Stereotype’s Resistance to the Effects of Time
Interactions between two drastically different cultures offer the potential to breed negative outcomes. When discussing these negative outcomes, stereotypes would be a prime example because a lack of effort in understanding another culture can produce conventional images. Considering this, Drew Hayden Taylor explores the stereotypes directed against native women in his play “Dead White Writer on the Floor”. In Taylor’s play, Pocahontas’ unique construction as a consistently stereotyped character offers a criticism of how stereotypes labeling native women as dependent alter the situation they cannot save themselves from but, endure over time.
The initial presentation of Pocahontas reveals a character …show more content…
In a break of character which separates herself from her stereotypes, Pocahontas presents her desire for respect rather than a character at the mercy of male writers. While Disney’s Pocahontas displays apparent bliss in her interactions with John Smith (Gabriel 1995), Taylor’s refuses to go through “Another goddamn story about the little love sick Indian princess […]” (Taylor 54). This point of contrast between the original version of Pocahontas and Taylor’s offers a unique view of how native women are not content with being constructed as an oversimplified image bearing an absence independence. Taylor’s Pocahontas desires to be more than just the love interest in the story, she wants to be respected. Considering her desire to be more than the love interest, her character criticizes the conventional images of dependence surrounding her original adaptation. To act against these conventional images, she acknowledges she must reconstruct her character to avoid the interference of another male writer failing to “[…] come up with an original idea once in a while[…]” (Taylor 54). Pocahontas’ break in character critiques the conventionality of writers failing to go beyond conventional images of native women when constructing their
Interactions between two drastically different cultures offer the potential to breed negative outcomes. When discussing these negative outcomes, stereotypes would be a prime example because a lack of effort in understanding another culture can produce conventional images. Considering this, Drew Hayden Taylor explores the stereotypes directed against native women in his play “Dead White Writer on the Floor”. In Taylor’s play, Pocahontas’ unique construction as a consistently stereotyped character offers a criticism of how stereotypes labeling native women as dependent alter the situation they cannot save themselves from but, endure over time.
The initial presentation of Pocahontas reveals a character …show more content…
In a break of character which separates herself from her stereotypes, Pocahontas presents her desire for respect rather than a character at the mercy of male writers. While Disney’s Pocahontas displays apparent bliss in her interactions with John Smith (Gabriel 1995), Taylor’s refuses to go through “Another goddamn story about the little love sick Indian princess […]” (Taylor 54). This point of contrast between the original version of Pocahontas and Taylor’s offers a unique view of how native women are not content with being constructed as an oversimplified image bearing an absence independence. Taylor’s Pocahontas desires to be more than just the love interest in the story, she wants to be respected. Considering her desire to be more than the love interest, her character criticizes the conventional images of dependence surrounding her original adaptation. To act against these conventional images, she acknowledges she must reconstruct her character to avoid the interference of another male writer failing to “[…] come up with an original idea once in a while[…]” (Taylor 54). Pocahontas’ break in character critiques the conventionality of writers failing to go beyond conventional images of native women when constructing their