Depp is undoubtedly the star of the film, and (title notwithstanding), Tonto is the focal character: he’s first glimpsed in elderly form, as a literal museum exhibit, branded “The Noble Savage” before coming to life to tell his story to a little boy in a Lone Ranger mask (and yes, this framing device is as stupid as it sounds, an ill-conceived wraparound that merely suggests the screenwriters rented Little Big Man somewhere along the line). In interviews, Depp has insisted he sees his characterization as an attempt to “right the wrongs of the past” or “an opportunity for me to salute Native Americans.” But the trouble with the character, as it’s played in the film, is that it’s so totally muddled. I was told I was Creek as a kid and Chickasaw” - but activists note he’s never had his claims verified.) (Depp has made vague claims of Native American heritage - “I was told I was Cherokee as a kid. Director Verbinski reportedly suggested the role to Depp while making one of their Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and Depp locked on it - in spite of the fact that he’s not Native American, and “red-face” is kinda frowned upon these days. So why bother? Why go to the trouble of opening up that can of worms? Perusing the film’s production history, it would seem that there’s one answer: because Johnny Depp wanted to. The character of Tonto - particularly the television version, played by Jay Silverheels - became the default image of the Native American in the eyes of much of the country, his speech and mannerisms a go-to boilerplate whose influence still holds. Some background, for those of you (that is, most of you) who weren’t around for the Lone Ranger’s original outings: the stern Western crime-fighter’s trusty sidekick on his adventures is Tonto, a Native American tracker who chants, speaks in broken English, and basically encapsulates the “Indian” stereotypes of the American Western from the invention of film until, oh, the 1970s.
THE LONE RANGER TONTO MOVIE
The fumbling of that issue isn’t the sole undoing of Gore Verbinski’s new movie - there’s plenty of other flaws - but it sure doesn’t help. But more than that, those characters don’t come with any of the loaded racial iconography that a 2013 film adaptation must contend with. It’s not like rebooting the Superman or Spider-Man franchise, perpetual favorites of lucrative young moviegoers and fanboys.
THE LONE RANGER TONTO SERIAL
This is a character still best known from a ‘30s radio serial and a ‘50s television show (his most recent big-screen incarnation, 1981’s The Legend of the Lone Ranger, was a notorious boondoggle), so the audience that might be interested is, it seems, just about the right age to have no desire whatsoever to sit through a two-and-a-half-hour Johnny Depp summer blockbuster. It’s not like anyone was clamoring for it, or that there’s some kind of built-in brand recognition. The important question, when you get right down to it, is why the hell they wanted to make The Lone Ranger in the first place.