Disney movies, with their cute creatures, sappy stories of romance, and happy endings, are very popular. Disney’s film about a Native American heroine, titled Pocahontas, was produced like all other Disney films: the story is a happy one, with a romantic and love-filled ending. Pocahontas was loosely based on the arrival of English settlers in 1307 who founded the Jamestown Colony. The movie contains many historical errors, even though it does have some accurate depictions. Disney has produced a great movie but is short on history.
The romance between Pocahontas & John Smith is one of the most obvious inaccuracies. Pocahontas only had 10 years when Smith, aged 27, arrived in New World. Pocahontas, as she is depicted in the film, is an adult woman of similar age to John. Pocahontas Smith did not have a romantic relationship with John Smith. Pocahontas is believed to have married Kocoum when she was 14, despite the fact that in the film her father appears as if he were trying to force Pocahontas into marriage. Disney chose to ignore these facts in order to tell their love-at first-sight story. Disney’s portrayal was way off the mark, and it completely changed how John and Pocahontas met. Pocahontas’s encounter with Smith in the film occurs almost immediately, but the truth is that her tribe only encountered Englishmen after John Smith (the brother of the Powhatan) captured him and brought him to her home. This encounter leads to another inaccuracy: the’saving’ John Smith’s lives.
John Smith claimed in his personal account that Pocahontas begged Powhatan not to hurt him. The movie depicts the same thing. Many historians wonder if the event happened. According to oral histories and current history of the Mattaponi tribe the Powhatan grew to like John Smith. In fact, they were accepting him for a leadership post. No one would kill someone who has been honored by a chief. Pocahontas did not save Smith from death because children were not allowed at such events.
The movie portrays a dangerous myth that both sides are able to make peace and be happy after a short battle. In reality, even though the Mattaponi tribe brought food to Jamestown, colonists were still hostile. The colonists were responsible for most of this conflict. It was not shown, but over 80 percent were killed by the mass genocide of colonizers and the infectious diseases they brought.
Pocahontas did not get the happy ending that is shown in the film. She was abducted at the age 16 and was taught English religions and customs. Mattaponi oral history states that she had been raped during her captivity. According to English accounts, she converted to Christianity, and married a man called John Rolfe out of love. However, this is not certain, as Pocahontas did not see her Mattaponi relatives again after being captured. Disney omitting these things is damaging because it erases the suffering of indigenous people. Many Native Americans were affected.
Disney was accurate in portraying colonists with racist views. The colonists sang songs on their way out to the new land about killing injuns. White men viewed Indians as barbaric and uncivilized. They saw Indians as savages and inferior to themselves. The way they behaved when they saw Indians made them feel like they were hunting or killing animals. Colonists likely thought this, because they considered any deviation from the culture of their ancestors as primitive. We insulted Pocahontas’ culture in the movie when John talked to her.
Pocahontas tried to teach us a valuable lesson, but it wasn’t one that was historically accurate. Pocahontas, who defies her dad and falls in love despite knowing better, is the embodiment of this message. The message of the movie was to teach children to be kind, both to themselves and to others.
Disney’s goal of creating a fun, happy movie ended up masking its historical content. They built the plot around an unsubstantiated romance, and based its peak on the unsupported myth of Pocahontas rescuing John Smith. The movie was inaccurate because it left out important details.
