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Welcome to this week's Reno News & Review.

I saw The Lone Ranger on July 3, paying the Costco ticket price for myself, my girl and my son. What a piece of shit. I can't remember ever being actually offended by the lack of quality in a movie before, although I have complained about the cowardice and lack of creativity in movie studios the last few years or so.

But The Lone Ranger's remarkable stupidity has left me still shaking my head two days later. This movie unquestionably aimed at the lowest common denominator of the viewing public, and the studio undershot even that.

Since the movie failed on every level—story, acting, special effects—it's hard to focus on one thing, but I guess I'll point to the character Tonto, played by Johnny Depp.

As my son said as we walked out of the theater, “I thought Johnny Depp could play pretty much anything he wanted to.” This role showed that sometimes even Johnny Depp will just act for the money. He had to know that this was going to be a cultural hot-button role. And yet, his, and most of the characters, were portrayed as though this were a remake of Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles—only re-imagined as a drama.

Couldn't somebody have raised their hand during filming and said, “We're really piling on the cultural stereotypes here”?

Not all older people suffer from dementia. Not all native people have magical spirituality that manifests in real life. Not all native spirituality is a sight gag. Not all insane people are wise. Not all native people are just white people with make-up. Not all native people who communicate mainly with English speakers can't speak in English.

Stereotypes are misconceptions that are perpetrated in popular culture. When characters in books or movies are unintentionally based on these misconceptions, it's called bad writing. It's not just bad writing for the groups misrepresented, it's bad for all the people whose intelligence has just been insulted.

Man, what people won't do for money.