It is a well known debate across generations: should the Disney Pocahontas movie? Is it purely insulting with no redeemable qualities?
Reel Injun mentioned the controversy for only a moment but made an excellent point. Disney Pocahontas painted the American Dream of the Native American princess and not a solid depiction. There are definitely two sides to that coin. Is Pocahontas offensive to Native Americans? Yes. Did it inspire generations of young girls and people? Yes. Here are just a few examples:
Reel Injun mentioned the controversy for only a moment but made an excellent point. Disney Pocahontas painted the American Dream of the Native American princess and not a solid depiction. There are definitely two sides to that coin. Is Pocahontas offensive to Native Americans? Yes. Did it inspire generations of young girls and people? Yes. Here are just a few examples:
Pros of Disney Pocahontas:
- strived for peace between people
- uses her brain instead of weapons or fists to solve problems
- does represent (even if considered poorly) a real heroine
- calls people out on racism
- athletic and thrill seeking
- broke the Disney mold for how princesses look.
- John Smith really did become friends with her father and tribe
Cons of Disney Pocahontas:
- very inaccurately shown as older which is turn makes the story less uneasy that events took place when she was 11 and not what appeared to be early 20's.
- her best friend appears to be the every flowing leaves and wind accompanied by magic glowing lights
- made her the only one to see both sides and ways of thinking
- there were many more fights between the tribes and colonial settlers
- perpetuates a dishonest and self-serving myth at the expense of the Pohawtan nation
- promoted damaged stereotypes of the Native American nation
- love triangle
TV tropes Pocahontas fulfills (both negative and positive):
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Pocahontas
The real vs. Disney Pocahontas:
http://pocahontas.morenus.org/
In my Disney 2016 trip in November I found you can still meet Pocahontas. More than a decade later she is appreciated and relevant, inspiring young girls and all kinds of people to look into and learn about the real Pocahontas and her tribe. My cousin, thanks to her Guatemalan heritage, looks just like Pocahontas thus the Disney princess her daughters love is Pocahontas. They don't rely on old styles of distressed damsels for childhood inspiration and morals, but a strong willed, fierce woman who's not afraid to speak mind and stand up for what she believes in. Not only an animated woman, but one who lived in real life.
She might fall under means to an end. People were and are still offended by the Pocahontas movie and understandably so. I am still inspired by her in both the animated and the real girl. There is a difference between accepting a fantasized version as truth and taking it with a grain of salt. Disney Pocahontas should be loved and inspired for who she is as a character and story completely apart from the real life Pocahontas who should be known and appreciated by her real traits and story and not those imposed by Disney. I believe each can be loved and teach lessons without hating the other.
I really appreciated your take on Pocahontas and how you stated both sides of hollywoods depiction on Native Americans, such as in the movie Pocahontas. I find it important to see all perspectives of a controversial issue. Although, in many instances the movie Pocahontas can be stereotypical and politically incorrect, it still is an important movie for young people today. I liked your example of how your cousin went to Disney World to see "Pocahontas," and how it brought pride to your cousin for having her own cultural background. Pocahontas has taught many young women and girls to be fierce, mindful, educated, strong willed, and a person who is real, not made up to be a "mystical" character. There may be many reasons to find this movie offensive, in many ways it is, but I find it to be inspiring on Pocahontas's part. I agree with you, that she should be loved and she should be an inspiration to other women and girls out in the real world today. Use her story and use the Pocahontas movie for an appreciation of her real traits, her real story, not necessarily the Disney version.
ReplyDelete-Janee Deck
13 February 17
I agree with many various points you and Janee brought up in your posts. Additionally, I am glad that you added the positive qualities of the movie and you had a personal experience you could share. I liked how you brought up the point that Pocahontas breaks the mold of a typical Disney princess. It was refreshing to see a princess from a different ethnicity and living in a less typical "princess" setting. I do believe the movie has some good qualities it can teach younger children watching the movie, but I can still acknowledge some of the harm it could do. However, I do believe that if children were exposed and were taught of different Native American tribes in school and everyday life, the movie would not have been as harmful. If children had previous knowledge and experience, I think it would be more possible for audiences to acknowledge that not all Native American women are like Pocahontas. I believe if there were more movies and TV shows that promoted and showed authentic Native American tribes and people, young children would not be so heavily influenced by Pocahontas. Hopefully in the future, children will have more experience and knowledge about Native American tribes rather than "learning" about it through a Disney movie.
ReplyDeleteI like how you analyzed the differences between the real and Disney version of Pocahontas. I appreciate the new traits that the character of Pocahontas brought to Disney's princesses. While I agree that she is a good Disney character, I do not think that it's fair for Disney to take and completely misrepresent a real story like that, especially one that, if at all taught, probably isn't accurately taught to children. With such little Native American representation, I think it's important to make accurate the representation that exists.
ReplyDeleteI like hearing discussions of this movie because it's interesting to me to see how other people consider the affects of the good moral themes in the movie versus the harmful stereotypes. What's especially interesting to me is that the actor who plays Pocahontas's father, Russell Means, was a well-known Native actor and activist, and actually appears a few times in "Reel Injun" talking about the damage Native American stereotypes can do. It makes me wonder how he felt about the stereotypes in Pocahontas, and if he felt that the overall message of the movie outweighed the somewhat one-dimensional portrayal of Native Americans. It also makes me realize how much other Native actors must have to compromise just to be part of stories about people like them.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that this is a 10/10 analysis of the differences between the real Pocahontas and the Disney character. I loved the pros and cons you offered on the character. As I child I was in love with this Disney princess. I viewed her as this mystical character, who was kind and caring. Now as an adult I do see how it was wrong for Disney to stray away and depict a story, instead of telling the truth. As much as I am in love with this Disney princess, she is falling into the stereotype of the "mystical and wise Native". This is just one example of the misrepresentation of the Native American community in film.
ReplyDeleteI love the topic you chose to write about. I think it was great for you to pull out a topic that was so quickly brought up in Reel Injun. I believe that the topic is deeply controversial. I think the movie has played a significant role in creating and supporting the stereotypes formed for Native Americans today. The idea that Native Americans are so in-tune with nature that they can actually talk to trees and animals; a very far fetched stereotype that I have grown up with. The the white men both casually and progressively referring to the Native Americans in the movie as "savages," creating an image and making it seem normal to do so... I think the movie does capture the beauty and innocence of the Native American culture, but I do not think it really represents what it truly was and stood/stands for.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the errors in my comment above. There are two errors in one sentence; there should only be one "the" and it should say aggressively not progressively. It should be "The white men both causally an aggressively referring to the Native Americans in the movie as "Savages," creating an image..." Thanks!
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