Why I Don't Have a Problem with "Pocahontas"

I'm going to start this out by saying that I am 25% Native American.  I didn't grow up in Native American culture, but my mother (who is 50% Cherokee) always talked about it with me, and I've definitely always felt at least partially Native American.  Even as a child watching Pocahontas, I would comb through it for anything "unrealistic," and my mom would sit with me.  

When I watched the movie this time, I did pretty much the same thing.  Other than the fact that the entire storyline is a bit skewed, I think the movie did a good job portraying Native American culture. Of course, the storyline is a huge factor.

The movie seemed to glorify the life of Pocahontas and her tribe, especially after the white men (with handsome, strong, and let me reiterate white John Smith in tow) arrived.  This was a time of enormous bloodshed for the Native Americans, who were plagued by disease and slaughter from the settlers.  Instead, Disney depicts a content Pocahontas with her animal friends, and by the force of love she ends up saving her tribe from all harm.

Naturally, this is a Disney movie.  I'm not at all offended by this portrayal.  Disney creates G-rated movies, and they often have to cut out the more gruesome parts of history to appeal to children.  They don't show the black plague in movies set in the middle ages, or the harsher realities of racism in The Princess and the Frog.  I wouldn't expect them to show Native American history exactly as it was.

Yes, the plot is unrealistic, but that's excusable because it's Disney and they can't show large-scale death and destruction.  So what about the finer points of the movie?  A lot of people take issue with stereotypes that Native Americans talk to animals and treat trees as if they are alive.

In reality, Native Americans are very close to nature.  Also, there isn't a Disney princess out there that doesn't talk to animals.  It's just another magical quality of Disney movies.

Another issue some take with the film: the song "Savages" is sung by the white men describing Native Americans as primitive.  

Yet the song is stated to be wrong in the film—Pocahontas recognizes the brutality of it and strives to change the white men's mindset.  White men in history did think this way, and Disney is simply showing that.  By having the English sing this song, Disney is allowing the movie to address the strife between the two races, therefore reflecting history just a little bit better.

I did some further reading on the film and found this great article.  One of the sentences that stood out to me was this one:

This is absolutely true, and it is my only main problem with the movie.  In the ending scenes of the movie, particularly when Pocahontas and John Smith save their groups from war, the Native Americans are portrayed to be just as bad as the English.  In reality, it was the English who invaded the Native American's land and tried to take it—the natives were just trying to defend what was theirs.  

Still, this is a small point, and all in all I really enjoyed the film.  I'm sure if I'd picked apart the movie word for word I could have found something that ruffled me just a little, but I took the movie for what it is—a children's film that isn't supposed to be as gory as actual history—and had as great a time as ever singing along to "Colors of the Wind."  Pocahontas II (which I saw a few years after I saw the original) is a different story, but that's a whole new conversation...