Harms of Reimagining/Sensualization of Empire
The spring quarter of Humanities Core began with lectures presented by renowned historians Professor Sharon Block. Her research interests are composed of history of sexuality, gender race, Native American history and much more. As the weeks progressed, the universal theme I found in her lectures is that sexuality and the sexualization of empire’s subjects have led to a transgression of power between the colonized to colonizers. When depicting empires power and the transfer process I find that the very films and types of media we watch are perfect modes of reimagining colonialism; in fact, Walt Disney Studios 1995 animated film, Pocahontas, uses the studios light-hearted storytelling to revamp a part of American history that was known for its inhumanity towards the indigenous people of the Americas. For this particular blog post, I hoep to shed light on not only the films role in depicting Native Americans but focus on how Pocahontas herself was portrayed by white, male directors.
The "Savages" scene from the Disney film, Pocahontas
I am choosing to use film and media studies as a my main topic of research for the spring project. I’ve always had an interest in cinema and the aesthetics behind many of the films that work to tell its story. Choosing to write on Pocahontas for this post seemed difficult at first because there really is not much aesthetic to be found in animation; however, the characterization and the amount of detail that went into creating the infamous native heroine all contribute to the sexualization and historical inaccuracies Disney has been plagued with for many of its films. This brings into mind two questions I will address: in what ways does Disney’s Pocahontas harm our understanding of colonialism/empire and how does it sexualize the native woman?
Before delving into my analysis of the film, I find it useful to excavate the actual history of one of the most iconic women in American history. Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian of Jamestwon, Virginia, who is reverred for her efforts in growing a personal interdependence between Native American’s and English colonists. When English Colonists had arrived, thus was the beginning of an interesting marital relationship between 27 year old John Smith and 11 year old Pocahontas. David A. Price writes, “Her playful nature made her a favourite, and her interest in the English proved valuable to them” (Price). As there had been great tension between indigenous people of the Americas and English colonists, history writes Pocahontas as a mender of such conflicts between the two parties. Infamously, she marries John Smith and moves to England where she begins a family. With this in mind, this is where Walt Disney Studios fails its young viewers, painting an image of colonialism as a “happy ending” and seems to in a way, justify the actions of colonizers by sensationalizing Pocahontas.
A rendering portrait of native Powhatan Indian, Pocahontas.
As it was briefly mentioned, Pocahontas had met John Smith when she was just 11 years old. Walt Disney Studios however took a different approach when depicting this odd relationship, by making her much older and beautiful. Historians and critics of such films would ridicule the director's vision in reimagining such an important piece of America’s past. In Karen Rile’s article “Getting Hisotrical Movies Right: Hollywood vs. Historians” she denotes from Mark Carnes own piece on historical accuracies in film that directors “...justify their claims that their movies are truthful by faithfully replicating the look of the past by creating historically accurate costumes and settings” (Rile). I found this to be true with Disney’s film, where they attempt to depict American colonial history through an exaggeration of native people, which they ultimately succeed in; yet fail to create a more realistic version of the history.
In Professor Block’s April 4 lecture, she brings up the term ethnographic voyeurism, which is the idea of outside viewers going to another society, observing it and making their own idea of what it is (Block). Though this theoretical concept applied to early 1500-1700 ideology, i believe that with the amount of historical inaccuracies we find in film, we concurrently view ethnographic voyeurism on a daily basis. Directors choose to sensualize and depict history & its people in a particular way that ultimately strays from the accurate and real.
Works Cited
Price, David A. “Pocahontas.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Mar. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Pocahontas-Powhatan-princess.
Rile, Karen. “GETTING HISTORICAL MOVIES RIGHT: HOLLYWOOD VS. HISTORIANS.” Daily Jstor, 3 Feb. 2015, daily.jstor.org/getting-historical-movies-right-hollywood-vs-historians-2/.
Professor Sharon Block Lecture