Memes are all over social media, but what about the real people who are actually in them? In #skoden, director Damien Eagle Bear examines a photo of a Blackfoot man, Pernell Bad Arm, that went viral. Initially it was commented on by many non-Indigenous people in a disrespectful way. However, the Indigenous community re-claimed it. They did so with a sense of pride, using it with the hashtag #skoden (“Let’s go then”). 

#skoden starts off strong, interviewing people who knew Bad Arm and seeing the impact the meme had on his friends and family.  We get to know the man behind the photo, which is, respectfully, never shown in its entirety.  Eagle Bear discovers he had actually interviewed Pernell Bad Arm years before while trying to make a documentary about a shelter in Lethbridge, Alberta.  This is where #skoden meanders a bit before finally settling into a deeper story about the city of Lethbridge and its unhoused Indigenous population, likely closer to the film Eagle Bear initially wanted to make. 

Bad Arm is a seemingly gentle and non-confrontational man whose photo was taken out of context. The documentary weaves his history through this complex relationship between a city and a population it underserves.  Its effectiveness varies as it tries to balance the intricacies of both this man and the system who let him down.  There are many deeper issues at play here – overt racism, the influence of residential schools on the Indigenous population, and addiction. It’s difficult in 75 minutes to create a comprehensive look at such complexities, but #skoden creates enough understanding.  “We’re all in the same boat,” it concludes, we are all just people.  We need to do better.  We need to listen. This film may be a good first step for some.  

Courtesy of Hot Docs