This week we will think about the representation of American Indians in American popular culture by looking at two famous films: John Ford's The Searchers (1956) and Disney's Pocahontas (1995). These films help us recognize the way stereotypes of Indians have developed over time, and how different stereotypes of Indians exist side-by-side. These stereotypes range from the American Indian as "savage" or as an obstacle to be overcome by westward expansion, to American Indian as pure, uncorrupted, and nature-loving. Viewing these films back to back, we'll think about how these films draw on ideas and assumptions that go centuries back, and about the ideological work such stereotypes still do in the present day.
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Study Questions
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Study Questions
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