Arranged marriage is shown as a serious social issue and an attribute of an old-fashioned way of living. Moreover, the social and political problems of the Native American society are presented through the leadership of one chief, whose authority is not supposed to be argued with. First of all – John Smith notices that the houses Indians live in are not good the society is not rich it has economic issues. The Native American society of that time is shown in the movie as the society with many various problems. In the film’s context, it is emphasized many times that the life of “savages” must be improved by the newcomers. The image of Native Americans as barbarians is mentioned in several dialogues and songs of the film, Indians are called “savages, the people who are uncivilized” (Pentecost, 1995). As for the negative representations, Native Americans are often described as uncivilized and not very bright people.

Another sign of their culture shown in the movie is the tradition of arranged marriages that Pocahontas rebels against. Other symbols and signs that define Indians in the film are their ability to interact with the powers of nature, speak with trees and animals. Pocahontas is one of the main symbols of Native American culture for modern people. Besides, her commitment to a white man is shown as the leading quality of her being a “good Indian.” Pewewardy also notices that today Native Americans are considered as a non-existent culture that nowadays is nothing more than a mix of many tribal societies (1997). For example, Pocahontas speaks English as her native language. The film is made for the audience consisting of young children, and it provides some incorrect knowledge. Besides, the traditional for all Disney movies happy end twists the real events, where the newcomers killed most of the natives and took away their territories (Nunez, 2010). In general, the movie shows Native Americans as a dying culture that used to be a great and prosperous long time ago (Pewewardy, 1997).Ī modern look at the lyrics of the songs from this film reveals multiple racist definitions and offensive addresses to the Native American representatives. The fact that Pocahontas disobeyed her father and left the tribe is considered a good deed. Their rivals, the European settlers, are shown as a more “advanced” society. The Indians are portrayed as an underdeveloped, wild, and aggressive nation. This is why the perspective of the whole movie looks one-sided.

Mainly though, it is a theme of confrontation between “good” and “bad,” yet, the makers of the film did not pay much attention to how they portrayed the Native Americans. The themes explored in the film Pocahontas, created by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, are various.

Pictures of pocahontas