Truth or Myth?

Last semester I took a class called Race, Gender, Mass Media, and for my final project, I decided to study the contrast between the movie portrayal of Disney movie Pocahontas and the actual history behind the story. After reading the poem by Paula Gunn Allen, a dialogue between Pocahontas and her English husband John Rolfe, I decided to reflect in more detail a few similar ideas. Relatively speaking, the Disney portrayal of the Pocahontas story was an idyllic and fabricated one. What actually happened was rather different: The English treacherously kidnapped Pocahontas, which is where she met John Rolfe. She married Rolfe under the condition that she should be released from her captivity in Jamestown. Role took her to England and used her as propaganda to support his colony in Virginia. Those situations were never shown in the book and have not been spoken of until reading this poem, which ignited a spark inside of me to defend the real story of Pocahontas. Here in this poem, she wants to take a stand and use her feminist voice to show that there is no patriarchy, that John Rolfe was only successful because Pocahontas herself was in his life. There were other problems in the life of Pocahontas that Disney decided not to show, which gives her story much more cultural significance, displaying the actual tension and problems in the Native American culture. In her poem, Pocahontas says, “Had I not set  you tasks, your masters far across the sea would have abandoned you...Still you survived, oh my fair husband, and brought them gold wrung from a harvest I taught you to plant.” In reality, Pocahontas and Native Americans in general taught the Europeans everything they needed to know to be successful in America, and the Europeans in truth owe much of their dominance to the natives. 

What does it mean to be an American?

An American, to me, is a patriotic, free, and liberated human being who has equal opportunity to succeed and dream. After studying and discussing poems with alternate definitions of Americans in class, I figured my vision would change, but surprisingly enough, my vision did not stray from my mind. Being the cousin of a New York City firefighter and EMT and the niece of a New York City police officer, my family was directly affected by the September 11th terrorist attacks. That event, which ultimately changed American history forever, instilled in me a particularly passionate feeling of patriotism toward my country and the soldiers, presidents, and proud citizens that represent it. Although my family feels cheated by intruders, I still believe that immigration is what keeps our country running smoothly. America is an admired place of residence, and I believe citizens should welcome those that are strong enough to join our powerhouse. Therefore, I particularly connected to “The New Colossus,” not only because it’s main “character” is the Statue of Liberty in New York City, but also because “the mighty woman with a torch” extends an offer other countries to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” I stand by the image of the golden door, because I believe that America is heaven. I stand by the image of breathing free in America, because we are a democratic country free of governmental interference and we can be educated and determined leaders of our own lives. Since 9/11, I perceive America as the ultimate golden door or entrance to diversity, a place of “world-wide welcome.”