Another honesty moment: I don’t like Pocahontas. It’s my third least liked Disney Movie, one that I haven’t been able to watch complete (I have to stop around Colors of the Wind. Beautiful song… the context makes me ugh). Mostly because it’s based on a real story of a real girl who definitively didn’t go the way Disney says, and then because it’s kinda… whitewashing all the horrors that native americans went through.
That said: Her character design is GORGEOUS. Sure, the clothes need a bit of work to avoid the sexy savage trope, but her face, her hair, her movement… everything looks so beautiful. If she was in a completely different story, I would love her to pieces.
Of course, I couldn’t put her in the american flag colors. Call me old fashioned but… I feel that’s kind of disrespectful to what Native Americans go through even to this day. So thinking about how to include her in the Wonder Princess line up without putting her in red, white and blue, I remembered Maria Mendoza.
Created by Stan Lee for the Just Imagine Stan Lee creating the DC Universe, Maria Mendoza is a different Wonder Woman from Diana. She’s a native from Peru, she’s an activist against the people who want to destroy her Incan roots, and with the help of the staff of Manco Capac, she gets the powers of the Incan Sun God. Tell me that’s not really cool?
And of course, as her suit doesn’t involve the american flag… She was perfect for Pocahontas.
