Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

How do people view their fellow man? It is amusing to see the different ways that we tend to categorize the people around us, how we force "types" of people into certain places and roles in our view of existence. Just how broad or narrow is that view? This depends on the individual person, of course. Our popular culture seems to represent both the widest and the narrowest minded among us. What is interesting to see is that often those "narrow-minded," or ignorant, viewpoints are the ones that seem to breed the most popular texts in our culture. In looking at the stereotypes surrounding the Native American culture, one of the most famous recent misinterpretations of this culture is in the Disney movie "Pocahontas." Disney's "Pocahontas" is a classic example of the way American Indians get romanticized in our culture, even today. From the beginning of the interactions between American Indians and the rest of the world, they were painted as "noble savages," these beautiful and exotic creatures who were at once screaming heathens and gentle protectorates of the land. While today's culture has moved towards a more realistic representation of Native peoples, still on occasion some text pops up that once again brings to mind ol