In the article Pocahontas: Comparing the Disney image with Historical Evidence by Margaret Golden states through the article that we as Americans have the responsibility to teach our children what is factual and not factual in the Hollywood movies. An example of a Hollywood movie that does not tell the whole truth is Pocahontas one and two. In Pocahontas one, the producers try to make it into a romance but in reality there is no proof of an intimate relations between John Smith and Pocahontas. When Pocahontas met John Smith, she was just a little girl and John was older much older than her. Another misconception was the way that Pocahontas looked. In the movie, she wore a “mini-dress. In reality Native American women actually wore long dresses and they had removable sleeves. Another misconception in Pocahontas was that the producers change some of the character’s name. They replaced govern of Jamestown, in the movie it was Ratcliffe while in the reality it was Edward Maria Wingfeild. Researchers found some of the original settler’s names but they were not used in the movie. There are also …show more content…
I always thought that the movie actually happened. When I started school and was taught differently, it blew my mind. Going into teaching, I think that we need to clarify to younger age children about the fiction and nonfiction that is in the movies. Teacher are molding the mind of the next generation, we need to stand up and teach each student the importance of knowing the facts. Hollywood is not going to teach the children the facts, they are there to make money on entertainment. So if we (the teachers) do not stand up and teach them to know the facts, then no one will. Some people think that the movie of Pocahontas is correct. They go through life not knowing the truth. It also needs to fall on the parents shoulders to make sure while their children know while they are watching the movie that it is not all
Another inaccuracy portrayed in the film is the romance. Realistically there was not a romantic relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas because of her age. She considered him a father figure. Even though she saved his life and earned respect from the settlers there was no teary-eyed goodbye. Also in the movie her body is more covered
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.
It is said that there are many different versions to a story. There is one persons story, then there is an other person’s story, and then, there is the truth. “Our memories change each time they are recalled. What we recall is only a facsimile of things gone by.” Dobrin, Arthur. "Your Memory Isn't What You Think It Is." (online magazine). Psychology Today. July 16, 2013. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201307/your-memory-isnt-what-you-think-it-is. Every time a story is told, it changes. From Disney movies to books, to what we tell our friends and colleagues. Sometimes the different sides to the story challenge the
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.
Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time is a historical novel that looks at the belief that
Looking at the socially or culturally history of the United States, many historians use Hollywood films as a primary source. I also used many films such as Easy Rider (1969) or Dance, Girl, Dance (1941) to support my historical thesis paper and to make the topic more vivid by using the images of the film. Even though, some people think that films are accurate and authentic in its depiction, it is important to mention that films are still fictional. Directors and actors are responsible to make us believe their story, but this story does not have to be necessarily true. In that way, fictional films cannot be used as historical evidence in terms of how things looked like during that specific
Remember that Disney movie of an American Indian tribe member with the long, flowy hair? If so, that might have been Pocahontas. Pocahontas was the beautiful daughter of the Powhatan leader, who the English named Virginia. Her story was truly amazing. I chose this topic because of the curiosity of who this beautiful lady really was, and what journeys in life she had overcome. This topic was brought up in Social Studies class as we were doing centers. One of the centers was only about her, and I have been curious ever since.
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
The main argument that Townsend presents is the fact that others portray Pocahontas as just a simply women in her time, but the truth is that she is one of the most courageous of her people. In summary, Townsend informs the audience that Pocahontas inspired many people in the nineteenth century including romantic poets and patriotic myth-makers.(xi) The problem that Townsend introduces is that the storytellers add the facts to satisfy their own needs and their audience. She talks about how
[5] Gary Edgerton and Kathy Merlock Jackson, in their review of the movie, conveyed these same ideas about Pocahontas. They insist that “The filmmakers at Disney never really intended Pocahontas to be historically accurate, despite all the
4. When I was growing up, Disney's Pocahontas was one of my favorite movies. While I knew that Disney's version of the story was not completely true, I never actually researched John Smith and Pocahontas to learn the truth behind the real story. So, when I read John Smith's letter to the queen this week I was surprised at some of the content. First, I did not know that Pocahontas was so young, only 12 or 13, when she met John Smith. His letter depicts that they were "friends" rather than romantically involved. So, with the idea of the romance between the two depicted by the Disney movie, that fact was bizarre to me. Something else that surprised me was that Pocahontas married John Rolfe, converted to Christianity,
Disney claims that the clip of John Smith being saved by Pocahontas is “responsible, accurate, and respectful.” I believe that the clip is not historically correct and that Disney's claim is wrong. There are many reasons why I believe this.
Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the powerful chief of the Pamunkeys, a tribe that inhabited the area around the Chesapeake Bay. She was born around 1595 to one of Powhatan’s many wives. Pocahontas first observed the English when they landed in Virginia in May of 1607. She had her first meeting with them when Captain John Smith was captured by her tribesmen that winter. Pocahontas saved his life as he was about to be executed by her tribesmen and developed a friendship with him and the other settlers during her visits to the Jamestown Fort. She delivered messages from her father and accompanied tribesmen bringing furs and food to trade. In 1610, Pocahontas married a Pamunkey man named Kocoum. English settlers kidnapped Pocahontas and
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