We have all seen the Disney produced movie of the love story between the beautiful Native American Princess Pocahontas and the American hero John Smith. As children we were all exposed to this lovely story of how young Pocahontas saved John Smith from her native tribe and in the process fell in love with the good looking "Prince Charming" type character and lived happily ever after with him as all Disney characters do in the end. However, what Disney so often fails to do is tell us the truth behind the sugarcoated love story.
The truth is, there was no love story, there was no intense relationship between the two, and there was probably no happy ending. In all actuality Pocahontas was not the 20 something young woman she was depicted as; she is said to have been around 12. John Smith was also not the young man he was made out to be; he is said to have probably been about 42. Their relationship was not a love-filled one, but rather one of possible rape. As you can imagine this false interpretation came to Native American viewers as a surprise and an outrage. In fact over 100 members of the Native American group "NatChat" signed a petition to boycott the film when it was first released. This Disney classic was simply just another example of American mythmaking.
It is believed that Pocahontas is a white man's depiction of the story of the Indian princess in order to hide the truth about the trials of the Native American race. America has been hiding the truth about the struggle of minorities for years. A production company designed for children is no different. America has even made something as innocent as a Disney movie. So next time you allow your child to watch Pocahontas, remember that you are carrying on the tradition of disrespecting the original Americans; the Native Americans.
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