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Stereotypical Native American roles in media and literature
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Native american literature
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Anybody familiar with Disney is familiar with the fact that it owns nearly half the planet. Unlike other conglomerate companies, Disney is a pleasant and family friendly company. But, due to capitalism, even the nicest of companies have to find ways to make more money. The decision in the end that they finally seemed to come to, is that diversity sells. They realized America was sick of seeing white princesses be swept away by white princes, and living happily ever after. When Disney was picking a race to cater to, they decided to pay homage to the Native Americans, the Powhatan tribe in particular. But at what cost? Disney's Pocahontas is an incredibly disrespectful and white-washed movie and that needs to be brought to light. Some of the …show more content…
When Disney realized that they should make a movie to pay tribute to the Powhatan tribe, it seemed like a ploy to get money, and brownie points from a minority in America. A minority that shouldn't even be a minority, but it is because of greedy, white, European men that pushed them off their land and killed them hundreds of years ago. It shouldn't be a question that there should be equal representation for all groups of people amongst children's films, and film in general. If Hollywood cranks out 20 movies a year, and only one has a minority as a main character, that is not fair. That is Hollywood feeling obligated to make a film for a group of …show more content…
A happy ending is what sells, but unfortunately that is not historically accurate. Pocahontas did not have the choice to stay with her family as her love left her. She was kidnapped, brought to Europe, forced to live with two men, and eventually married John Rolfe. As for her family and tribe, they were all killed. The Powhatan tribe no longer exists. It is obvious to see how unjust and inaccurate this story is. It is clear that Disney's Pocahontas is historically inaccurate. In fact, it is so inaccurate that, with different character names, it would not even be detectable as the same story. So why use names? Why bring real people into the story? It was a history lesson for young kids. It was a whitewashed, inaccurate, and unjust history lesson for our country's youth. If Disney wanted to properly educate young kids on Native Americans, they would have darkened the skin of the Powhatan tribe. They would have given Pocahontas a strong, muscular body, and a less feminine looking face. But none of that
Pocahontas Powhatan Opechancanough, tells the story of the interactions between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians, and how the European arrival changed the lives of the natives. the book focuses on the three Indians it is titled for and tries to explain the story of Jamestown through a less Anglo-biased view. At many times the book contradicts the story most people know of the Jamestown settlement and the major players involved. Throughout the book, author Helen Rountree goes to great lengths to tell the whole story truthfully, and when she can't give the whole story she makes it clear as to what is accepted to be true.
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.
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
Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, provides a vivid and brutally honest account of the atrocities committed against Pocahontas and her people, unlike the popular animated film released by Disney. We will never know the absolute truth behind Pocahontas and her people, or the early settlers who emigrated to Jamestown, but one truth, however, remains evident. The English had succeeded in destroying an entire culture, rich with diversity. This may not have been what the English had intended at first, but it untimely was the result of their actions against the Powhatan people and the other tribes of the surrounding region. They imposed harsh conditions which included abduction, conversion, violence, and tributes which practically impossible to
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.
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
Pocahontas was the daughter of Chief Powhatan which made her an Indian Princess. When she was 12 years old, she saved a colonist named John Smith from being clubbed to death. After this, the relationship between the colonist and the Indians were at peace. Captain Smith sent many presents to Powhatan and the Indian woman gave food to the colonist. When John Smith left Jamestown because of a gunpowder accident, the peace between the Indians and the colonist weaken. In 1612, Governor Thomas Dale ordered for Pocahontas to be kidnapped, held for ransom that would be paid in corn by Chief Powhatan. While she was held captive, Pocahontas was baptized Christian and given the name Rebecca. Also while she was imprisoned, Pocahontas fell in love with John Rolfe, who then asked for her hand in marriage. Sir Thomas Dale and Chief Powhatan gave their consent and they got married in Jamestown on April, 1613. This marriage brought peace between the English and the Indians for many years. On 1615, John and Pocahontas had a child named Thomas. Pocahontas became the center of English society’s attention. She had then become Lady Rebecca Rolfe. Before going back to Virginia, Pocahontas became sick. She died on March, 1617, at the age of 21 in England. She was buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend. Rolfe returned to Virginia, where he manufactured tobacco. I liked Pocahontas because she was the kind of person who was willing to do new things and she did the right thing even if no one would agree with her. She is famous for her actions (even if Disney exaggerated them) and I admire her strength and courage to stand up for what she believed in.
Disney is a huge contributor to the misleading ideas and the way we view the Native population. In the movie Peter Pan with the scene showing the “Indians” they completely exaggerate their skin tone to make it a darkish red look. Not only is the skin tone altered, but they top it off with the iconic feather in the back of their hair. Another stereotype would be their actions during the movie when they put a hand over their mouth to make the whooping sound and dance around. I asked Sebastian Hunt, a member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, what he thought of the clip I showed him of Peter Pan with the “Indians”. He replied, “ Wow I think it’s funny and sad that that's how the producers thought of the Native population when making the movie showing kids that's how we act, dance and most importantly look when in reality it’s not true at all.” That's not the only movie that Disney came out with that falsely portrays Natives. In Pocahontas they show the Natives as savages and even have a chant/song in the movie stating they are savages, barely even humans and dirty freaking devils. This is only one way that Western pop culture has brainwashed Americans to believe in such
When we typically think of racial tropes in popular culture, we often don’t look towards animated G-rated movies. The film The Princess and the Frog released by Walt Disney Animated Classics in 2009 created by John Musker, Ron Clements and Rob Edwards is a perfect contemporary example of a film that shows images of pre-constructed racial tropes. Though Disney has produced multiple films based on past fairy tales, The Princess and the Frog was the first animated Disney princess film that featured an African American woman in a leading role. Often times regarded as a turning point in Disney’s movie production career, the film’s representation of African Americans proves to be regressive of racist politics surrounding the 21st century. The design
Disney was justified in creating the Moana film and was not culturally insensitive to the Polynesian people because Disney worked very hard (for five years!) to learn about the Polynesian culture, they hired Polynesian songwriters to make the music sound authentic, and they created beautiful settings and characters that accurately represent Polynesian culture.
For many years, the dispute concerning racism in Disney movies has been ongoing. Many people argue that Walt Disney himself was a racist; therefore the movies he created were filled with racial remarks. Ever since though Disney has evolved, racism is still present in its films to this day. Most of the animated cartoons deal with the idea that people of color are inferior, and also face problems that they do not really overcome in the end of the
Cowboys and Indians is the popular game played by many children played as a game of heroes and villains. Natives are villainized in American pop culture due to the history being told by educational institutions across the nation. There are not many positive roles popular in the media about Native Americans. Many roles are even played by white people. The costume representation is not accurate either. The disrespect towards them is especially seem on Halloween, when people dress as Natives in cute and sexy ways that they think represent their culture. War paint, beads, feathers and headdresses are ceremonial accessories that represent their culture, it not a fun costume to wear. Only if they are being criticized and ridiculed, like they have been in the past. Racism has also been a huge problem when it comes to using creative names for sports teams, like the Redskins for example. Redskin is a derogatory and offensive term towards Native Americans and many white people do not see it as wrong due to the privilege they inherited throughout history. The disrespect towards them has grown and today it seems that if Natives were not getting ridiculed, they are for the most part ignored. The concerns that King describes in his book explains how the past has wired Americans to believing everything they have once learned. White people
I connected personally to this text because I am Native American myself, part of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Although I am Native, my ethnicity does not influence my opinion about the essay completely. I believe that every ethnicity should be depicted truthfully, without deceitfully telling the history or dramatizing it. The exaggeration of Pocahontas was conferred in Kilpatrick’s text. “According to James Pentecost, the film’s producer, the changes that were made were due to the fact that Pocahontas’s real story was simply too long. He said, ‘We decided to dramatize what we felt was the essence of Pocahontas.’ Now the logic may be a little tough to follow here, but evidently what that means is that they changed her age, her body, and gave her a motive for her actions that boils down to going gaga over the first white man she sees” (642-643). The true story of Pocahontas states that Pocahontas was about twelve to ten-years-old when she met John Smith, but in the movie, they instead gave her a voluptuous body of a twenty-year-old woman. Also, there was no romance between Pocahontas and John Smith in the true
The Disney movies of Pocahontas tell a plot of a Native ¬American tribe and English colonists that fight for the land the Native Americans live on though war ultimately creating moderate peace. While keeping to their own sect, the imbalance of power between the two social groups is prevalent throughout much of the story. Walt Disney’s Pocahontas is more than a classic children’s movie. It is a thoughtful, well contrived narration that portrays a message that in order to fit in, you must be a certain race and born into a specific culture. Disney’s Pocahontas suggesting that the color of our skin shouldn’t matter when being accepted into social groups as well as the idea that arranged marriage should be rejected. Thus, treating people right could ultimately have a positive outcome and lastly, the film also suggests that family roles change without a mother figure.
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.