote says, when you conspire to not only murder someone's entire family but also willingly and knowingly poison the person you supposedly love over and over again despite holding them while they suffer? It's hard to justify that. Cote went on to say that he believes that Killers of the Flower Moon was not made for the Osage audience; it was made for everybody.

He continued, "I think in the end, the question that you can be left with is: How long will you be complacent with racism? How long will you go along with something and not say something, not speak up, how long will you be complacent? I think that's because this film isn't made for an Osage audience; it was made for everybody, not Osage. For those that have been disenfranchised, they can relate, but for other countries that have their acts and their history of oppression, this is an opportunity for them to ask themselves this question of morality, and that's how I feel about this film."

In a scene that someone will likely write a dissertation on, it does feel like Scorsese and the people behind Killers of the Flower Moon realize that they are making something that will be consumed as entertainment for the masses despite this being a real thing that happened where little to not justice was served in the end. Complicated and strong opinions will be common regarding Killers of the Flower Moon, which is likely the intent, but to hear from the people whose story Scorsese is trying to tell say that maybe he put the focus in the wrong place? Considering history, no one should be surprised that a woman of color once again slipped into the shadows of a white man, no matter how deplorable he is.

Killers of the Flower Moon: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Based on David Grann's broadly lauded best-selling book, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.

Directed by Martin Scorsese and Screenplay by Eric Roth and Scorsese, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Jillian Dion.

Hailing from Apple Studios, Killers of the Flower Moon was produced alongside Imperative Entertainment, Sikelia Productions, and Appian Way. Producers are Scorsese, Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, and Daniel Lupi, with DiCaprio, Rick Yorn, Adam Somner, Marianne Bower, Lisa Frechette, John Atwood, Shea Kammer, and Niels Juul serving as executive producers. It will be released in theaters on October 20th.

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