As any multinational country, the USA has to face the issues of racism towards national and ethnic minorities every day. The history of interactions between the settlers and the Native Americans has lasted for centuries. Many problems have been solved, many confrontations overcome, but some very important issues still bother American society nowadays.
The themes explored in the film Pocahontas, created by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, are various. Mainly though, it is a theme of confrontation between “good” and “bad,” yet, the makers of the film did not pay much attention to how they portrayed the Native Americans. This is why the perspective of the whole movie looks one-sided. The Indians are portrayed as an underdeveloped, wild, and aggressive nation. Their rivals, the European settlers, are shown as a more “advanced” society. The fact that Pocahontas disobeyed her father and left the tribe is considered a good deed. In general, the movie shows Native Americans as a dying culture that used to be a great and prosperous long time ago (Pewewardy, 1997).
A modern look at the lyrics of the songs from this film reveals multiple racist definitions and offensive addresses to the Native American representatives. Besides, the traditional for all Disney movies happy end twists the real events, where the newcomers killed most of the natives and took away their territories (Nunez, 2010). The film is made for the audience consisting of young children, and it provides some incorrect knowledge. For example, Pocahontas speaks English as her native language. Besides, her commitment to a white man is shown as the leading quality of her being a “good Indian.” Pewewardy also notices that today Native Americans are considered as a non-existent culture that nowadays is nothing more than a mix of many tribal societies (1997).
Pocahontas is one of the main symbols of Native American culture for modern people. Other symbols and signs that define Indians in the film are their ability to interact with the powers of nature, speak with trees and animals. Another sign of their culture shown in the movie is the tradition of arranged marriages that Pocahontas rebels against. As for the negative representations, Native Americans are often described as uncivilized and not very bright people.
The image of Native Americans as barbarians is mentioned in several dialogues and songs of the film, Indians are called “savages, the people who are uncivilized” (Pentecost, 1995). In the film’s context, it is emphasized many times that the life of “savages” must be improved by the newcomers.
The Native American society of that time is shown in the movie as the society with many various problems. First of all – John Smith notices that the houses Indians live in are not good; the society is not rich; it has economic issues. Moreover, the social and political problems of the Native American society are presented through the leadership of one chief, whose authority is not supposed to be argued with. This is viewed as a lack of democracy. Arranged marriage is shown as a serious social issue and an attribute of an old-fashioned way of living. At the end of the movie, John Smith is wounded, and due to this fact, he must return to his motherland, as the Indians are not advanced enough to provide medical care for him.
In conclusion, the film “Pocahontas” is legendary, and even though it is almost twenty years old, it is still popular and watched in the US. The film is filled with historical and ethical mistakes, which affect the lives of modern Native Americans, especially their younger generations. To my mind, it would be appropriate for Walt Disney Pictures to consider creating a remake of the movie with all the necessary adjustments.
Works Cited
Nunez, V. (2010). Pocahontas. Web.
Pentecost, J. (Producer), Gabriel, M. and Goldberg, E. (Directors). (1995). Pocahontas [Motion picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Web.
Pewewardy , C. (1997). The Pocahontas Paradox: A Cautionary Tale for Educators. Web.