Thursday, October 21, 2010

Two's Company, Three's a Crowd

In Pocahontas, Niel Young sings "Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me." The song is about Indians who have some remnant native identity but otherwise are lost in modern society. Specifically, Young wishes he were a trapper so he could sleep with Pocahontas.

Actor, singer songwriter, and princess. Though white, in the song Young takes on the identity of an westernized Indian male. Really we have:


Actor, Native American and princess. The Indian seems like the odd one out. A sexy masculine actor and a sexy exotic princess go together nicely. This is part of the point of the poem: the Westernized Native doesn't fit in modern in society, has no archetypal role.

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