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AfterTwilight , some rooter assumed thatTaylor Lautnerhad Native American ancestry considering his character ’s ethnicity . Lautner ride the monolithic pop acculturation moving ridge that wastheTwilightfranchise , which began in 2005 with the first of Stephenie Meyer ’s novels . It did n’t take long for a movie adaptation to come around , consideringHarry Potterwas in the middle of its runnel of fancy al-Qur’an - to - movie productions . Casting determination were highly foreknow , andTaylor Lautner as Jacob Black felt like the consummate choice for the high school boy next door / lycanthrope .
Lautner was only eff for one matter beforeTwilight — his starring character inThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3 - Das Sharkboy , a picture that was entirely purport at children . Twilightsignaled a step to more adult performance , not least because of the franchise ’s concern with the loup-garou ' shape . Lautner ’s post - Twilightcareerhas been honorable if slenderly tough to decide . What has stuck with Lautner all these age is the idea that he has Native blood line , a claim based on Jacob and the werewolves ' Quileute ancestry inTwilight .
Taylor Lautner Is Not Native American (But He Claims To Have “Distant” Ancestry)
Lautner Has Distant Potawatomi And Ottawa Indian Heritage
Jacob Black and the other werewolf inTwilightare all of the Quileute kindred , a real - life history aboriginal American people centralized in the westerly portion of Washington state . It ’s not hard to see why casual fans made the bound to assume that Taylor Lautner himself was Native American , but the actor never exact he was , nor did the film producer . However , during his research for the movie , Lautner did discover he had some remote Native American ancestry(viaMTV ) ,
" And in reality , I am part Native American . We watch that through [ preparing for ] this cinema . I ’m French , Dutch and German , and on my mother ’s side , she has some Potawatomi and Ottawa Indian in her . "
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the Great Lakes region ( viaPotawatomi Heritage ) , and the Ottawa are another Great Lakes region Indian tribe ( viaOttawa Tribe ) . However , like many American Amerind tribes , they were give the axe from their native land and onto reservations where the majority of their hoi polloi now reside .
Although the Twilight films were pretty accurate to the novel , there were some twisted book moments , and the TV show reboot can fix that .
Jacob is fall from a farsighted line of shape - gear lever andthe dealership does not make a clear delineation between being a Quileute and being a shape - shifter , imply that most of the kinship group members are also figure - gear lever . In theTwilightsaga , the Quileute have a fierce and mortal rivalry with the vampire , particularly with the Cullens .
How Twilight Caused Controversy With The Real Quileute
Stephanie Meyers Took Some Liberties With Quileute History
The bearing of theQuileute inTwilighthas not gone unperceived , and their characterization in the enfranchisement has come under fervidness over the year . ANew York Timesop - ed musical composition noted ,
" To millions of ' Twilight ' fans , the Quileute are Indians whose ( fictional ) ancient pact transform young males of the kinship group into vampire - fighting wolves . To the nearly 700 remaining Quileute Indians , ' Twilight ' is the reason they are suddenly drawing extraordinary aid from the outside while they themselves remain largely shut from the vampire series ' immense commercial-grade empire . "
Meyers used some of the kin group ’s account for Jacob ’s family in her series , making some alteration to chronicle along the way . While hide - walkers are a feature of aboriginal American myth,“cold ones " , which is used to refer to vampires , do not seem in Quileute mythology .
There is a fable about the first two fellow member of the Quileute tribe being transform from wolves into humans , but there is no character to werewolf - similar creatures .
There is a caption about the first two members of the Quileute kin being transformed from savage into humanity , but there is no computer address to werewolf - similar creatures . However , the werewolves inTwilightare much more blood-related to skin - changers than the Universal Monsters ' idea of werewolves . Problematically , the tattoo Jacob shares with the other penis of the clan is based on the art style of a different tribe , the Haida res publica , and was done by a non - Native creative person .
Breaking Dawndoes reference " honest-to-goodness - existence " Children of the Moon ( " true werewolves " ) as freestanding from the human body - shifting Quileute tribe , with the Children of the Moon being closer to the horror picture show ikon .
The portraying of Jacob and his tribe being over - sexualise strong men with animalistic tendencies isa racist stereotype about Native Americans that has its base throughout all modern American history . Meyers likely did not mean to draw that connection , but it ’s there nevertheless . Taylor Lautner trifle a Native American is sure enough not the worst compositor’s case of whitewashing in Hollywood chronicle , but it ’s good to understand that even unintentional mistake can be harmful .
How The Twilight TV Show Can Fix This Controversy
Casting An Actual Native American Actor As Jacob Is A Good Start
WhiletheTwilight Sagamovie series is long - finished , fan of Stephenie Meyer ’s franchise have a very exciting project to look onward to with Netflix ’s liven TV serial adaptation of her 2020 novelMidnight Sun . Midnight Suncovers the events of the firstTwilightbook , only from Edward Cullen ’s view instead of Bella Swan ’s .
Stephenie Meyer ’s polarise Twilight series is being reboot into a brand - new TV show , but this prison term the 2000s lamia phenomenon will be animated .
With Edward as the supporter , it ’s very unbelievable that Jacob and his tribe will playact a orotund character in the Netflix series , but that does n’t mean theMidnight Sunadaptation ca n’t mend theTwilightmovies ' error . For starters , the show can cast an existent Native American actor to trifle Jacob Black . If this animated Jacob has a tattoo , Midnight Sunshould make certain that it is bona fide to the actual Quileute tribe and designed by a aboriginal American artist . The show can also due its due industriousness in hiring aboriginal American crew , founder how much the culture plays a role in this franchise .
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There ’s also the future of theTwilightbooks , which has way to write some of the enfranchisement ’s wrongs . When Meyer was giving interviews promoting theMidnight Sunbook , she bring out that she planned on writing two moreTwilightbooks , though not any time soon ( viaThe Guardian ):
“ There are two more books I think in the world that I need to pen . I have got them delineate and a chapter write I intend of the first one , so I fuck it ’s there . I am not ready to do that right now , I want to do something brand fresh . ”
This opens the door for Meyer to research Jacob and the Quileute folk further in theTwilightuniverse , and ensure that their depiction are veritable and do n’t lean into problematic stereotypes . This would best be done by refer with actual member of the tribe , of course . In a domain where this novel does get release , any film or TV adaptation would be an fantabulous chance for Native American cast and crew to be engage , thus ending the franchise on a strong note .
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Based on Stephenie Meyer ’s rule book of the same name , Twilight follows Bella Swan ( Kristen Stewart ) , who fall madly in love with Edward Cullen ( Robert Pattinson ) , who she soon find out is a vampire . Falling in love life with her at the same clock time , Edward and Bella must overcome obstacle to preserve their forbidden relationship .
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Based on Stephenie Meyer’s book of the same name, Twilight follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who falls madly in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who she soon finds out is a vampire. Falling in love with her at the same time, Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles to preserve their forbidden relationship.
