The 1995 Disney film Pocahontas is
about the daughter of the great chief Powhatan, Pocahontas, interactions and
role with the British coming to the New World. Governor Radcliffe leads a
voyage to the New World accompanied by Caption John Smith. Radcliffe travels to
North America for the gold he has heard the Spanish got in South America.
Pocahontas meanwhile is trying to
figure out what a dream she had about a spinning arrow means by talking to Grandmother
Willow, a spiritual willow tree. After Grandmother Willow alerts Pocahontas
about the incoming British Pocahontas and John Smith meet. At first Pocahontas
is very cautious about John Smith but after time the two fall in love.
Pocahontas and John Smith’s
peaceful love is put to an end very quickly when the British and Native
Americans get into a fight and chief Powhatan forbids his people to go near the
British. After hearing that Pocahontas and John Smith plan to bring peace
between the colonists and the tribe but that does not last. Kocoum, the man
Pocahontas is supposed to marry, sees the two together and tries to attack John
but Thomas, an English man shoots Kocoum. The Native Americans take John Smith
as prisoner.
Chief Powhatan declares war on the
British at sunrise. Both the Native Americans and the British gather themselves
for war. When Chief Powhatan is about to kill John Smith Pocahontas throws
herself on John stopping the chief from killing him declaring that the Natives should
not attack. Radcliffe tries to shoot the chief but his crewmen arrest him
agreeing to peace with the tribe. John returns to England but hopes to return
one day.
In class we learned about
Pocahontas and the myths behind her. We read part of a source by John Smith
that was written right when he returned from the New World. He mentioned
nothing about how he fell in love with Pocahontas or how she saved his life. Why
would he leave something so magical out? Could it be that it never happened?
We then read a second source by
John Smith written after the first source. He mentioned how Pocahontas rescued
him and made everything a bit more dramatic. Why would he not mention that
before? Was he making it all up?
Some say that the first source was
more about the land and the factual parts of his journey. They also say how the
second source is more of a story and trying to sell the land. After all they
did need people to want to go there before they could make any money off of the
land. John needed to sell more books and a story like the one he wrote would
attract more people.
So is the movie creditable at all?
Can you learn anything from it?
I believe the movie is a great
story. I think parts of it are true while other parts are not real. I do not
believe that John Smith and Pocahontas fell in love. It is after all a Disney
movie and almost every Disney movie has a love story in it. I do believe though
that Pocahontas saved John’s life. Native Americans believe that peace is very
important so I could imagine a young girl trying to stop a war by saving one
man’s life.
Pictography:
"Just Around the Riverbend: Field of Sunflowers." Just Around the Riverbend: Field of Sunflowers. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2014. <http://pocahontasfan.blogspot.com/2013/07/field-of-sunflowers.html>.
Best Scene in Pocahontas Countdown Results." - Disney Princess. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2014. <http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/disney-princess/articles/59331/title/best-scene-pocahontas-countdown-results>.
"Native American Spirituality in Disney's." Native American Spirituality in Disney's. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2014. <http://religioninpocahontas.webs.com/thedisneyversion.htm>.
This is one of the better blog posts I have seen, and I will explain why. First of all, I think that using a kid's movie that many people have seen makes it more interesting. I like how you explained that in the movie, certain things happened, but there were a lot of things that were myths. I also like how in the end you gave your consensus about what you liked and if the movie was credible or not. I think throughout the whole peice, you kept me interested and wanting to read more. Great Job!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post because I liked watching the movie in class. The pictures really drew me in to read the rest of the blog. I have never seen the whole movie so I wanted to learn more and your summary and pictures really seemed to capture the whole movie. I liked how you responded to the questions you asked but maybe next time you can just write your thoughts instead of having the questions with them. Throughout the whole blog you really kept me interested and I think you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post, well done. I loved how you used a movie that many people know and love including myself. I really liked all the pictures you used and the paragraphs were perfect size I did not get bored with them. You related the story very well with what we are doing in class. Just watch your punctuation because sometimes you forgot commas. Overall great blog.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog post because it connected what we are learning in history to a movie that most of us enjoyed when we were little. I think it is really cool to think that this fun movie actually taught us something about our history. Also i thought it was very important that you talked about what was true and what was a myth from the movie. Your pictures also added to your blog. Overall i thought your blog was very interesting and well said.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. Pocahontas is a movie that most people have seen, and I find it interesting that is has things in it that are not what actually happened. I think it is cool how much it relates to our history class as well. I found the question part of your blog was a little confusing. I agree with your opinions on the movie. Overall, good job!
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