Ideologies are sets of actions and behaviors that an individual or society considers right to follow. Most of the time, society judges its members based on such standards of behaviors and actions. Anybody who goes against these standards is often considered immoral and a traitor to the course of society (Sutherland 143). Pocahontas is a movie that tells the heroic story of a Native American woman who meets British colonists and falls in love with one of them, Captain John Smith. The main theme in this movie is a woman’s capability to make her own decisions and stand by them, even during harsh opposition.
The film, however, allows John Smith’s heroic act of blocking a bullet meant to kill Powhatan to overshadow Pocahontas’ role as a hero in the movie. The purpose of this essay is, therefore, to demonstrate how Roy Disney counters the infamous social ideology that demeans women and exalts their male counterparts. At the same time, it also shows the reality about the status of men and women in society; men dominate the leadership and decision-making. Disney portrays women as brave and sensitive through the actions of a female character, Pocahontas, who challenges his father’s authority, but also acknowledges the men’s bravery, using a daring and courageous British Colonist, Captain Smith, who takes a bullet for Chief Powhatan. As such, the movie encourages women to emulate the courage that men exhibit by boldly challenging their bad decisions, no matter their positions in society.
Mostly, people’s ideologies determine how they speak, write, and even relate with other people. They represent people’s values and expectations, especially regarding how they would want life to be. Whenever people speak or write, they pass their ideologies to their listeners or viewers and expect them to endorse or refute them. Therefore, Pocahontas airs Disney’s expectations and views about life, and its production is a sign of accepting his ideologies.
Disney expects people to treat women in a manner that does not demean them, but views this dream as a difficult thing to achieve because men have set very high standards for women to attain. It is, therefore, a hard task for women to fight for a respectable position in such a society. Women need to be more courageous than they are and dare to challenge the men on issues they believe are wrong. The main character in the movie is a woman whom Disney uses to show the bravery that women need to have before they can earn respect in society. Her sensitivity to other people’s feelings, however, is a major setback to her bravery. It makes her sympathize with people who do not deserve sympathy.
In the past, men used to make decisions for their daughters, wives, and mothers. They could not allow them to choose what to study or whom to marry. They made all important decisions for them. Pocahontas majorly proposes a change in ideology to allow women opportunities to make their own decisions. Throughout the movie, Pocahontas opposes most of the decisions that men make for her. She does not fear them or the norms that govern their society.
Her daring and bold character is evident when she opposes her father’s decisions and turns down Smith’s idea of going to Britain with her. She does not fear telling him that it was wrong to fight the Britons. She also openly shows her love for a smith when she clearly knows that her father is against it. Disney uses these actions to advise women to take part in decision-making, especially when the results of those decisions affect them.
Apart from portraying Pocahontas as a brave character, the movie also depicts her as a daring woman. She refuses to marry Kocoum whom her father had chosen as the best husband for her. Her father loves him because of his physical abilities and success in wars. She, however, refuses to marry him because she does not love him. This movie was set at a time when it was wrong for a woman to go against her father’s decision. Pocahontas exhibits a daring spirit by going against this convention. She is opposed to this marriage from the beginning. She does not like Kocoum because she thinks he takes life very seriously.
According to her, a lively woman should not marry a serious man. This belief was against the common ideology among women at the time Disney produced this movie. Most women wanted men who were physically strong. It is surprising that Pocahontas does not go for such attributes. In fact, Kocoum’s physique and achievements in war make her hate him more than she hated him before. This incident, therefore, also portrays her as being sensitive and observant. She analyzes Kocoum before making a decision not to marry him.
When Pocahontas meets Smith, she falls in love with him, and he equally falls in love with her. Pocahontas’ grandmother had predicted that such a thing would happen. However, Pocahontas’ father, Powhatan, has already chosen Koucum for her, and they both expect him to oppose their relationship. Chief Powhatan is enraged by the love affair between his daughter and Smith, especially when it leads to Kocoum’s death.
He arrests Smith and plans to execute him, but before he executes him, Pocahontas comes between them, ready to die on his behalf. She then advises her father to stop being hostile to the British, and he agrees, though. The two groups of people become friendly to each other. Showing a readiness to die on Smith’s behalf, and making peace between the two groups are both acts of bravery, which were very rare among women during that century. Falling in love with Smith against her father’s wish is also an act of bravery (Pocahontas).
Despite intending to show how women are moving away from their traditional place in society, this film also portrays men as being more courageous than their female counterparts. It then challenges them to work hard in order to get fair treatment. The men in this movie do various things that show their bravery. It is very difficult for women to do most of the things they do. For example, while traveling to the “New World,” a storm occurs in the Atlantic Ocean, and their ship almost sinks. In fact, Thomas almost drowns. Smith shows courage by jumping into the water to save Thomas from drowning (Pocahontas). It would have been difficult for a woman in that century to do such a thing. This act shows that men are more courageous and daring than women.
Another incident that portrays men as courageous occurs when Powhatan’s men capture and take Smith to their chief for execution (Pocahontas). He does not cry out or protest. Instead, he remains calm and shows a readiness to die. He, therefore, demonstrates great courage. However, Pocahontas proves that women can also be brave and daring. She asserts Disney’s theme of telling the world that women are also ready to do everything that men can do. She shows her father how ready she is to face death in order to prove to him how much she hated the culture of making decisions for women.
Other than Smith, Thomas also proves to be courageous and daring when he kills Koucom. He is not afraid of what the chief might do to them but only shoots to save his friend, Smith. The chief had chosen Kocoum to be his daughter’s husband. Anything that harms Kocoum would, therefore, infuriate the chief. In fact, when Thomas kills Kocoum, the chief’s soldiers put up a spirited fight against the Britons. If Thomas had been afraid of this fight, he could have allowed Kocoum to kill Smith.
A woman would have spared Koucoum despite his intention to kill Captain Smith. Pocahontas, for example, protests when Thomas shoots Kocoum, yet she knows that if he had not killed him, he could have shot Smith. Disney uses this event to portray women as being sensitive to other people’s feelings, and men as more daring than women (Pocahontas).
Smith also shows bravery when he takes the punishment for Kocoum’s murder on behalf of Thomas. When Thomas shoots Koucom, Chief Powhatan sends his men to arrest him. Before the soldiers could arrest him, Smith voluntarily goes to jail and is ready to die at sunrise on Thomas’s behalf. He knows that Thomas killed Kocoum because he wanted to save his life. Volunteering to die on behalf of somebody else is an act of courage. Everybody fears death and would like to avoid it at all costs. It is, therefore, ironic that Smith volunteers to die when everybody tries to avoid death. His courage is also evident when he takes the bullet on behalf of Chief Powhatan.
When the chief spares his life, he decides to pay him back by protecting him from the bullet. When Ratcliffe shoots the bullet, he sees it in time and throws himself in its way. He gets very serious injuries and has to fly back to his country for medication. This act requires more courage than all the actions that women do in the movie. The act, therefore, reiterates Disney’s message: that women are trying to come up, but still have not reached where men have reached in terms of bravery. Men are more daring than women.
Governor Ratclifee also displays bravery when he attempts to shoot Chief Powhatan. This incident happens when the chief arrests Smith. He prepares to execute him at sunrise. Pocahontas intervenes and pacifies the two groups. Ratclifee is, however, not satisfied. He directs a bullet towards the chief, but Smith throws himself between Ratcliffe and the chief, and the bullet hits him. The chief is well guarded. He has very many soldiers who give him enough protection.
The soldiers are always ready to kill anyone who attacks the chief. Anybody who attempts to kill the chief only puts his life in danger because the soldiers surround him all the time. Ratcliffe uses his bravery to shoot at the chief. He is too daring to be afraid of the soldiers (Pocahontas).
In summary, Pocahontas criticizes conventional social beliefs against women. It seeks to exalt women from their low rank to a position where they can challenge men in decision-making. At the same time, the movie presents a contradicting theme to the main theme by implying that men already have the bravery that women are struggling to get. Roy Disney uses the protagonist, Pocahontas, to develop his new ideology that seeks to bring women to the same level as men. She engages in many acts that depict her as a brave and sensitive woman. Most of these actions involve directly challenging men’s decisions on issues that affect women.
She challenges her father, Smith, Kocoum, and the entire society. Her sensitivity is evident when she sympathizes with Kocoum even when he wants to kill her boyfriend. On the other hand, Disney uses Smith and his friends; Thomas and Rectliffe to show women that they have to work hard to achieve what men have already achieved. These male characters do numerous actions that portray them as more courageous than Pocahontas, who is a representative of all women. Such actions in the movie include Smith’s act of volunteering to die on behalf of Thomas, Thomas shooting Kocoum, and the governor attempting to kill the chief.
Works Cited
“Pocahontas (1995) Full Movie in HD 1080! p.” Online video clip. You Tube. 2014. Web.
Sutherland, Robert. “Hidden Persuaders: Political Ideologies in Children Literature.” Children’s Literature I Education. New York: Agathon Press, 1985. 143-157. Web.