Sorry Netflix, Pocahontas yearns for no man.
Adrienne Keene, author of the blog Native Appropriations, realized in late August that the Netflix summary for the 1995 hit Disney film Pocahontas had a curious, and mostly sexist, connotation.
Apparently Pocahontas is on @netflix now. Can we talk about this description? pic.twitter.com/tjaqRY9gs8— Dr. Adrienne K. (@NativeApprops) September 1, 2015
Sure Netflix, let's casually ignore the part where she stops a war. A WAR.
Keene continued on Twitter, noting the description only furthered negative stereotypes of Native American women. (She also discusses in a blog post her issues with the entire premise of the film.)
Just the use of "woman" and "yearns" is so disgusting. It sounds like a porn description. Or a bad romance novel.— Dr. Adrienne K. (@NativeApprops) September 1, 2015
We talk about the sexualization of Native women, how society paints us as sexually available, free for the taking, conquerable...case in pt.— Dr. Adrienne K. (@NativeApprops) September 1, 2015
These stereotypes are imbued in so many representations of us, and we know the stats for violence against Native women. It's all connected.— Dr. Adrienne K. (@NativeApprops) September 1, 2015
Keene also compared Pocahontas' summary with Netflix summaries of Disney films with male protagonists like Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, observing that the men were always painted in strong and heroic tones.
The men get to have adventures, fight people, save things, be king of the jungle...Pocahontas yearns for a white dude.— Dr. Adrienne K. (@NativeApprops) September 1, 2015
In her blog, Keene adds, "[This is] a discussion of the importance of the words we use, and the ways that insidious stereotypes and harmful representations sneak in to our everyday lives. When we have very few other representations of Native women on Netflix–this is what we’re left with."
But, in a positive turn, Netflix responded to Keene in an email, thanking her for bringing the issue to their attention and admitting that they "could do better."
"The synopsis was has been updated to better reflect Pocahontas' active role and to remove the suggestion that John Smith was her ultimate goal," the email continued.
Got an email from @netflix last night, there is officially a new description for Pocahontas! http://t.co/RjJLEGoObS pic.twitter.com/3867m5OJB0— Dr. Adrienne K. (@NativeApprops) September 9, 2015
The description now reads:
