Sunday, June 28, 2015

Nostalgia Nook: Pocahontas

Twenty years ago this week, Pocahontas opened in theaters. It had large shoes to feel, being the Disney movie that followed The Lion King.  Expectations were high. And while Pocahontas had a decent showing, it wasn’t the same megahit as the movies before it. It also pissed off a lot of historians.

And now we’re going to take a look at it.



Can you paint with all the colors of the SPOILER!


Pocahontas opens in London as a ship readies for the New World, bound to create a new colony they hope to call Virginia. These include Thomas (Christian Bale), a young man striking out on his own, and legendary adventurer John Smith (Mel Gibson). Leading the expedition is Governor Radcliffe (David Ogden Stiers), a greedy man who hopes to find gold in the New World like the Spanish. They set off, unsure of what awaits them on the other side of the Atlantic (“The Virginia Company”).

Across the Atlantic, we are introduced to the Powahantan people. They are celebrating the return of their warriors after a successful raid on a rival tribe (“Steady as the Beating Drum”). All except Nakoma (Michelle St. John), who has to go find Powhatan’s (Russell Means) daughter Pocahontas (Irene Bedard). She finds her atop a waterfall and Pocahontas does a spectacular dive into the water below. Too bad the Olympics are a few centuries away.

Pocahontas greets her father and he tells her he has good news for her. He’s arranged a marriage between her and their best warrior, Kocoum (James Apaumut Fall). She is less than thrilled with the idea. He seems too serious for her liking, though the other women are swooning over him. It’s like Gaston, except he’s not a chauvinistic jerk.

Conflicted, Pocahontas runs off. Powhatan finds her and gives her a necklace that belonged to her mother. He also gives her some words of advice that pretty much boil down to: Time to settle down and marry Kocoum.

But in true Disney heroine fashion, Pocahontas wants more than that and she sings about it (“Just Around the Riverbend”). She paddles into a glen created by a weeping willow. But this isn’t just any weeping willow! No, this is a Disney movie! So it seems to be possessed by some grandmotherly spirit and is known as Grandmother Willow (Linda Hunt). Pocahontas talks about her dream involving a spinning arrow and wonders what it means. Grandmother Willow encourages her to “Listen With Your Heart.”

Meanwhile, the English arrive. What does Radcliffe order them to do first? Find potable water? A good chunk of land to build shelter? Inventory their natural resources? Get acquainted with the land? No! He orders them to start digging for gold. Because that’s why he’s there—to get rich! (“Mine, Mine, Mine”). John Smith at least heads out to explore. Meanwhile, Powhatan warriors scout out the new arrivals and worry. Guys, I think you’ll be fine. This lot has horrible survival skills if they are blowing everything up. But they end up having a skirmish and a warrior gets shot. The Powhatans retreat.

While faffing about the Virginian wilderness, John encounters Pocahontas. He decides she’s okay and they overcome their language barrier pretty easily. The wind is magic, okay? Anyway, John ready to show her how superior white culture is and Pocahontas shuts him down. In song! (“Colors of the Wind”).

After John is schooled, he and Pocahontas talk more. He makes friends with her animal sidekicks, Meeko and Flit, before asking Pocahontas about all the gold Radcliffe is hidden in thar them hills. She’s confused and pulls out a stalk of corn. John pulls out some gold he has and Pocahontas is like “Nope, none of this around here.” John realizes Radcliffe is going to be soooo bummed when he finds out. They part, hoping to bring their two cultures together.

Except the skirmish before has left a bad taste in both parties’ mouths. Radcliffe is convinced that the Powhatans are hiding all the gold from them, even after John explains that there is no gold. That there’s only corn and it might be delicious. Meanwhile, the shaman reveals that the white man’s presence will only bring pain and suffering to their people (Well, he’s not wrong). So Powhatan declares the white men their enemy, refusing to listen to his daughter.

Pocahontas and John continue to meet, to discuss each other’s cultures. Nakoma even covers for her until one night she fears Pocahontas is in danger. So she goes and tells Kocoum. He follows Pocahontas and discovers her in an intimate embrace with John after he agrees to talk to her father. Kocoum is either jealous or believes Pocahontas is in trouble so he attacks. Pocahontas tries to convince him otherwise but a shot rings out, taking down the warrior. Turns out Thomas was concerned about John and had followed him. He shot Kocoum to protect his friend.

John is able to send Thomas away before the warriors arrive. They capture John and lug him off. Powhatan decides he should be put to death as the first of an attack against the white men. Pocahontas tries to plead with her father but he’s not listening to her. Meanwhile, Radcliffe riles up the men into fighting the natives in order to get their gold avenge John. Thomas appears to be hesitant. Things are tense in Virginia (“Savages (Part I)”).

Pocahontas seeks comfort in Grandmother Willow, but she doesn’t have much to tell her. Meeko hands her the compass he stole from John and she realizes it’s the spinning arrow from her dream. It points her toward a path and Pocahontas knows what she has to do. Both sides head to war as she races to stop it (“Savages (Part II)”).

As Powhatan prepares to bash John’s head in and the colonists ready to fire, Pocahontas throws herself over John. She tells her father that she won’t let him go down the path of hate. Powhatan also listens to the magic wind and stands down, saying that Pocahontas is right and that he will not fight. Good thing that language barrier isn’t a problem!

Radcliffe decides he still wants a war, so he grabs someone’s gun and shoots. It looks like it’s going to hit Powhatan, but John pushes him out of the way. Pocahontas goes to check on him while the colonists turn on Radcliffe. John’s alive but he’s badly wounded.

It’s decided that the best thing to do for John is to send him back to England for treatment. Now as an adult with better understanding of the 17th century, this seems to be a bad decision. Months on a ship with a festering wound? Sounds more like a death sentence than leaving him and letting the natives use their medicines on him. Pocahontas and John say goodbye and Radcliffe is tossed unceremoniously onto the ship, bound and gagged. All seems well for now in Virginia.

Cue the romantic ballad and final credits!

So how does it hold up? Well, it’s not too bad. The animation is still gorgeous and the music is beautiful. But there may be a few things that work better when you’re a child than when you’re an adult. Or a history lover, like me. But there have been many essays and articles written about how much this movie has screwed up history.

If you ignore that, it’s a pretty good movie. I like to catch it every so often, though I don’t think of it with the same fondness as some of the other Disney movies.

Since I held off this long to post this, I won’t be doing a July Nostalgia Nook. See everyone in August!

Next time: S Club 7

No comments: