Word: aristocratic
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...political agenda, but of a more general sort. In designating as its hero the spunky but idealistic princess and as its villain the English Governor Ratcliffe, head of the Jamestown expedition, the film takes the side of every available underdog: the working-class English sailors fighting the avaricious aristocrat, the Indian conservators over the white predators, the female spirit of conciliation over the male itch to resolve every dispute by going to war. Boldly eco-liberal, Pocahontas even pokes fun at the Disney Co.'s recent attempt to buy Virginia land and build a historical theme park, Disney's America...
Class Differences. Whitman wrote, "I see an aristocrat/ I see a smoucher grabbing the good dishes exclusively to himself and grinning at the starvation of others as if it were funny,/ I gaze on the greedy hog." By the time of the Civil War, the poorest half of Americans owned just 1% of all assets...
...blue eyes. His manners were polite and distant. He wasn't engaged in some Gauguin-based fantasy. He was simply living the way that suited him best, free from attachment. The locals thought he was a bum, a castaway, but his talent made him a queer and upright old aristocrat...
Things only heat up in the second half, when Nan's calculated attempt to win the hand and fortune of a local Protestant aristocrat goes awry, starting a chain of events that ultimately jeopardizes Benny and Jack's ralationship. At the same time, the death of Benny's father gives Sean a new opportunity to practice his dastardly deeds, which eventually include voyeurism, embezzling, and (almost) rape. In the end, needless to say, everyone who deserves a partner ends up with one and the evildoers, never really menacing, are dispatched harmlessly...
...hundreds of anecdotes, jokes and limericks in the book fall into three categories; the familiar, the amusing and the downright revolting. The first group includes just about every sexual stereotype in history: the libertine Frenchman, the repressed, masochistic Englishman, the randy medieval priest and the depraved Roman aristocrat are all present. Some of the anecdotes are almost too well-worn. The exploits of Casanova, for example, feature prominently, as does Lawrence of Arabia's fondness for being whipped. And the story of Abelard and Heloise is also included, since castration is one of the book's favorite topics...