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The Image of Pocahontas: The Most Real of All Depicted Before? The main thesis of the essay is that the new movie about Pocahontas, created by Terrence Malick, is the closest to real image of the young lady, who was always supposed to have played an essential role in the history of the United States. Pocahontas was made eternal in a great number of movies, cartoons, books and plays. According to the legend, she saved an Englishman from death, and later, having married another English settler, guaranteed peaceful co-existence between Indians and English colonists. Later she made a real furor in England, but the whole story depicted by Malick, despite the fact that it is often called a masterpiece, has its disadvantages, though can be considered one of the most realistic stories about Pocahontas as a young lady, carrying no deeper implications except for those, which are present in the history. (Maxwell, 2005) The main problem of the movies about Pocahontas is probably, that she was never depicted real, but her life was full of difficulties and was not as romantic as artists and directors tried to make us see her.
The first British colonists arrived to the Chesapic bay in 1607, and the same year Pocahontas became famous for saving the life of the colonist leader, Captain John Smith. He has been captured by Indians and only the princess' involvement saved his life. It should be mentioned, that this story is based on the diaries of Smith himself, and they are not full, the truth is difficult to be separated from the fiction there. Smith left his parents' farm at the age of 20, fought the Turkish in Hungary and then left for Russia. In his diaries Smith writes that the princess threw herself to help him in the last moment, and he does not mention a word about the love which has been depicted by so many movies and cartoons before! Captain was 27 at the time, and Pocahontas was 12 - 13, even by Indian standards she was a child.
In this moment, it should be said that Malick was the first among creative workers, who has depicted the story of Captain's salvation as it was in reality, without any tint of love between him and Pocahontas. (Neill, 1869) From the historical point of view, this moment might carry little significance, as the presence or absence of any feelings between these two characters might contribute little to the depicting of her life and story. However, showing Pocahontas in love with Smith often misleads the reader and the spectator, as the story should be concentrated on the real historical significance (or insignificance) of Pocahontas and her role in bringing two different nations together. The main striving of Malick was to depict, how the two different civilizations could exist together side by side; together with showing how far away and unknown they were to each other. The significance of Pocahontas image in the New World movie is that she was not exactly the one to reconcile two separate peoples, but could serve as an unintentional intermediary in this process.
The movie looks at the story and the image of Pocahontas from the more truthful historical viewpoint, than it has been done before, but it is still more concentrated on the nature and romance. One of the scenes, when Pocahontas plays hide-and-seek with her child, makes the spectator understand her human features and traits, but the scene when she saves the life of Smith throwing her body on his, carries and implies more complex and deep reasons for her action. (Barbour, 1970) The movie tries to show that Pocahontas, which is opposed to the previous versions, was more driven by curiosity, and not by wish to become a hero, though this curiosity made her famous; at the same time, she was also delighted by the courage of the newcomers, and thus didn't see them as negative characters, and if there were any love between her and the Captain (which is doubtful despite the fact, that he himself in his diaries notes she had betrayed their feelings (? ) ), this was not that romantic love, as Disney's movie depicts, but probably something more instinctive and down to earth. (Manarin, 1998) The scene of the movie, in which Pocahontas and Smith teach each other simple words from their languages, is played not with some hidden feeling of love or romance, but rather with the open and vivid, sincere feeling of discovery and something new. Probably, this neutrality towards Smith as a man and the curiosity towards him as a newcomer led to the fact that later Pocahontas became a major role player in finding the common language between the natives and the foreigners. It is essential, that Malick aimed at depicting Pocahontas from the historical, and not from the romantic point of view, though there are still the moments which make us think that. (Give, 2006) The main difference between the depicted and the historical characters is actually appearance, which is slightly perfected in the movie. It is possible to admit, that Pocahontas is rather modern version of historical background. Historical Pocahontas was a prototype, but not identity. (Barbour 1970) Nevertheless, the characters had similar traits.
They were independent, courageous, athletic and adventurous. They were enjoying nature. Pocahontas was strong and she was never stumbling through the woods as a helpless female when she is pursued by some villain. The main characters of Pocahontas were: she was confident in her physical abilities; she was sensual in the pleasure of nature. In the movie Pocahontas was playful, spontaneous, mischievous and defiant. Their images are highly-energetic and dominant in the history of America.
Both characters were striving for peace and better living and they played important roles: historical Pocahontas in real world and Malick's Pocahontas in the movie world. (Barbour, 1970) Malick was able to create a movie, in which the spectator does not see any future, as it can't be well known to anyone. The main mistake in depicting Pocahontas has always been an attempt to continue her story, which was rarely truthful. On the contrary, Malick depicted Pocahontas in her real surrounding, with real features and with the deep implication that she was the indirect one to serve as a 'bridge' between Indians and the English. According to the historical sources, Pocahontas was married to John Rolfe, an English settler, with whom she later moved to England. (Neill, 1869) Her arrival and the surrounding in which she appeared there are depicted by Malick as a real human drama.
On the one hand, she is totally abandoned and ostracized by her tribe, and this fact does not leave her any choice but to leave for another country, and on the other hand, she is totally alien to the new society, and each detail, starting from clothes, and finishing with communication, makes her constantly look for inner agreement within herself. Historically it is very important, as this moment in reality led to her early death. Malick is the first filmmaker, who made a partially successful attempt to depict Pocahontas in her real surrounding, with minimum contradictions with the historical image. Despite the fact that Americans suppose Pocahontas as the beginner of their society, Malick shows that she didn't contribute much into this, being simply a person with her own fate, wishes and strivings. 'There are the familiar stories of the Indians helping the English survive the first winter, of how they teach the lore of planting corn and laying up stores for the winter.
We are surprised to see how makeshift and vulnerable the English forts are, how evolved the Indian culture is, how these two civilizations could have built something new together -- but could not, because what both societies knew at that time did not permit it. Pocahontas could have brought them together. In a small way, she did. She was given the gift of sensing the whole picture, and that is what Malick founds his film on, not tawdry stories of love and adventure. He is a visionary, and this story requires one'. (Petrakis, 2006) Malick, being the filmmaker, didn't carry any social or political agenda in his idea and striving to make a new movie about Pocahontas. He showed the true difficulties with which Pocahontas collided in the attempt of the two different peoples to create something common.
He both avoided depicting huge romantic love and significant role of Pocahontas in the American history. In fact, he was the first one trying to deny the fact, that Pocahontas was the beginner of the American nation. According to the history, her son Thomas came back to America and became one of the richest settlers there, but there is not a single hint on his future personal life, so Malick puts a doubt on the fact, which millions of Americans pronounce with dignity that Pocahontas in fact was the mother of the whole American nation. Works cited Barbour, Philip L. Pocahontas and Her World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company 1970.
Give, Dann. "World' View Realistically Detailed Historical Drama Marred by Voice-Overs Tepid Romance." Daily Herald 20, January, 2006: 37 Manarin, Louis. The Complete Works of Captain John Smith. US: Houghton Company, 1998. Maxwell, Kristen. "Back to the Roots." Dance Magazine, vol. 79, issue 9 September, 2005: 97 Neill, Rev. Edward D. Pocahontas and Her Companions.
Albany: Joel Munsell, 1869. Petrakis, John. "American Beginnings." The Christian Century, vol. 123, issue 1 10, January, 2006: 49
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