Research Paper
The Problematic Princess
“If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.” While this may seem like a simple silly saying suggesting a person to consider the way other people live, this sentence can be identified as lyrics from “Colors of the Wind”, a song from one of Disney’s more popular movies, Pocahontas. When English settlers come to the “New World” they are greeted by the whimsical Barbie-like Indian princess Pocahontas. Pocahontas meets a Ken-like counterpart, John Smith and together they try to develop a peaceful resolution to their dispute over land, while trying to learn more about the cultures from which the both originate. While the movie is meant to support interracial friendship, and inform viewers of racial intolerance there is more to the movie than first meets the eye. Pocahontas is a problematic film for many reasons: It is accurate allowing people to believe everything in the film is fact, yet the movie changes parts of history, while at the same time being filled with subliminal negative messages, which has a large impact on how Natives view themselves and how the general public views Native Americans.
Part of what makes this film so dangerous is by how accurate it appears at the surface. This is the first film by Disney that was done based not on fairytales or myths, but history. This meant that the producer and the director had to try to be more accurate in the way it portrayed its characters. The development of the Powhatan tribe was widely researched and fairly accurate in gender roles, the culture, the town and attire.
The film does a good job accurately portraying the gender roles of tribe members. Throughout the movie the women can be seen collecting edible plants such as corn, squash and beats, farming, preparing food such as grinding grains and cooking, as well as raising children and making their houses. Women can be seen starting to build the structure for a house as well as starting to
“If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.” While this may seem like a simple silly saying suggesting a person to consider the way other people live, this sentence can be identified as lyrics from “Colors of the Wind”, a song from one of Disney’s more popular movies, Pocahontas. When English settlers come to the “New World” they are greeted by the whimsical Barbie-like Indian princess Pocahontas. Pocahontas meets a Ken-like counterpart, John Smith and together they try to develop a peaceful resolution to their dispute over land, while trying to learn more about the cultures from which the both originate. While the movie is meant to support interracial friendship, and inform viewers of racial intolerance there is more to the movie than first meets the eye. Pocahontas is a problematic film for many reasons: It is accurate allowing people to believe everything in the film is fact, yet the movie changes parts of history, while at the same time being filled with subliminal negative messages, which has a large impact on how Natives view themselves and how the general public views Native Americans.
Part of what makes this film so dangerous is by how accurate it appears at the surface. This is the first film by Disney that was done based not on fairytales or myths, but history. This meant that the producer and the director had to try to be more accurate in the way it portrayed its characters. The development of the Powhatan tribe was widely researched and fairly accurate in gender roles, the culture, the town and attire.
The film does a good job accurately portraying the gender roles of tribe members. Throughout the movie the women can be seen collecting edible plants such as corn, squash and beats, farming, preparing food such as grinding grains and cooking, as well as raising children and making their houses. Women can be seen starting to build the structure for a house as well as starting to
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