1. Pocahontas
One of the worst cases of twisting the truth is the Disney movie, Pocahontas. In the cartoon, John Smith and Pocahontas are the same age, and they fall in love. Sadly, the reality was tragic. Pocahontas was a little girl when John Smith arrived, and they didn’t know each other. The story of her saving his life was complete fiction. She had already married to Kocacum, and she had just given birth to their child. The 16-year old Pocahontas was kidnapped and used as leverage to take supplies from the Powhatan tribe. Then, the English used her as a false symbol of peace between the Native Americans and the colonists. John Smith wrote a fictional version of the story, because he was covering his tracks. If you want to know more, check out our post called 16 Facts About The Real Pocahontas.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Historical Figures Who Are Consistently Misrepresented In Pop Culture. Melissa Sartore. Ranker. 2020
Most Inaccurate Biopics of All Time. David Bell. Collider. 2020
The 15 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies Ranked. Medium. Jack Delaney. 2017
Real versus reel: Four ways ‘Braveheart’ was different in real life. Tim Kirkpatrick. We Are the Mighty. 2021
A German Composer Uncovered a Collaboration Between Mozart and Salieri. Erin Blakemore. Smithsonian Magazine. 2016