Minecraft Movie Starts with Land Acknowledgement
By: Charlotte Dekle
LOS ANGELES, CA—In a bizarre turn for the fantasy adventure comedy that grossed $317 katrillion at the US box office, The Minecraft Movie, sorry “A Minecraft Movie” began with a land acknowledgement.
Before Steve (Jack Black), expert crafter, tries to fulfill his childhood dream of violating child labor laws, audiences were treated to a black screen that scrolled Star Wars-style with text:
“The Minecraft Movie, f*ck sorry, A Minecraft Movie recognizes that we occupy land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the indigenous people, animals, and undead ghouls of the Overworld and the Nether. We acknowledge that settler colonization resulted in the chopping down of trees, ore-mining, killing of monsters, decimation of the native land, and broken promises. This acknowledgment demonstrates our responsibility and commitment to community, health, meditation, and healing and to elevating the stories and culture of the original inhabitants of this land” it read.
The move has been criticized by all sides of the political spectrum, with conservatives lambasting it as political correctness gone mad in an ideologically pure, Reaganomic world like Minecraft and with liberals who viewed the act as performative since The A Minecraft Movie has done no real work in empowering indigenous voices through the creation and release of the film.
Audiences were confused at the seemingly random inclusion of the acknowledgement at the start of the highest grossing box office film of all time (adjusted for inflation). “I just came to see two men in their prime play and have fun together with blocks, not any of this woke shit” viewer Bill Buckley mumbled as he exited the theater.
When asked about its inclusion, the director Jared Hess, who claimed he was 1/16 Cherokee and 1/18 Villager, just kinda shrugged and sulked off. “This was pre-election,” Hess later said in a statement, “we weren’t sure which direction the country was going to go politically. We made a decision based on the information we had at the time. Ummm…I mean…our VFX team are from New Zealand…they have a fucked up colonialist past.”
The film’s awkward start does not seem to be hindering its growth, seeing as it has become both a commercial and critical darling racking up early Oscar buzz, with Chicken Jockey in the running for Best Actor.
