Racism in Pocahontas

There are five sociological concepts I am going to explain. And I will be using scenes from the Disney movie Pocahontas as examples. The five are: norms, role conflict, values, ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.

In the production of the movie “Pocahontas”, Disney should have acknowledged that not all of the historical information included was completely true. Many people were angry with Disney that they had misportrayed the history of Pocahontas and her tribe. In the article, “Bias in Disney Movies: Pocahontas”, Tom Roderick states that “the film’s ‘pro-social’ messages about racial tolerance and talking out disagreements ring hollow” (Roderick 126). Throughout the film, there are many instances where Disney changed up the history a little bit. In their defense, Disney was just trying to entertain but they should have checked with the Powhatan tribe because they were beyond mad. In the novel, “The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History”,

Many people believe the 1995 film, Pocahontas, to be the true story of a young Powhatan woman. However, the story lacks facts. Pocahontas isn’t even her real name. Matoaka, the real Pocahontas, faced mush more misery than the movie showed. Mataoka’s life in America, life in England, a comparison between the movie and real life, and how fictional portrayals of real people effect society today will show you that Disney’s inaccuracies could change history.

Hollywood’s leading animation studio has had many instances of stereotyping and being racially insensitive. Two main examples of their racism towards Native American tribes have been Peter Pan and Pocahontas. In both instances, there have been controversial songs that have the Native Americans at the center. Both depict the stereotypes that are not necessarily true of the tribes.

On the other hand, there are some parts of the movie “Pocahontas” that do not align with the reality of the Jamestown Colony. One historically

Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma is a novel written by Camilla Townsend, which illustrates a well detailed perspective of the life of Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan. It is often shown that Pocahontas 's story is misinterpreted, as many analyses of this subject are conducted by the speculations of various historical writings. To record, there is no single document by Pocahontas herself, so it is left for historians to rely on other people 's perspectives of the time. With the idea that most sources of this period would have come from rich, white men, these ideas would ultimately be biased in their views. In my opinion, I believe that the thesis regarding this book was to illustrate the true telling of Pocahontas and the effect of the English on the Natives residing in America during the 17th century. Specifically, I chose to analyze Chapter 3: First Contact, as Townsend was able to shed light upon the mythical idea of Pocahontas and demonstrate the plethora of inaccurate ideas portrayed by the settlers on the Native American culture.

The effectiveness of media in perpetuating and maintaining racial definitions is apparent through the consistent presence of such ideas in popular films such as Disney’s Pocahontas (1995) and James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). Despite over a decade difference in release, there are similarities between the two in terms of the racial labels applied to Native Americans as a race and how they are portrayed as a result. The producers behind Pocahontas claimed that the film is much more than a love story and is about maintaining an open mind in order to appreciate different cultures. By creating an animated picture about a

[4] Disney even goes on further to suggest that their intentions have a modern relevance when they say that “It is an important message to a generation to stop fighting, stop killing each other because of the color of your skin” (Pocahontas 37). It is quite clear that Disney never intended to write or rewrite history, as they have been so viciously attacked for doing. They are writing about tolerance and understanding, while at the same time they are giving back some respect to the indigenous people of America. James Pentecost, the producer of the film, feels that “moviemakers shouldn’t be handcuffed when using real stories as jumping-off places for works of entertainment” (Kim 24). Disney simply liked the idea of Pocahontas; they liked the message that it conveyed, and they made it applicable to Hollywood.

Wright’s 1940 novel, Native Son had stirred up real controversy by shocking the sensibilities of both black and white America. Wright was inspired to make his readers feel the reality of race relations and that is how Native Son came about. Wright used his observances throughout the previous decade to sculpt the inherent challenges faced by the main character, Bigger Thomas, a 20-year old African American in the South side of Chicago. In a time, when the Great Depression was impacting the economy, the Dust Bowl was crossing the country, and an anti-lynching bill failed to pass in Congress, the context of history became an important facet of Wright’s creation of the film adaptation.

The film “The Englishman’s boy” is a screen adaptation of Guy Vanderhaeghe’s book of the same name. Vanderhaeghe also wrote the screenplay for the film. The book was based on the true story of the Cypress Hills massacre in 1873. I will provide a summary of the film’s most important plot points, characters and background information. The movie covers the horrors that were witnessed in Cypress Hills and shows the inhumane way Native Americans have been treated since colonization, in 1873 and through to the 1920s. The movie explains how white men were hearkened as heroes for committing these atrocities which were largely excused because society at that time viewed natives as inhuman and therefore undeserving of human rights. The film was set with a background in both 1873 pioneer plains and 1920s Hollywood. This method was used to show a dualism within the two eras and that negative attitudes towards Native Americans had not been corrected as they should have been but only muffled. I will compare the film and its accuracy to the actual Cypress Hills massacre and determine what dramatics were used to make a point within the direction of the movie. This film and the subsequent essay is relevant to this class because I believe that even though the crimes committed against native Americans are less obviously racist, violent and vulgar today, there is still a derogatory indifference towards them and their cries for equality.

Grant Wiggins, which was the plantation’s teacher, had a very harsh way to treat and teach the children. This can be sensed in chapter 5 of the book. He expected them to learn and wanted them to think fully with their heads. He was trying to find a way to get to them. The book mentions a couple of times when Wiggins was not sure whether he was reaching the children or if he was wasting his time. Grant thought, “…Is it just a vicious circle? Am I doing anything?” (62). Racism was sensed and felt in the way white people treated black people.

Racism is shown in many ways throughout the novel. In the novel, it states “ Your father's no better than the n****** and trash he works for ”(Lee,135) Mr.Dubose tells Jem this and this shows racism towards Tom Robinson and hatred towards Atticus for representing Tom in court. “ Aunt Alexandra tells Atticus that he shouldn't have let the children watch the trial, and Atticus retorts, "they might as well learn to cope with it. ... It's as much Maycomb County as missionary teas." Atticus symbolically refers to the missionary teas as being just as racist as the trial. Racism does appear in the everyday lives of most

[1] Before I start this essay, I feel the need to remind the reader that I find slavery in all its forms to be an oppressive and terrible institution, and I firmly believe that for centuries (including this one) bigotry is one of the most terrible stains on our civilization. The views I intend to express in the following essay are in no way meant to condone the practices of slavery or racism; they are meant only to evaluate and interpret the construction of slavery in film.

Pocahontas. Americans know her as the beautiful, Indian woman who fell in love with the white settler John Smith and then threw her body upon the poor white captive to protect him from being brutally executed by her own savage tribe. The magical world of Walt Disney came out with their own movie version several years ago portraying Pocahontas as a tan, sexy Barbie doll figure and John Smith as a blond-haired, blue-eyed muscular Ken doll. Although Disney attempts to instill racial tolerance, inter-racial friendship, and nonviolent resolutions in Pocahontas, they contribute to the inaccurate Indian woman stereotype that has evolved from such stories. While it can be argued that Disney has

In Camilla Townsend’s book, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Townsend points out that there are many historical inaccuracies and myths that are associated with the story of Pocahontas. Using historical evidence to support the story of Pocahontas, Townsend attempted to create an accurate timeline bringing the past to the present. At the same time, the Disney film Pocahontas attempted to depict Algonquian culture accurately, however, according to history, much of the material presented in the film is full of misconceptions and is historically imprecise. In fact, Disney’s Pocahontas epitomizes John Smith and