Why Is Pocahontas Inaccurate

The inaccurate representation of historical events in Disney productions as erroneous as that of the film Pocahontas exemplifies why children should not be exposed to them; history does not always have a happily ever after and unfortunately that is exactly what Disney tried to achieve in the so-called “responsible, accurate, and respectful” (Text 3, line 3) recreation of Pocahontas’ story that Disney claims to have made. In A General History of Virginia, one reaches the conclusion that John Smith falsely portrayed the events of his time spent with the Native Americans, whom he calls “savages” (Text 1, line 75) and “barbarians” (Text 1, line 70), because he attempts to glorify himself even though his account of his captivity is completely inaccurate. His retelling, including when he claims Pocahontas “laid her own upon his to save him from death” (Text 1, line 131-132), in a complete contradiction to the accounts of others present at the time. Universally today, it is understood that words of the self-absorbed John Smith was written in an attempt to receive gratitude for his heroic actions against the Native Americans and is historically inaccurate. However, Disney felt that for entertainment purposes it would be more sufficient to use the majority …show more content…
Children will always remember the films of their childhoods and they will inevitably influence their perspective on history since their first exposure of it was as John Smith being a hero and Ratcliffe being the adversary of Jamestown (Text 2, film). Disney installed the wrong version of the story in the minds of children which unfortunately leads them to remember not what truly occurred in history but the fib written by John