Watch: Beyond Disney's Moana

29 September 2016

Students from the Faculty of Arts have joined the global discussions about culture, identity and media representation in Disney’s upcoming film Moana.

The Tuākana from Anthropology, Daniel Hernandez, Logan Hamley and Michaela Dobson, have created a short YouTube clip engaging with the issues that the trailer for the film has raised.

Manukau East MP Jenny Salesa triggered an international conversation about the representation of Polynesian men and women by Hollywood earlier in the year with her widely reported comments that the appearance of the demigod Maui in the upcoming movie perpetuates negative stereotypes.

Daniel, Logan and Michaela have been following the excitement and controversy surrounding Moana since Disney announced the film, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to apply the directly relevant subject matter that they had been engaging with as part of their studies in Anthropology.

Daniel explains that “we were all very interested in the excitement and concerns about the film — and everything in between — and we wanted to facilitate sharing several voices, in a communal way."

“The ideas that we have been looking at are really dense, including our study at University and our cultural knowledge and background. We hope to make them understandable to a wide audience.”

Daniel has been working with digital video as part of his doctoral research into kava, identity and songs, and the trio decided to produce a clip for YouTube, to reach a broad audience and stimulate dialogue around these issues.

They reached out to students and staff in the Faculty community to introduce some different perspectives, and contribute in a meaningful way to the dialogue around identity and representation.

“People have strong and differing opinions about the upcoming film,” Daniel says, “Where do these opinions come from? Is it from lived experience? Is it from research? What's your relationship? We are attempting to add depth to how we have dialogues about these issues.”

Daniel explains that Maui is a trickster, who overcomes challenges using intellect, ingenuity and creativity. The Tuākana have drawn upon the spirit of Maui to utilise a platform like YouTube that a lot of people engage with to draw attention to longstanding issues with the portrayal of Indigenous people in film.

“This is not an isolated issue, it is a story that has been going on for years. We wanted to break down what can feel like walls around the academic world and make these issues more accessible in mainstream discussion.”

“We think these issues are important, and this video shows why.”


Watch the full version of Beyond Disney’s Moana: In the Spirit of Maui.