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The Disney film Pocahontas can be viewed as a false portrayal of American history. Although it may have been made for entertainment purposes, Pocahontas is regarded to be a coming of age film for children due to its didacticism. The life lessons that one could possibly take away from the film are considerably positive, but the depiction of Native American and European cultures is deceitful. Most Disney films involve “epic romances,” in the case of Pocahontas one is not necessarily needed to convey the message of the film. Even though historical films cannot always be accurate to actual events, this film manages to stray away from the actual historical story of Pocahontas entirely. Due to this, children are presented with false information that they perceive to be true. Adults on the other hand might just perceive the fictionalized account as source for their children to learn sugarcoated lessons and not historical facts. While distorting historical facts, Pocahontas fulfills the typical Disney film mold as it incorporates multiple moralities for its audiences. Pocahontas manages to portray Native Americans in a negative light. When the Europeans arrive in Jamestown, they immediately begin looking for gold and anything else that may be of value. John Smith ends up sneaking around with Pocahontas where he explains to her that his people can improve the lives of her people: "we've improved the lives of savages all over the world" (Gabriel and Goldberg, 1995). If children happen the miss the significance of the word savages, an entire song is dedicated to stressing the point. Even though the lyrics of the song titled "Savages" was altered for the film based on their racist nature, the new lyrics still describe the Native Americans a... ... middle of paper ... ...he love at first sight storyline does not detract from the message as it shows two people from different sides working together for what ultimately seems to be the same end goal. Since this is the first Disney movie to have an interracial romance, I feel that it has some importance. If anything, it may even teach people that skin color and background do not matter when it comes to love. Although the Disney film Pocahontas fictionalizes real accounts in American history, it provides audiences with basic life lessons. The Native Americans in the film are shown negatively compared to the Europeans. A child watching the film might not understand the relationship between the two groups, the film pushes the idea that Native Americans are bad while the Europeans are good. Adults may view the film more critically than children, but the morals are the same across all ages.

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