Pocahontas

This weekend while babysitting I watched the classic Disney movie Pocahontas. Disney accurately portrayed the ideas of the settlers in the song "The Virginia Company", the men went over to "The New World" searching for gold and glory. Unlike the usual stories that make the settlers out as heroes, Disney accurately portrays them as greedy and prejudice against any natives they might meet. The song "Savages" is a very honest account of the views that many Europeans had about the Native Americans. The kids I were babysitting were surprised to find out that the white settlers were "mean" to the Indians. The Powhatan tribe was featured in the film, Disney played close attention to details and were very accurate in their description of this tribe.
However, Disney did not end the story truthfully. When John Smith and Pocahontas meet, Pocahontas magically learns to speak English. Pocahontas is one of the only Disney films to feature inter-racial marriage, however their is no historical evidence that this romance ever occurred. The film ends with the English settlers and Powhatan tribe going to war. In the movie the leader of the English, Governor Ratcliffe tries to shoot the chief, but John Smith valiantly jumps in front of him, and takes the bullet. Disney failed to represent the true story of what happened in order to have a more romantic and child-friendly ending. This is unfortunate because it prevents children from learning what really happened when the first settlers came to North America and from understanding more about Native American culture. Kids are left with the impression that the settlers were all heroes like John Smith, and that greedy governors were punished for their actions. I believe that the earlier children learn the true history of the Native American people they have a better chance of understanding how it affected American history. Disney never claimed Pocahontas to be a "real" story, but many kids accept it as true. I think that this will prevent them from fully learning the truth about how our country became the way it is today.