#leavematoakaalone

[alinahdee]

Marvel Criticized For Insensitive 'Pocahontas' Portrayal And Appearance

Marvel is in hot water over the name of a character

I try not to dwell too much on negative self-talk these days, but I do try to humble myself and go "The Aila Test isn't perfect, it's a conversation, it has it's limits, the bar to pass it is still pretty low, there are definitely bigger issues that are more important and should take priority," etc...

......and then something like this happens in 2022 and I just...

[the-aila-test]

Disney Exec: ‘She has to be sexy.’ Historical Inaccuracies and Harms of Disney’s - IndianCountryToday.com

Examples that Disney's Pocahontas isn't just offensive and historically inaccurate - but Disney knew that she was young

On this day one year ago, my second article for Indian Country Today was published. As always, it was such a great honor and a wonderful experience to write for them. I am thankful to @vinceschilling for giving me the opportunity <3

[doesthendnlive]

probably super stupid question, but in pocahontas isn't the fact that the white people call the natives savages historically accurate? Is the problem the fact that the rest of the movie isn't historically accurate so there was no reason to be accurate with the most racist parts? not trying to be rude, I just want to understand.

It’s not a stupid question at all. I’ll answer it as detailed as I can:

1. “ isn't the fact that the white people call the natives savages historically accurate? “ 

Obviously anti-native racism is a thing that happened upon first contact and it’s also something that hasn’t gone away. To pretend that there was NO hostility would be as problematic as saying that the indigenous people and the pilgrims were “good friends” during Thanksgiving. 

The problem is when derogatory language and slurs that specifically demonizes and harms indigenous people is thrown around constantly and frequently. These are terms that are STILL used against us to this day. To describe an existing group of people as “savages,” “heathens,” “dirty,” “devils,” “uncivilized,” “thieves,” in a children’s story is not only teaching non-native children about these words but are also harming the native children watching the film. Words have impact. To hear these insults over and over and over and over again, and then to hear it in a song, causes great damage emotionally to a group that is already surviving with generational trauma and current ongoing racism.

The Prince of Egypt has it’s own issues but for a children’s movie that was also a musical, the handling of the genocide and slavery of the Hebrews was handled significantly better than it was in Pocahontas. The slaves are brutalized, children are killed, there is great sadness and suffering, but antisemitic terminology isn’t really used (correct me if I am wrong, though). Slurs that impact Jewish people to this day aren’t used by the Egyptians for the sake of “historical accuracy.” There isn’t an entire song dedicated to how the Hebrews are vermin who are only good when dead. Instead there are songs about hope, about keeping the faith, about pain, about healing, and most importantly, the narrative of the Prince of Egypt isn’t “Well what the Egyptians did was bad but the Hebrews were jerks too, you guys!” Slavery is wrong. Genocide is wrong. These people deserved to be free even if it’s at the cost of severing ties with your privilege and your family. That is something Pocahontas ABSOLUTELY lacked. 

2.  Is the problem the fact that the rest of the movie isn't historically accurate so there was no reason to be accurate with the most racist parts?

There’s a bunch of problems with the movie that I’ve talked about in detail but for right now, I’ll mention the historical inaccuracy.

Had Disney made this film WITHOUT using the name “Pocahontas,” it still would have been racist and had a lot of the issues I’ve already discussed. It could have been based loosely on the story without attempting to be an adaptation of the actual historical person. 

The fact that it IS based on an actual person, that they use her name and try to tell her story on such a massive global scale, makes things worse. And it’s worse because Disney knows the history.

They knew she was a child when she met John Smith. They aged her up and sexualized her anyways so they could make a love story.

They knew the name of her husband who was murdered when she was kidnapped. They added him as a character who needed to be killed to teach the white guy a lesson.

In the sequel they knew the name of her brother-in-law who was there during her imprisonment and had to deliver the news to her father that she had died. They made him a comic relief character.

They know what the settlers did to the indigenous people and that women and children were not spared or shown any mercy. They still made the natives “just as wrong” for hating the settlers.

Also in the sequel, they knew that Pocahontas was forced to marry John Rolfe, was taken to London against her will and was paraded around as a “noble savage,” stripped of her culture, and had to assimilate in order to be presentable to the monarchy. They made her journey to England VOLUNTARY, they made her assimilation into English clothing a “quirky musical number,” they LIGHTENED HER SKIN WITH POWDER, and she saves the day by marrying her kidnapper and exposing the bad guy to the King, who takes her side.

All of this is so insidious BECAUSE Disney knew better. They did the research. They knew events. They knew names. They spoke with the tribe. And they warped it into something so reprehensible and damaging and continue to make money off of it to this day without so much as an apology or an acknowledgement about the harm they’ve caused.  

[doesthendnlive]

Ali Nahdee on Twitter

“Hey @DisneyStudios Why is Pocahontas still whitewashed to hell and back in @wreckitralph #LeaveMatoakaAlone”

Not only was Pocahontas whitewashed in Wreck-It-Ralph but she is also whitewashed in almost all of her merchandise.

WHY?

[doesthendnlive]

pocahontas still being used for marketing and movies and shit in general isn't okay tbh. how is disney not just... extremely embarrassed by the fact that she ever existed? the whole movie is a racist mess

I genuinely feel that they can’t bring themselves to apologize for her and discontinue her in the Disney Princess line up because then they would have to own up to the fact that they aged up and sexualized an actual victim of rape, kidnapping, abuse, forced assimilation and possibly murder. That this isn’t a matter of “We didn’t know any better” because they KNEW the story intimately enough to know the names of both her husband AND her brother-in-law and STILL chose to make this film and it’s horrible sequel. And now when they bring her back to the big screen, they lighten her skin? As if everything they’ve done wasn’t possibly offensive and disrespectful enough? 

Unbelievable. How on earth are they going to explain themselves for that? How are they going to justify it? Guess it’s just easier for them to plug their ears and do whatever they want because no matter how angry Natives are about this, it won’t matter to them.

[the-aila-test]

THIS is what Pocahontas looked like when she met John Smith and this is why the Disney film is garbage.

#ReclaimPocahontas #LeaveMatoakaAlone

[the-aila-test]

Mattachanna had in-depth talks with Pocahontas during the voyage and while in England, and accompanied Pocahontas everywhere she went, except perhaps when Pocahontas was visiting with dignitaries. Mattachanna had Pocahontas's pulse. She understood and knew Pocahontas's innermost feelings. This is how we learned the history of what happened to Pocahontas in England: Mattachanna and Uttamattamakin reported back to Wahunseneca upon their return. This is how we know Pocahontas did not betray her people.

The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History, Dr. Linwood “Little Bear” Custalow & Angela L. Daniel “Silver Star”

[the-aila-test]

#RECLAIMPOCAHONTAS