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Stereotypes In Disney Movies

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As a young child, when you watch movies, you see all these different characters in the media you consume but what happens if none of the characters are like you. And the ones that are like you have been morphed into something completely different from how you are. The 1995 Disney film “Pocahontas” is an example of an inaccurate portrayal of indigenous people even though it is based on historical facts. Disney portray Pocahontas as a young attractive native woman that saved the European colonizers from These inaccurate portrayals in media can cause certain groups to be severely misjudged by others due to stereotyping. They can also spread false information about others which will be believed since it was on the internet. This can lead to young …show more content…

Not just with adults but with children too because if young Native American children see movies like “Pocahontas”, it leads them to believe that these stereotypes about them are true. Especially for young Native American girls who watch the movie and feel the pressure to fit that stereotypical role of being a submissive wife to a European colonizer. Unlike the movie in which she saves her lover John Smith from death as well as preventing a war. The Powhatan Nation states that “she would have been about 10 or 11 at the time.”, meaning that she couldn’t possible have saved Smith from death. Creating a false stereotype about Native Americans as “good” if they saved colonizers and were obedient. The Powhatan nation also explained how “she became the hero of Euro-Americans as the ‘good Indian’, one who saved the life of a white man.” The chief of the Powhatan nation heavily emphasizes the white man aspect of it very as that is the main reason, she was so well known due to her saving John Smith. All of this can lead to young girls feeling like they must fit the stereotype of someone who is with a white male to be loved and accepted by the general public. Making them feel less than the other girls around their age due to how they are portrayed as only valuable if they are attractive and with a white male. Growing up with these views can cause them serious esteem issues as they get older as

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