Racism and stereo types in Walt Disney movies. An analysis of ‘Pocahontas’ (1995) 

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1, 0, University of Kassel (Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften), course: Sociolinguistic Studies: Structures of Othering, language: English, abstract: Even in today’s globalized world, racist elements can be found in films, not only for adults but also for children. In 1995 Ron Disney published the movie ‘Pocahontas’, which deals with the first English settlements in the New World North America. Describing the first meeting of white English settlers and Native American tribe members, it tells the love story of Princess Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, who falls in love with the Captain John Smith, a white English settler.

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether there can be found racist or stereotypical elements in Disney’s movie ‘Pocahontas’. To start with, basic theoretical concepts will be introduced. The subchapter 2.1. focuses on the definition of race. Since the goal of this work is to find out whether there are racist elements in ‘Pocahontas’, it is necessary to define race. It will become clear that race is a constructed characterization of people and that it is not a biologically inherent, but created in the people’s minds. This will form the basis for the next subchapter 2.2. which deals with the concept of racism. It will be emphasized that the concept of racism is severe complex and can have different definitions due to personal appraisals. Furthermore, it will be pointed out that racism as well is a constructed phenomenon which does not arise because of characteristic features but because of social and cultural structures.