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Disney Present The Rich Cultural History Of My People Wrongly And Inaccurately

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Walt Disney, why did you take a magic wand and bibbity bobbity booed the rich and cultural history of people of colour: A mother’s plea to for a more accurate POC representation in popular Disney films.

An Open Letter by Lisa Askuwheteau-Ferrara, a part time mommy blogger for BeyondNativeSkin.org and co-host of Nativeopinion podcast.

To Bob Iger,

It was in second grade. I can still recollect the way in which I positioned myself in front of my aginisi as she untangles the locks of my hair, with my eyes glued to the TV, watching a re-run of Pocahontas. My 7-year old brain struggled to process the message of the movie. Sure, it was a Disney film; sure, it had a catchy musical number, talking willow trees, animals and everything quintessential Disney. And Disney films were meant to be ‘magical’ right? It was not until I took a Cultural Studies course at my alma mater, Brown University that I was able to describe the reasons behind the feeling of shock, sombre, and sadness. Such emotions perfectly encapsulated the offensive and racist nature that continually perpetuates in your movies.

How can the Walt Disney Company portray the rich cultural history of my people wrongly and inaccurately? How …show more content…

Through this, TWDC reinforces the outdated notion of western culture as superior, while the ‘othered’ culture is seen as inferior. Such case is vehemently evident in Pocahontas whereby the character of John Smith is seen as the white saviour. In your inaccurate version of history, John Smith is seen as the white messiah who bridged the cultural divide between the ‘savages, barely even human’ and the white colonialists. Why did you brew a romance between a grown Pocahontas and John Smith when in reality Pocahontas was in a mere age of eleven? Why did you portray John Smith as a white ally when in reality he terrorised the natives who resisted his colonialist

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