Pochantas
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Shruti Potdar
The Disney movie Pocahontas was released in 1995. Ever since then, many people know of Pocahontas from the Disney movie. The movie depicts the romance of Pocahontas, daughter of a Native American tribe chief and English soldier, John Smith when English colonists invade Virginia in 16th century. However, there are many factual errors throughout the movie that mislead the audience. Pocahontas was a real story with real people. By Disney taking that film and putting their own twist on it, they lead an entire generation of kids away from whats true. Scaled from one to ten, the Disney movie Pocahontas is damaging to young people on a measure of eight.
Disney altered the look of Native Americans and the English settlers. For one thing, Pocahontas was not a young woman when she met John Smith, she met him at the age of twelve, and he was a twenty- eighty years old. Disney not only clouded the story but they even portrayed her looks wrong. She was shown as a beautiful woman, with long black hair and different facial structures. In fact, her real name was Matoaka, and Pocahontas was a nickname. While, in real life Pocahontas was merely twelve years old and little is known about her facial features. John Smith was shown as an adventures, handsome, and tall man. Like all the English colonist, he also wore loose pants and was known to be short not that attractive. Smith was also known to exaggerate stories to make him look in a better light. The looks of many Native Americans and John Smith were altered to please the viewers.
In the movie Pocahontas, after their initial meeting, Pocahontas and Smith fall in love. Later, Smith is captured by the Indians while meeting her. To save him from being executed Pocahontas – the young heroin risks everything to save the man she cares for. Historically, we already know that Pocahontas didnt even know Smith, before she rescued him. Even after the rescue, there is no evidence that Pocahontas and John Smith fell in love. Disney portrays the relationship between the two as being true love, while ignoring the real friendship and feelings involved.
The movie misrepresented the relations of the Native Americans and Colonists, to satisfy an audience that wouldnt be happy with violence. Disneys Pocahontas builds on the rescue, making it the climax of the film showing the union of the Native Americans and the colonists.