Last night I went to the late show with a friend. We selected Wind River. Solid reviews; racial-justice issue; showing at a local independent theater. Seemed a worthy choice.

The film proved both troubling and predictable, written and directed with the same thematic bias driving super hero fantasies: Heavily armed white guys, (or a young, beautiful, gun-wielding, white woman), portrayed as the default saviors of all our vulnerable populations. And so the myth continues.

Taylor Sheridan claims the Wind River story is "based on thousands of actual stories just like it." Really? All those thousands of actual stories in which five or six armed law enforcement officers square off with five or six heavily armed oil rig employees in a scene reminiscent of the O.K. Corral? All those thousands of actual stories in which a rookie and ill-prepared female FBI agent gets locked and loaded and miraculously survives after deferring to vigilante wisdom? All those thousands of actual stories in which two grieving men speak in cryptic language about a revenge killing and equate that outcome with justice?

The intention of the film, exposing our country's disregard for the plight of American Indian females who are murdered or go missing in criminally disproportionate numbers every year, was sacrificed in that uniquely Hollywood style. Here was an opportunity to educate the public; to paint a picture. Here was an opportunity to shed light on the complex cycle of poverty, racism and misogyny that continue to haunt our species. But, in the end, Wind River's creators were more aligned with the market-based principles of cinematic success than the cutting-edge challenge of ignorance. Perhaps the former objective will be met. I had hoped for the latter.

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Statistics themselves can appear dry and spiritless, less able to conjure empathy than shocking photos or enhanced films. But when the product of suffering is perpetually portrayed as an armed evil, then the correct response is mistakenly assumed to be a blast of testosterone and rapid fire weapons. This cultural delusion misses the mark entirely. We are, as a species, the worse off for the endless reinforcement of this machine-enhanced white warrior myth.

Conditions on the American Indian reservations are horrendous, evidently especially so on Wind River. Average life expectancy on the reservation is reportedly 49 years of age, "twenty years fewer than Iraq." Nation wide, American Indians are "twice as likely as any other race to die before the age of 24." And while addressing the violence perpetrated by non-Indians against American Indian women has indeed been hampered by political inertia and the "indefensible morass of complex, conflicting and illogical commands" foisted upon tribal law enforcement, "Native American men have been found to be dying at the fastest rate of all people."

It is also true that higher rates of domestic violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, and child abuse plague reservation communities. Of course, much of the same can be said of Suffolk County, Long Island. Nonetheless, when people are perpetually held in an economic strangle hold, they are more likely to perpetrate violence against themselves, and are far more vulnerable to violence perpetrated by individuals wielding power from outside their community as well. As Martin Luther King so desperately longed for people across the color spectrum to appreciate, it is the combination of prejudice and poverty that fuels intolerance and inequality in this nation, and nations around the globe for that matter.

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The cycles of economic and racial inequality, which in turn fuel cycles of violence, are complex and entrenched, and therefore interventions of any kind will forever be vulnerable to a host of unintended consequences. 'Helpful policies' to assist marginalized groups often fall short. Perhaps as Indian Country Diaries asserts when it comes to addressing substance abuse, addressing issues of violence within and against the native population "must come from within Indian Country" itself. If so, WEWIN (Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations) is worthy of our support.

In any case, once individuals of any racial group pass the age of 35, the leading causes of death quickly shift toward cardiovascular disease, diabetes and kidney complications, with substance abuse and suicide continuing to vie for high rankings. And patiently slogging though the identification and treatment of these pernicious conditions are legions of underpaid social workers, public health nurses, case-managers, doctors, teachers, counselors... the list goes on. I would wager none of these professional have ever been aided or inspired in their mission by a fleet of three-quarter ton pick up trucks spewing snow mobiles and heavily armed men.

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{As to the topic of guns and protection, I will defer to this article: "Does Carrying a Pistol Make You Safer." Frankly, I am far more concerned if your carrying a gun makes me and those around me much safer. There is scant evidence in support of that latter hypothesis. Concealed weapon expert, Mark Cortis, a veteran firearms instructor, strongly urges CPL (concealed pistol license) students to get more training, but adds "hardly any of them ever do." He goes on: "One of my concerns about state requirements for getting a CPL is that they don't really include the tactics and the strategy that one will need to win or prevail in an actual gun situation." Given the frequency of poor outcomes which regularly manifest in incidents involving professionals trained for armed engagement, I would assume Mr. Cortis knows of what he speaks. But I'll leave you to sort that out on your own.}

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As much as the likes of Hollywood and HBO try to convince us otherwise, life is rarely a drama, rarely an emergency, rarely a call to arms. And even in those rare instances when an acute and violent situation arises, it is how we wield our words, not our weapons, that has been proven to have the greatest potential to save the day. Law enforcement agencies are doing their best to train their rank and file in accordance with the fact.

It only makes sense. Gun violence is the tip of a deep and pervasive ice-berg. The vast majority of violence, most especially violence against women, is perpetrated within the context of language; written, spoken and implied. It is from this cultural turn of the blind eye that physical violence is spawned. So the most effective contribution we can all make to deescalating violence is to monitor our own words and the intention with which they are fired. And for those of us that want to do more, Futures Without Violence or The Center for Nonviolent Communication are great places to start.

Armed hero fantasies, the inclination to rush in and use force to save the day, will forever hold an appeal. And the core intention, rescue, is certainly a humane one. But until we all address our private bigotry and the subtle ways we continue to invest in the 'armed white savior' myth, we will miss the champion mark entirely. In the meantime, the Justice League may stand down.

Linda J. Rohan, ARNP