On Pocahontas

Many people say that Aladdin is the best Disney movie. Others would say 'The Little Mermaid' or "Finding Nemo". Well I am here to tell you that they are wrong. VERY WRONG. I am here to tell you that Pocahontas, is in fact, the best Disney movie ever made. Well, Lion King comes very close, but we'll talk about that one later. Yes, it is true, Pocahontas is the best, and here is why.

1. The 'spirituality' shown in Pocahontas kind of makes sense.

Not like the Little Mermaid, where the only kind of spirituality is in the power of Triton and Ursula the Sea-Witch. And seriously? Mer-people? Talking fish?! WTF? Aladdin isn't much better. In ways it perpetuates the stereotypes of Islam and Shari'a, and also presents a negative view of middle-eastern culture (where they cut off your ear if they dont like your face, its barbaric, but hey, its home!) but also contradicts itself. I mean seriously, look at how Jasmine is dressed? The film is actually pretty insulting to the Muslim community.

The only weird thing about Pocahontas is the talking tree, which really isn't that far off. Kekata, the Shaman, is a decent representation of a Native American community's spiritual guide in pre-colonial times. Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas' Spiritual Guide, is a representation of the connection of nature and the Native-American culture. Aimed towards children, Disney uses the simplest form of spiritual illustration and representation possible so that kids could have some kind of understanding of the culture of the time.

2. John Smith

Um, yeah. TOTAL BABE. But I am not going to lie, I would list the disney men like this:

1. John Smith

2. Prince Eric

3. Aladdin

4. Beast (after becoming human)

5. Prince Phillip (Sleeping Beauty)

3. The Animals DONT talk.

Granted, they dont talk in Aladdin either, but I grew up with the notion that tigers are friendly animals that will give you a lift over your father's walls when you want to run away in the middle of the night. I also thought that throwing biscuits out your bedroom window in the middle of the night would attract friendly raccoons. They came, alright, but whether or not they were friendly, I dont know. They ran away when I went outside to catch them.

4. Pocahontas addresses many social issues

Yes, Aladdin does too, but lets face it. Aladdin was a criminal. He stole a bunch of stuff. He lied to people. What are we teaching our kids? that it is okay to lie when you have some magic lamp? Pocahontas never lied about who she was. She defended her culture from a pompous (albeit super hot) englishman. I have tried that before and I will have you know that it is not as easy as it seems, standing up to a condescending englishman... (with, um, an American accent).

Not only does she defend her culture, but she defends John Smith, who represents a country that is about to destroy her way of life. Although she knows things are going to change, she fights to save the english because she knows that a person is a person (no matter how small. hahaha, oh dr. seuss...)

Pocahontas is one of the few Disney princesses who I would consider a feminist. Um, let me just tell you though. WHY IS POCAHONTAS VER FEATURED WITH THE DISNEY PRINCESSES? um, wtf?! she is actually a princess. I mean Belle is always featured and she was NEVER a princess! She just got with some prince. That does NOT constitute princess status. GIVE POCAHONTAS PRINCESS STATUS!

5. Pocahontas is a minority.

um, where is the hispanic princess? where is the African princess? srsly, what is up with all the Europeans? We got Jasmine and Pocahontas. oh, and Mulan does NOT count. she is awesome, but not a princess.

And there you have it. just 5 of the many reasons that Pocahontas is an awesome disney movie.

and um, yeah, I am very aware that this is probably the most pointless posts I have ever written. I just had too much energy tonight, and nothing of consequence to say...