There are many reasons that people might want to sue Steven Spielberg – like his inability to end a film satisfactorily or his silly beard – but suing Steven Spielberg over a girl’s haircut seems a bit far-fetched.
But that’s what happened; a family suing – if not Steven Spielberg personally – a TV show which Steven Spielberg executive produced for giving their daughter’s barnet a quick trim without their permission. The haircut went against the tribal customs of the family, and the slight can only be remedied with cold hard wedges of cash.
Steven Spielberg (DVDs) doesn’t just make films with disappointing endings,
you know. He also executive produces TV shows which laugh in the face
of age-old Mescalero Apache tribal customs. The family of
eight-year-old Christina Ponce is suing one of these shows after
Christina’s hair was cut off to make her look more like a boy.
The mini-series, Into The West, is based on the novel by Max McCoy
about two families getting on against the backdrop of the American West
and is made by Turner Films Inc, who the Ponces are suing after a
make-up artist apparently cut off most of Christina’s hair without
realising that the Mescalero culture forbids any of that malarkey. According to court papers, Christina
Ponce’s hair was cut by a make-up artist to:
"make her look more ‘Indian’ and like a male Indian
child because the movie casting call failed to produce sufficient young
male extras of Indian heritage."
However,
the haircut has – in effect – knackered any chances Christina ever had of
becoming a woman. Mescalero culture states that a girl’s hair must go
untouched as she approaches puberty, as a coming of age ceremony takes
place once her hair reaches her waist.
Faced with such a devastating
personal and cultural mishap, the Ponce family are seeking $250,000 from Turner Films Inc for
emotional distress, plus another $75,000 in damages. On the bright side, that
money will go a long way to buying Christina Ponce a lovely set of
hair extensions. Just like Chantelle.
Read more:
Spielberg series sued for haircut – BBC
[story by Stuart Heritage]