In Response to Grace's Blog 2 (sorrynotsorry I made this whole post about Disney)

I absolutely love all the connections that Grace found in the Disney songs. I find the ones from the Little Mermaid to be particularly interesting because of the premise of the sequel. I'm not positive of a specific song that demonstrates my point so I apologize for deviating from that theme. In the second movie though Ariel's daughter is barred from going into the ocean by her parents and a huge stone wall as a form of protection. She remains unaware of her mermaid heritage. I find this to be be strikingly similar to the general mindset of the elites: Europeanize the colonies and barbarians and strike their culture from the land because their traditions endanger the idea of progress. Yet, as we see when the wall is removed by the end of the movie, it is those traditions and culture that help a nation distinguish itself from others.

Back on track with the songs, there is another one that I would like to add to the list because I believe it demonstrates Sarmiento's argument concerning "barbarians" in his first chapter. It is "Savages" seen in Pocahontas when the Europeans land in the America's looking for gold. Some lines that stick out to me are "Barely even human" and "better off dead." This is the same vibe I got from Sarmiento regarding the role of the indigenous in forming a nation. He later mentions how the gauchos and settlers could become useful if they were reformed but has yet to mention anything positive concerning the indigenous.