Animating a ‘White’ canvas

Celluloid Indians includes a fascinating chapter analysing the Disney animated film Pocahontas (1995). Disney changed a lot of historical fact when creating this film. For example, Pocahontas was in fact aged 10-11 when she first met John Smith and it is unlikely that they were romantically involved. Yet, Disney animates her as a sensual, spiritual Barbie-doll figured woman rather than a young girl. Since few people will ever read about Pocahontas, this films pseudo-history will exist as ‘fact’ in the minds of generations. They will believe in the Romeo and Juliet ‘forbidden love’ set in the lush forests of North America, which, as Robert Eaglestaff, principal of the American Indian Heritage School in Seattle, has said is much like “trying to teach about the Holocaust and putting in a nice story about Anne Frank falling in love with a German officer.”

What is ironic about this lack of history is that Disney promoted the film as their first film about a historical figure – a person who really existed in time. Eric Goldberg, the film’s co-director, mentions several times in the making of the film that Pocahontas was their first portrayal of a real person, rather than a fairy-tale fictional character. Yet, the film completely warps the truth! This is arguably a form of ‘historical amnesia.’ Critic Ted Jojola stated “a serious omission is the lack of the standard film disclaimer that all characters and their resemblance are fiction.”

O'Shaughnessy and Stadler discuss the stereotype of the 'noble savage' - which is essentially a cookie-cutter inspiration for the character of Pocahontas:

"The noble savage draws on European ideas established by Rosseau... these writers regarded civilisation as corrupted and unnatural; they thought that people living outside European civilisation were pure and noble because of their relationship with nature... the 'savage' state is similar to the state of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden"

Animators of Pocahontas openly admitted in interviews that Pocahontas was influenced by their understanding of Eve, and her love for nature is seen through the 'noble savage' lens. Yet this understanding of 'nobel savage' is constructed within the Eurocentric ideologies of what is 'noble' and what is 'civilised' - so really, we're not "walking the footsteps of a stranger to learn things we never knew we never knew" - even though these are the lyrics of the song that the movie directors claimed were "the essence of the film."

Cinematic Mediations – White Eye

Stuart Hall’s concept of “the absent but imperialising white eye” which positions everything within the frame is very evident in the opening sequence of this film.

Starting with a White song

The lyrics to the first song are:

“In 1607, we sailed the open sea,
for glory, God and gold
and the Virginia Company!”

Who is this WE? Pocahontas is ‘supposedly’ the protagonist, this film is ‘supposedly’ meant to be sympathetic to the Native-Americans yet it chooses to START the film showing the world of the British. Additionally, use of the pronoun “we” places the audience on the side of the British.

Furthermore, shots are framed as though we are sailing on board the ship, spending time with the sailors on their journey to the New World. (Again, “New” to whom? Certainly not “new” to the indigenous people who lived there for years)

Starting with a White background

The first shot is of a sepia toned painting of the panoramic view of London city. This painting is quintessentially European, painted and framed in a European style. Since I major in Art History, I was interested in analysing the painting as though it were a real one:

The composition of the painting (and shot) glorifies the skyline of London. This shows the ‘progress’ and ‘civilised’ city as majestic, with tall gothic cathedrals and houses that spread far into the horizon. It celebrates the colonial power of England by showing the large ships on the river. The elaborate frame is carved in gold. The painting has an air of opulence and wealth. Right in the centre is the label carved onto a gold plate – “LONDON.” The shot of the painting then fades into the scene of London itself.

White is Right

The opening shots show white families as gentle, loving characters. Shots depict couples embracing, scenes of love:

Contrastingly, love between families in the Native Americans is shown as fierce, exotic and sensual. Couples embrace so wildly upon meeting after a long time that they fall into the water in a sensual pose:

But – we do not actually see the Native Americans until 3 minutes 5 seconds into the film. And worst of all – our very first view of them, the very first representation of them – is a bird’s eye view shot of them as a mass in canoes:

They are represented as a mass from a distance. There are no shots filmed from the point of view of being on board the canoe alongside the Native Americans, even though the establishing shots of the film situate the point-of-view on board the coloniser’s ship.

This theme of the Native Americans as a “mass” rather than individuals is emphasised by comparing the framing of shots of whites versus them:

The first shots of British families are medium-close up, whilst most of the shots showing the Native Americans are long shots. This emphasises them as a “mass” of people, a cultural flattening of sorts.

"White Washed" - a conclusion

This is simply an analysis of the OPENING sequence of Pocahontas – one can easily see the white washed cinematic mediations throughout the film!!!!

Book References:

- Celluloid Indians : Native Americans and Film by Jacquelyn Kilpatrick

- Hollywood's Indian : The Portrayal of the Native American in Film by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor

- Making the White Man's Indian : Native Americans and Hollywood Movies by Angela Aleiss

- "Ethnicity, Ideology and the Media" - Media and Society: An Introduction, 2nd edition. By O'Shaugnessy and Stadler