Serious."When her intended is shot dead by a young British soldier and Smith is takenprisoner, her immediate thought is, "I'll never see John Smithagain!" So much for any lingering regrets over the dead fiancé. He wants her to marry a member of the tribe, whom she dislikesbecause "he's so.
#Live action pocahontas movie#
Thedramatic challenge in the movie (as it is in " The Little Mermaid") isthat her father disapproves of the man she loves, because he belongs to adifferent race. Havingled one of the most interesting lives imaginable, Pocahontas serves here moreas a simplified symbol, an Indian maid who falls in love with a dashing blondhero, saves his life, and brings about a peace between her people and theEuropean visitors. The son she had with Rolfe became one of therichest of early American settlers, and his descendants still thrive. She did indeed get to go to England, where she was feted as aprincess. The Englishman she married wasJohn Rolfe. In real life, Pocahontas was 11 or 12 when shefirst met John Smith (who claimed in his journals that his life was saved noless than three times by women who loved him). "Pocahontas"is based on myth, not history. Only Pocahontas, who can empathize with bothsides, can save the day. And whenthe settlers open fire on the Indians, they retaliate by capturing John Smithand then prepare to execute him. Governor Ratcliffe ( David Ogden Stiers), the blustering leader of theVirginia Company, is shown gleefully using cannons to level forests.
Themessage of "Pocahontas" is that arriving settlers despoiled theforests and imposed their own version of civilization, whether or not it waswanted.