Monday, January 6, 2014

The Truth Behind Disney




In the classic Disney film, "Pocahontas", the story of a young 
adult Native American princess who falls in love with John Smith
 and brings peace between the natives and the settlers is told.
 However, through our class research we learned that that story line is mostly fictional. 



We know that in real life, Pocahontas was only about 11 or 12 at the time when the events actually occurred. We also know that Pocahontas ended up marrying John Rolfe and then sailing back to England with him. 










Though John Smith and Pocahontas were never romantically involved,
 we can still tell that he felt protective over her since in 1616 he claims to
 have written to the Queen and tried to get her to host Pocahontas. The
 reason for this may be because of the events that take place in Smith's
 book "General History". In the book, it tells of how Smith was about to
 be executes by the by Pocahontas' father, Powhatan, until young
 Pocahontas rushed to his aid and saved his life. Also, she was the one
 who supposedly convinced her father to free John Smith. 



Sources: 

Information: class notes, Disney movie













1 comment:

  1. Supposedly, in the movie Pocahontas was supposed to be 14, which is historically inaccurate. The animation sure does not makes her look like a 14 year old girl. I think your post is very important because sometimes it is easier to remember a movie's story than the actual history. It is easy to forget in historically based movies like Pocahontas, that not everything is true. To make the most money Disney twisted her history into a mold that is both G-rated and appeals to a modern audience.

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