Learning From Disney Movies

I may be a college student but I will never let go of my childhood. I am oddly enough the best friend of my six year old cousin. I remember holding her right after she was born. As her best friend, it is my responsibility to partake in activities she enjoys. This includes watching Disney Princess films. I honestly don't mind (except watching Frozen because I've seen it billions of times). These films are important for young girls because they influence the way they see themselves. Young girls need visible role models that generations in the past were lacking (so do young boys, but that is another story). Disney Princesses has evolved as third-wave feminism becomes more mainstream. In order to better appreciate how far we've come with the feminist character of Moana, Disney's new princess, we must look to the past.

Female characters and their portrayals in Disney films have been problematic even in Disney's Pocahontas (1995) because her history is more than a little warped. Much of the success of Jamestown, an early attempt for Britain to colonize North America, was due to the support and assistance of Pocahontas who served as the inspiration of the Disney film. Instead of portraying the violence and cruelty by the British settlers, Disney stripped the film down to an inaccurate story of peace and minor conflict. Disney warped the perception of Native Americans and ignored the crimes committed allowing violence to live on in a different way. Unlike Pocahontas, Moana isn’t held down by a romantic storyline.

During the childhood of Pocahontas, the English invaded the “New World” and struggles between the colonizers and the Native Americans were almost routine. John Smith was captured by one of the Native American hunting parties, but was saved by a 10 year old Pocahontas making any romance between them unlikely. There is no historical evidence of a romantic relationship emerging between Pocahontas and John Smith so the need to portray a relationship was not necessary. Later in life, Pocahontas marries a British man to better protect her tribe and is then paraded around by the British people as a "noble savage." It is extremely disappointing that Pocahontas is the only Disney Princess based on a real person but her story was not told. We have to remember the past to learn from our mistakes.