Little historical accuracy, so what?

Rating: 9/10 (14 April 2020)

Pocahontas is an enjoyable and extremely well-written film with depths and sublime animation and music. On the backdrop of a wild and beautiful native American land, the movie tells the story of love, self-discovery and misinterpretation. Sets in Virginia, North America in the 17th century, the movie is about Pocahontas, an Algonquin woman who struggles to find her path in the world, when a British ship reaches the village in its attempt to seek gold in the new land. After meeting a settler, John Smith, she quickly gets acquainted with him, but is torn between the disagreements of her people and the newcomers on Smith's side.
I can understand that people are upset it did not accurately illustrate the events of what Europeans did during the Age of Exploration but this movie clearly sets out to achieve none of that. By using this setting to pin two opposite forces - white Europeans and Native Americans - against each other, the film tackles the idea of communication. As opposed to the close and cooperative relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith, the lack of understanding and communication between the two groups of people has resulted in subsequent events of anger, disagreement and violence. Many people take Pocahontas and John Smith's ability of talking to each other despite different languages as racism towards 'Indians', however, I feel like this is not the case at all. The decision to reduce the language barrier is important to express the story with better comprehension, especially for young children.
The thing I love about the movie is the very realistic portrayal of characters from both the sides. Unlike Avatar (which evidently ripped off this, a-hem!), Pocahontas equally tells the view of both the tigers and the hunters. No one from the colonizers is one-dimensional and purely evil. All sailors, even though at first consider Native Americans savages and inhumane, are each painted as down-to-earth workers who are essentially exploited by the capitalists and oblivious of what native Americans really are. The Governor, invading the land for the sake of money, doesn't vainly target Indians for fun, it is only he thought that they hid all the gold. From the Native Americans' perspective, we are introduced to the characters - Pocahontas, her friend, her father, and soaked into their lives, their relationships and beliefs. We relate and feel for Pocahontas when she struggles to find the right path. We smile when she and Nakoma play with each other on the boat. The movie makes us care and fear for them upon the arrival of outsiders instead of dehumanizing the invaders (like Avatar did) to make us feel bad about the threats posed to the village.
Alan Menken, once again, proves his magical talent for writing film scores by the timeless pieces in Pocahontas. 'Just Around the Riverbend', 'Grandmother Willow' and 'Colors of the Winds' are atmospheric and resounding songs that perfectly describe the greatness and enigma of nature; 'Steady as the Beating Drums' infiltrates the cultural village lives of the natives; while 'The Virginia Company' and 'Mine, Mine, Mine' imitates in rhythmic power of the crew's work. While strengthening the flow of emotions and visuals in the movie, the soundtrack really stands out on its own with these unforgettable hits that I found myself hooked on after watching.
Great as it is, the movie has noticeable flaws. Pocahontas and John Smith's romance seems inorganic and rushed at some points. Their relationship is admirable in many ways for mutual respects and understanding for each other, but it should have stayed that way. Pocahontas' path of life, guided by nature, ultimately leads to John Smith, which makes her work of reconciling the two groups of people less relevant in the story. This makes Pocahontas more like a classic Disney princess who needs love than a heroine who leads her clan away from destruction.
Given little credit among Disney productions, Pocahontas, however, is one of my favorite animated movies. The film is a modern-par and meaningful story about love and conflicts, with great animation and humor. If you forget political and sociological history and take it for what it is, you will find the ride compellingly as epic, light-hearted and fantastic as any other Disney classics.