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An Analysis of “Disney’s Politically Correct Pocahontas” Sixteen years after premiering as Disney’s thirty-third animated film, Pocahontas still incites excitement and wonder within those who wish for nothing more than to be a Disney princess. As Disney’s most notable attempt at political correctness, Pocahontas was created to entertain while attempting to maintain authenticity in regards to historical accuracy and in its fairness of depicting Native American culture. Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, the author of “Disney’s ‘Politically Correct’ Pocahontas”, feels the movie not only failed at being historically accurate but that it fell far short of being politically correct. The article, which appeared in the Fall, 1995 issue of Cineaste, contends the Disney production was duty bound in preserving the integrity of the Pocahontas legend and being both multiculturally and socially inoffensive. However, if being politically correct and constantly factual within any version of media made for entertainment were the standard, we would be left with documentaries and non-fiction. Artistic license allows for a literal account of events to become an engaging, accessible production. Kilpatrick contends that Disney was ineffective in developing the essence of Pocahontas and was solely concerned with creating a visually stimulating, condensed, romanticized film. “Pocahontas was a real woman who lived during the pivotal time of first contact,” according to Kilpatrick. The film took historical figures and created fictional characters by turning an adolescent girl into a mature, sexualized woman, a mercenary into a “blonde Adonis” and evil villains out of English settlers. Kilpatrick’s Cintron 2 disdain for the method in which Disney used to manipul... ... middle of paper ... ...erse fact. The essence of Pocahontas’ history is debatable, with very few documented facts. Pocahontas lived over four hundred years ago, and the known facts may also be manipulated. The story John Smith recounted of his own ordeal may have been altered to suit his own needs. The truth of the story may not be the facts given of the story. The essence of Pocahontas’ legend is really what is argued. Some may object to Disney’s version of the tale; however, it is Disney’s version to tell. Since Disney’s Snow White appeared in 1937, Disney princesses have been a present in pop culture. With the release of new movies frequent and re-release of decades old movies inevitable, a continuous stream keeps Disney princesses in the foreground of adolescent society. It is with the value of entertainment they have been created and as entertainment they should be viewed.
The Disney movie Pocahontas is not historically accurate. There are many differences in the plot and characters. A few are that there was no love story between Pocahontas and John Smith, Pocahontas was 12 not 20 when John Smith came, John Smith was not tall and blond, and in the movie, they came to Jamestown in one ship. There are much more ways that the Movie is not historically accurate, but you can already see that it was very different from what actually happened.
The Historical Interaction Between the Europeans and Indians in the Disney Movie Pocahontas Over the past couple of weeks, we have been studying the story of the Native American (Indian) princess, Pocahontas. We have studied both literature and the 1995 Disney movie. I am going to write about what methods are used to portray the relationship between these two civilisations. Both media portray the same relationship between the civilisations; this is one of mistrust, misunderstanding and dislike. From the moment the Europeans landed in "the new world", the natives were not sure of what to think of them, they looked different, sounded different and carried themselves differently.
The main characters of the film were John Smith, Pocahontas and John Rolfe. Usually it is hard for films to portray c...
In 1995, Disney released their 33rd animated feature, Pocahontas, another film that featured Native Americans, but this time being the main focus. While generally receiving mixed to positive reviews and being a box office success, the film was harshly criticized for its historical inaccuracies and deemed offensive for seeming to have a bigger focus on the negative treatment of Pocahontas and her tribe by the Englishmen. Many critics argued that the film presents damaging stereotypes of American Indians. One of the native critics, Chief Roy Crazy Horse, claimed that Disney refused his tribe's offers to help create not only a more historically accurate, but also a more cultural film adaptation of the story. The lyrics of the
In the essay, Disney’s “Politically Correct” Pocahontas written by Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, a considerable and well-known example of the media misleading the public, the Disney movie, Pocahontas is discussed.
To conclude with “The General History of Virginia” and Disney’s version of Pocahontas, the two stories had two different opinions and views. Although, Disney’s portrayal of Pocahontas was perceived as an offense to the Native Americans, no one really knows the actual events that took place during that time. People will continue to think that John Smith’s version was a bit hysterical, while the Native Americans will take the Disney movie Pocahontas to an offense. John Smith and Disney both gave their own versions of their story. Others will continue to do the same.
In the Disney movie Pocahantas there are some historical inaccuracies. For example her age is said to be around 11 years old when she met John Smith in 1607. In the Disney film they bumped up her age to go alone with John Smith's age. In the movie John and Pocahanatas meet almost instantly after he lands in America. According to the History books Pocahantas meets John when he gets captured by her brother Opechancanough.
In the cartoon film “Pocahontas” Disney screen writers attempted to make a film that could depict a certain period of history while still making it entertaining for younger viewers. The film was meant to introduce the history of early colonization in America to younger generations in ways that would be easy to understand, yet educational because of the topic matter. However, because of the numerous historical inaccuracies, it's almost as if Disney completely disregarded the historical aspect of the story and took an entirely different route. Overall, there are several historical accuracies and inaccuracies that leave historians to question the historical value of the film and the lessons it is teaching to younger generations on early American
...n a bit of a glamorous image as Pocahontas has been depicted as a beautiful, free spirited, brave and independent girl. Pocahontas is known, primarily because she became the hero of Euro-Americans as the "good Indian", one who saved the life of a white man. Not only is the "good Indian/bad Indian theme" inevitably given new life by Disney, but the history, as recorded by the English themselves, is badly falsified in the name of entertainment. Bibliography http://cougar.ucdavis.edu/nas/varese/nas191/Marie/home.html http://mytwobeadsworth.com/NAreclaimhollyimage.html http://www.academon.com/lib/paper/5846.html http://www.indiancountry.com/article/2565 http://www.free-termpapers.com/tp/30/mlo89.shtml http://www.uwm.edu/Library/special/exhibits/clastext/clspg135.htm http://www.powhatan.org/pocc.html http://nativenet.uthscsa.edu/alison-thesis/relation.html
Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite their mask of progression, Disney princesses still have the potential to corrupt the minds of young children through sexism and racism.
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
When sitting down to watch either a TV or a movie, it is not thought about how much it references the fundamentals of American politics. Whether it is politics, political power, one of the bases of democracy, federalism or political culture, it is shown in almost every episode of a television series or movie that is produced. With so many crime dramas on TV or war movies that come out to theaters where it is obvious to see the connection between the two, a not so common place that one would think to see the fundamentals of American politics would be in Disney movies. Over the almost decade that Disney has been producing movies, a handful of them show many different aspects of American politics, one of which is Pocahontas.
Disney’s intentions were more than to captivate young children. They were ultimately to retell the original story of Pocahontas and the settlers and to address social issues of lifestyle and acceptance depending on race and the way they are being treated, proving that marriage isn’t all that important and addressing familial gender roles in society based on having a mother figure. Since 1995, the story of Pocahontas serves to entertain the young minds of children, but none the less the messages for seen in the movie, are mentioned to stress the issues of a series of systems in which maintain the imbalance of power among society’s social organization.
Pocahontas, whose real name was Matoaka, was daughter of Powhatan, an important chief of the Algonquian Indians (the Powhatans) who lived in the Virginia region in the 1600s. While she is known for one of the most important decisions she made later in her life, the life she led before that is can be considered somewhat normal. A young girl, around twelve, Pocahontas was already introduced and aware of the world around her. English settlers arrived at Jamestown, or America, and almost immediately tensions rose between the English and the Indians of the Powhatan tribe. Pocahontas, being the daughter of the extremely powerful chief, took on the role of peacemaker; her own people loved and respected her immensely and she became well liked by the English settlers. In 1607, Pocahontas committed a heroic act that is still being researched today. Besides Captain John Smith, there are no other sources and/or evidence to conform the event. However, how the story is said to of happened is that Captain John Smith was leading an expedition when suddenly the Indians took him captive. The great chief forced Smith to stretch out on two large, flat stones and Indians stood over him with clubs as though ready to beat him to death if ordered. Suddenly, Pocahontas, only twelve, emerged and rushed to Smith’s side and laid her own body on top of his, appearing as if to sacrifice herself. As a result of Pocahontas’ brave act, she saved Smith and relations between the Indians and English continued to be generally friendly. (Fausz "Pocahontas"; Townsend “Pocahontas”).
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.