Young actress wants more than Hollywood's stereotypes

Page 14

Even though Los Angels is home for now, home is where the heart is and

for 15-year-old Crystle Lightning, that is the Enoch First Nation in

Alberta. When Crystle left the reserve eight years ago, one could say

she was already a seasoned traveller. At the ripe old age of four,

Crystle started as a model doing catalogue work out of Edmonton. By the

age of 10, she was traveling across Canada doing bridal shows.

Since arriving in Los Angeles, Crystle has appeared in five films and

recently won a First American In The Arts (FAITA) award for her role in

Three Ninjas Knuckle Up. The young actress made a noticeable impression

on the Native entertainment community when, during her acceptance speech

for the award, she asked the audience not to forget about the youth on

the reserves. For Crystle, this is a plea close to her heart.

"In the past year, four of my cousins have committed suicide. One of my

cousins hung herself and she was only 13 years old. Another one shot

himself in the head. The kids on the reserves don't see any good

things, any good people around them. They can't take it anymore and

just end their lives. It makes me so mad. I don't see anybody trying

to do anything. They just sit around and pretend it's like a regular

thing," she said from her home in Los Angeles.

Crystle blames many of the current youth problems on their exposure to

alcohol and substance abuse. She feels the greatest damage from this

exposure is that children grow up with a sense of hopelessness. On

visits home, the teenager likes to spend time with her peers, answering

their questions about life in Hollywood and ties to inspire them with

positive messages and advise. Also, she feels young people need to

interact more with role models closer to their own age group and who are

from the same community. Crystle hopes that talking about her

experiences, both in and outside of Los Angeles, will encourage young

people to have a more positive outlook on life.

Much of Crystle's own positive attitude comes from her upbringing. Her

mother, Georgina Lightning, has always encouraged her daughter to

believe in dreams and instills a sense of purpose in all her three

children. Crystle acknowledges that if it had not been for her mother

being such a powerful role model and teaching her the importance of

family, she could have easily drifted into gangs.

"A couple of years ago, I was going through that stage. A lot of my

friends were in gangs and I was getting into it too. I was curious to

see what it was like, why did they want to act so tough and bad all the

time. Then I thought: "What am I doing?" I turned around and said this

isn't right. I was constantly on a guilt trip of why I am doing this

when my mom is trying so hard for me. That would be so disrespectful

and mean to just forget about all the things she's taught me. I

couldn't do that to her, I couldn't hurt her like that," said Crystle.

Many people may think that the reserves in Alberta, are a far cry from

gang infested Los Angeles, however Hollywood films have made a huge

impression on the youth. Even remote and isolated communities are

finding there is no immunity from the far reaching influence of gangs.

Crystle says boredom and a loss of cultural identity makes kids

potentially easy targets.

"They should have more youth groups, build camps, build community

centers where they can play basketball. A place where they can do good

things for themselves. The kids see them building jails so they think

that they are already going to turn out bad. They give up on life.

They need more educators on the reserves and be able to talk to people

who have made it through tough times. The kids see all these movies

about Mexican gangs and they think it's cool. So instead of learning

Cree they want to learn Spanish. Kids need to understand and learn

about who they are. Once you learn about yourself, then it's a good

thing to learn about other cultures," she said.

Right now Crystle is between projects and looks foward to working on

contemporary films where she can develop her craft as an actress as well

as making a positive impact as a role model. At such a young age,

Crystle is already aware that she will have to contend with Hollywood's

stereotype regarding roles for Native actors. Crystle has no qualms

about taking on that challenge and sees it as one of her

responsibilities to make changes that will eventually create more and

better opportunities for the generation coming up.

"I'm responsible for keeping up my culture and not letting it go. Also

in helping my brothers know who they are. Indians are always being

portrayed as alcoholics and always being defeated. I'd be a hypocrite if

I accepted a role that continued that image. I'd turn something down if

I thought it would hurt Native people," she said.