Disney May Be Remaking Pocahontas. Here’s Why That’s A Terrible Idea
According to a new rumour, 'Pocahontas', the oft-criticized 1995 animated movie, a whitewashed take on the horrifying true story, is the latest classic Disney film being eyed for a live-action remake. Unlike other problematic films in Disney’s catalogue, Pocahontas is one movie that simply cannot be fixed, and would be a terrible choice, especially if your goal is to improve Indigenous representation in film.
On the heels of the successful live-action take on Aladdin, and the heavily anticipated CGI Lion King, with an epic all-star cast, Disney has found a major cash cow in it’s new remakes of some of it’s most popular animated classics. Many of these movies have thrived on the childhood nostalgia of these beloved stories, while others have opted to take a new direction from the source material (such as 2014’s ‘Maleficent’, which not only retold ‘Sleeping Beauty’, but explored the tragic backstory of it’s mystical villain, and provided a new take, as well as some twists, on the original story).
But according to the latest rumour, Disney may be considering development on an adaption of one of it’s far more controversial classics, Pocahontas, which has often been criticized over the years by Indigenous viewers & critics for it’s poor and inaccurate depictions of indigenous culture & history. The movie told the romanticized tale of a young native girl who falls in love with an English settler, and is ultimately caught between a war between his people and hers, before ending it, and bringing in a nice happy ending. However, the true story this historical myth is based on is far darker than the fairy tale. The historical Pocahontas, who’s real name was Matoaka, was the daughter of Wahunsenacah, leader of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was kidnapped by the English in 1613. In 1614, at the age of 17, she was forced into marriage and repeatedly raped, before she was taken to Britain, where she was treated as a novelty and object of fascination, until her death within one year of the trip, widely believed to be caused by European diseases (though other historical sources attribute it to poison). She first met the 28-year old John Smith (whom she did not fall in love with or save the life of) when she was 10 years old. The animated ‘adaption’ of this story is incredibly problematic, whitewashed, colonial revisionist history that should not have been made, and certainly does not need to be revisited.
With other troublesome Disney films, problematic elements of the original can be altered and fixed. The upcoming live-action Mulan, for example, is making many changes to the 1998 animated film, seemingly trying to stay closer to the classic poem, ‘The Ballad of Hua Mulan’, which both films are based on. The film reportedly does away with several elements of the ‘original’, such as the musical numbers (at least sung by the cast), the comedic-relief dragon ‘Mushu’, Mulan’s love interest ‘Li Shang’, and it appears to be taking the Chinese culture more seriously, all of which were common Chinese criticisms of the original film, which bombed in Asia.
Pocahontas, however, is simply un-fixable and cannot be saved. There is no way that the story can be done in a potential remake, or even a reimagining that can be remotely true to both the animated movie, and the terrible truth. the only proper, non-whitewashed adaption of the real, historical story would have to be a straight up horror film.
This appears to be, in part, due to a desire from Disney Studios to increase diversity and representation in their films, seen in the casting of African-American actress Halle Bailey as Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’, as well as the aforementioned Mulan (of course due to huge successes like Marvel’s Black Panther). Of course, we should all support and push for more representation in mainstream media, especially for indigenous people, who are grossly misrepresented when it comes to film, and I would love to see one of these big Disney movies starring an Indigenous character, but this just simply isn’t the way. There are plenty of great indigenous myths and legends from nations all over turtle island that could make great feature films. If you want to make a big, Disney-style fantasy film, with an Indigenous star & cast (which i hope you do) why not try one of them?
[Note: This rumour originally comes from WeGotThisCovered.com, a website which has a tendency for clickbait, and is often inaccurate]
On the heels of the successful live-action take on Aladdin, and the heavily anticipated CGI Lion King, with an epic all-star cast, Disney has found a major cash cow in it’s new remakes of some of it’s most popular animated classics. Many of these movies have thrived on the childhood nostalgia of these beloved stories, while others have opted to take a new direction from the source material (such as 2014’s ‘Maleficent’, which not only retold ‘Sleeping Beauty’, but explored the tragic backstory of it’s mystical villain, and provided a new take, as well as some twists, on the original story).
But according to the latest rumour, Disney may be considering development on an adaption of one of it’s far more controversial classics, Pocahontas, which has often been criticized over the years by Indigenous viewers & critics for it’s poor and inaccurate depictions of indigenous culture & history. The movie told the romanticized tale of a young native girl who falls in love with an English settler, and is ultimately caught between a war between his people and hers, before ending it, and bringing in a nice happy ending. However, the true story this historical myth is based on is far darker than the fairy tale. The historical Pocahontas, who’s real name was Matoaka, was the daughter of Wahunsenacah, leader of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was kidnapped by the English in 1613. In 1614, at the age of 17, she was forced into marriage and repeatedly raped, before she was taken to Britain, where she was treated as a novelty and object of fascination, until her death within one year of the trip, widely believed to be caused by European diseases (though other historical sources attribute it to poison). She first met the 28-year old John Smith (whom she did not fall in love with or save the life of) when she was 10 years old. The animated ‘adaption’ of this story is incredibly problematic, whitewashed, colonial revisionist history that should not have been made, and certainly does not need to be revisited.
With other troublesome Disney films, problematic elements of the original can be altered and fixed. The upcoming live-action Mulan, for example, is making many changes to the 1998 animated film, seemingly trying to stay closer to the classic poem, ‘The Ballad of Hua Mulan’, which both films are based on. The film reportedly does away with several elements of the ‘original’, such as the musical numbers (at least sung by the cast), the comedic-relief dragon ‘Mushu’, Mulan’s love interest ‘Li Shang’, and it appears to be taking the Chinese culture more seriously, all of which were common Chinese criticisms of the original film, which bombed in Asia.
Pocahontas, however, is simply un-fixable and cannot be saved. There is no way that the story can be done in a potential remake, or even a reimagining that can be remotely true to both the animated movie, and the terrible truth. the only proper, non-whitewashed adaption of the real, historical story would have to be a straight up horror film.
This appears to be, in part, due to a desire from Disney Studios to increase diversity and representation in their films, seen in the casting of African-American actress Halle Bailey as Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’, as well as the aforementioned Mulan (of course due to huge successes like Marvel’s Black Panther). Of course, we should all support and push for more representation in mainstream media, especially for indigenous people, who are grossly misrepresented when it comes to film, and I would love to see one of these big Disney movies starring an Indigenous character, but this just simply isn’t the way. There are plenty of great indigenous myths and legends from nations all over turtle island that could make great feature films. If you want to make a big, Disney-style fantasy film, with an Indigenous star & cast (which i hope you do) why not try one of them?
[Note: This rumour originally comes from WeGotThisCovered.com, a website which has a tendency for clickbait, and is often inaccurate]
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