Peter Pan Essay Example

J.M. Barrie’s original book, Peter Pan, and Disney’s film version of the book are drastically different. Even though the movie is retelling the same story, they are each interpreted in a different way. Both the book and the movie perpetuate the second-class status of the Indians, as well as demonstrate heroic masculinity through Peter Pan. However, both of these characteristics were exaggerated in the movie by celebrating Peter Pan’s heroic dominance over the Indians, perpetuating negative racial stereotype. Both the movie and the book conveyed the idea that Indians were inferior to the Whites and the Indians were treated unequally. Film watchers saw the relationship between the Indians and the Whites were always conflicting. The Lost Boys were “hunting” the Indians. At last they were caught by the Indians and were told they would be killed if Tiger Lily was not returned. This showed the mistrust between the Indians and the Lost Boys as they assumed the Lost Boys had captured their princess. The Lost Boys used “hunt”, as if they were to hunt animals, not people. This shows the movie did not treat Indians and the Whites equally. For instance, the light was always brighter when the camera aimed at the Whites but it turned darker when the camera aimed at the Indians. Another was the film used low angle to the Indians but used mostly high angle to Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. These showed the film wanted to debase the Indians using darker light and low angle and highlight Peter Pan as a hero using brighter light and high angle. In the book, one also could sense the author looked down upon the Indians. The author wrote that “the Indians began looking for the pirates, and the wild animals started looking for Indians” (Peter Pan 42). He emphasized the stereotype that Indians were a group that only knew to fight. He also mentioned that the wild animals started looking for the Indians. Why would the wild animals be looking for Indians instead of the Whites? The