With any form of representation, it is essential to have a particular sensitivity while depicting it, especially when it is being translated onto a big screen. Although the number of films that portray any indigenous representation has increased over the years, it has also become increasingly difficult to find an indigenous film that has not been completely Westernized. Since the beginning of cinema, till now, we can see that films have transitioned from being an expression of art to displaying art to a specific audience. With colonization, this audience was primarily white people looking for a source of entertainment. This paper will observe the representation of indigenous people in the cinema, particularly the Maori ethnic group, by looking at two films- Moana and The Dead Lands.
An animated, feminist, indigenous, musical Disney production, Moana is an immaculate representation of the Maori people, reduced to a children's movie. The film directs the viewers through the journey of Moana, the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, Montunui, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti. When a blight strikes her island, Moana sets sail in search of Maui, a legendary demigod, in the hope of returning the relic to Te Fiti and saving her people.
Most indigenous representations fetishize the Polynesian islands as exotic vacation spots, and while Moana provides the viewers with a beautiful depiction of her village, it is more so to add to the general cinematography of the film than for the purpose of romanticizing indigeneity and its elements. Here is where it becomes difficult to separate between the animation that Disney usually boasts of and a romanticization of ethnic cultures. However, by depicting a non-crass version of the attire that is a part of the Maori culture, and which most indigenous films fail to sensitively and accurately portray, Moana declares that it is telling the story of an independent girl not separate from her culture. There is also an evident lack of ‘savage’ or uncivilized picturizations of the Maori culture, which could be discerned as either a way of Disney passing off the film as a children's movie or, more respectably, to view and portray an ethnic group without the Westernized connotations of it which have been adopted over the years.
Essentially Moana follows the predictable and quintessential Disney storyline of a female ‘princess’ protagonist, who is shown as ‘The Chosen One’ who needs to go through a rigorous journey to obtain something that will save a lot of people, a potential happy ending, and a closing message to chase whatever one's heart desires. However, it makes things interesting by portraying a strong and unconventional female character without any romantic interests and representing a culture without any political incorrectness.
A prominent element of the Maori culture is an individual's connection with nature. This deep connection is portrayed by mystic and fantastical elements. Throughout the film, we see the ocean being depicted with the likeliness of a living being, the communication between Moana and her grandmother when she's mid-journey, the "shiny" talking crab, and even the Te Ka vs. Te Fiti element, quite unlike the villain concepts that are present in other films, are all elements that introduce mystic into the plot from the beginning itself.
Indigenous people also have a lot of rigid traditions that bound them. Although we observe certain traditions that the people in this film believe in and follow, none of it is reduced to a ritualistic practice. These traditions are regarded with respect and authenticity, which is an extremely sensitive and politically correct way to depict indigenous practices. Especially before colonization, which is the time period this film is trying to portray, these traditions resulted in a lot of inflexible mindsets as well, mainly concerning gender. Men were regarded as the pride of the tribe, and although women were respected, it was usually assumed that only a man could take on the authority of being chief to the tribe. So we can see that not only does the film introduce a strong indigenous female protagonist, but it also bestows her with the ability to explore beyond these rigid traditions that western cinema continues to limit Maori representation to. Rather than making strong women the side characters, the movie has taken them and given us refreshing scenes where men and women are conducting their daily lives. It is interesting to see a film based on a representation that is not overdone and doesn't revolve the entire story on the culture but simultaneously doesn't commit any erasure. The scenes that showed the normalcy of the Maori people was not made into an elaborate element of the story either but just merged in to add to the authenticity of the culture depicted. Also, a jarring difference between other indigenous representations and Moana would be the blatant lack of brawny men. Of course, the two leading male roles, Maui and Tui, Moana's father, are bulky men, but then again, we also see that Moana is depicted as a curvy and strong girl. Hence, we can observe that an individual's physique, a Maori man, in particular, does not hold much importance in their ethnicity.
Symbols are a critical element that Moana has tried to bring out, even though it is an animated movie. One of the most profound yet skimmed over one would be Maui's intricate tattoos. There is a whole song dedicated to it, but due to its musical setup and comedic undertones, people tend to glaze over what it's showcasing regarding indigenous representation. By giving Maui's tattoos plenty of significance and a life of its own, as we see in the scenes where the tattoos move across his body to add to the story while providing some comedic relief, Moana separates Maori representation from the usual 'swirling tattoos of black ink all over the body' concept. Although that may not be politically incorrect, it is still reducing beautiful, possibly meaningful designs to meaningless and somewhat gruesome.
There were no killings, no need for gruesome violence to carry the plot and to signify indigeneity in that manner. This could probably be to fit the structure of a children's movie, but the very fact that the depiction of the Maori people was made so 'normal' that children could watch it, as compared to the graphic descriptions that are there in other films, shows the extent to which the film has chosen to be sensitive and inclusive. It is also important to note how refreshing the concept of having indigeneity depicted through a musical is.
Usually, movies that portray indigenous people tend to use their culture somehow as a form of comedic relief. Although there are several comedic scenes, it is essential to realize that the comedy lies in the characters rather than the cultural depiction itself. Unlike most mainstream movies depicting Maori people, there were no 'wars to be waged,' no 'fight to be won,' and no 'victory to be attained.' Instead, we are exposed to the simple attainment of a deeper connection to one's identity and culture.
In stark contrast to Moana would be the 2014 movie, The Dead Lands. Everything Moana accomplishes in its depiction that sets it above the rest of the indigenous films is reversed in The Dead Lands, showing us just how wrong a misinterpretation of culture can go. Representation of indigenous people is usually displayed through various genres, fantasy being one of the most prominent ones. The Dead Lands is a fantasy-adventure whose beginning itself gives the viewers a fair indication of the context-light exoticism upon which this film has been made.
In the very opening, we see two men running through trees, navigating through a path obstructed by traps, the scene ending with one whacking the other with a weapon, which subsequently kills him. A few more minutes into the movie, we are introduced to a grown man who defecates on a human skull and later goes on to lick it off his hand. Putting such a blatantly westernized piece of work next to a film like Moana may seem absurd and possibly insulting, but some similarities between the two make the differences blatantly obvious. For one, both of them are placed in a period of time before colonization. This would mean that the setup against which these two films are placed would be similar. However, the direction, The Dead Lands takes is entirely different than that of Moana.
The Dead Lands chronicles a young man, Hongi’s life after a rival tribe has brutally murdered his father and tribe. His journey of redemption takes him through the feared ‘Dead Lands,’ reputedly haunted by a legendary lone fighter referred to as the monster throughout the film and eventually seeking his help to get his revenge. The ensuing battles use traditional paddle-like weapons that are deadlier than they look, and much slaughter ensues: this is a film that, at moments, takes the notion of bloodthirstiness quite literally. The Dead Lands is, to be fair, as simple as a parable in its story of two warring Maori tribes and the haunted burial ground over which they fight for control. But, after a certain point, the film's fairy-tale-like nature makes it impossible to enjoy its more idiosyncratic features (like lots of breaking bones, lots of macho threats, and yes, an unusual act of scatological defiance).
A striking contrast between the two movies would be the complete lack of female characters in The Dead Lands. All these men, in extremely good shape, fitting the bill of ‘manly/macho men’ shows the extent to which the misinterpretation of the people within the culture goes as well. The amount of erasure in the indigeneity to fit the storyline of action and adventure and drive the plot is extremely blatant.
The deep connection with nature that is portrayed with fantastical elements in Moana is left pretty bland in The Dead Lands. The most fantastical the movie got was probably while depicting the tribe's connection to the human skull to an extent wherein a disrespect to it resulting in a bloody war. In most parts, this film feels incomplete in its depiction of elements in the way that it has introduced multiple factors but left behind its detailing. Maori culture believes greatly in a relationship with nature and its spirits, one of which we can assume is the 'Monster' who is depicted as a cannibal spirit. Although we learn about him as the movie progresses, the extent to which his character development reaches is a man trying to right the wrongs using gruesome violence. The communication between Hongi and his dead grandmother is probably the only aspect in the film wherein this connection has been solid, not overdone and which actually adds to the plot of the story.
This brings us back to an essential part in films that comes with the misinterpretation of a culture. What The Dead Lands lacked in its sensitivity in its portrayal of the Maori culture, it very well made up (not really) for in its elaborate, intense, and grisly action scenes. Almost all the conclusions to the scenes are these fight sequences, which all end with crunching bones, twisting limbs, and spurts of blood. This film, which would have potentially been a half-decent action movie because of the carefully choreographed and well-thought-out fight scenes, doomed itself in trying to achieve action and adventure by using indigenous people as their central and quite unnecessary plot. It shows how in attempting to make the story the indigeneity, political accuracy diminishes along the way to provide a wholly westernized and stereotypical depiction.
In observing the two films, Moana and The Dead Lands, which are set merely two years apart and have nearly the same backdrops in terms of the time period but completely different interpretations, we can see where one manages to represent an ethnic community with sensitivity while the other misses the mark by just not being sensitive enough. In catering to the audiences, many terrible representations of indigenous people make it on screen, and because the film is made westernized, the western audience laps up the story as a 'fantasy.' However, it's not all doom in representing Maori culture in cinema with movies like The Whale Rider and Boy which gain global acclaim and while providing a platform to represent the culture, simultaneously provide a platform the people of the culture to portray their story. Perhaps the most significant step to take for the perfect representation of cultural communities would be to respect indigenous people as much as their culture and not reduce them to the grotesque westernized descriptions formed after colonization.
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