*Amber Ruffin has called out Marvel Comics over its “offensive” depiction of Princess Matoaka (AKA Pocahontas) in the newly released “King Conan” #3 issue from writer Jason Aaron.
“We talk a lot on this show about how representation matters, but what if that representation is so deeply offensive that it’s worse than not being represented at all?” Ruffin asked her audience during a recent episode of “The Amber Ruffin Show,” as reported by Deadline. “I’ll explain in a segment called, ‘How Did We Get Here?’”
“Now, I know what you’re thinking—what a great opportunity to show a historic native woman for the complicated, resourceful, brave person that she was,” said Ruffin on her late-night show. “Well, instead, they did this.”
She then showed viewers an image of a scantily clad Matoaka.
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“First, [it’s] super racist. Second, it’s very confusing to literally anyone who has seen a woman in her underwear,” Ruffin remarked. “Now, in case you’re wondering if this was drawn by a man, let me point out that there are zero bra straps and she’s wearing gold pasties, and yeah. She’s holding up a metal orb entirely with the strength of her breasts.
“Apparently, this comic is set in an alternate universe where native women exist,” Ruffin added, “but gravity does not.”
Ruffin then shot down the common Disney narrative that Matoaka fell in love with an English guy named John Smith.
“I don’t know who her friends were, but in reality, Matoaka was around 10 years old when she met John Smith, and he was almost 30,” she said, adding that there was “never any kind of romance” between the two.
Ruffin also slammed the notion that in Disney films, Matoaka risked her life to stop her tribe from killing John Smith, whom she would sneak food to.
“First of all, according to the indigenous site Indian Country Today, when the colonists didn’t grow enough food for themselves, John Smith actually stole food from the tribe by holding a gun to the heads of village leaders,” Ruffin explained. “So, natives like Matoaka likely gave John Smith food in the same way that a cashier gives all his money to a guy in a ski mask. And as for Matoaka saving John Smith from execution, well, historians say that probably didn’t happen either. In fact, many deny that he was going to be executed at all.”
Watch Ruffin’s full commentary via the YouTube clip below.
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