For the sake of writing a bit
Funny story - I watched Moana last night.
Yeah, that was the story.
It’s a great movie, and here is some space for me doodling about what I noticed in the film. A lot of goods and bads. Mostly goods. Small disclaimer: I have not thought all of these through, so some of these are going to be short and underdeveloped. We’ll start with what I appreciated about it.
Moana is a work of art that remythologizes nature. The film begins with a retelling of the mythos underneath the culture of the people of Motunui (aside: the name Motunui gave me flashbacks of Bionicle. Apparently Motunui means large island, while Matanui means large eye). More to be said here. The basic idea is that Moana is restoring the mystical nature of Nature.
Moana has a faint pulse of Bioregionalism. It’s pretty clear when you get to the first song. “Consider the coconuts, the trunk and the leaves // the Island gives us what we need.” The Motunuians understand their ecological community very well. Obviously it’s not completely ideal, such as when Moana throws out suggestions of where to plant a new forest or fish for new fish in a flippant manner. I honestly thought the villager’s comments of her having good potential were sarcastic at first. But yeah, we get it, you only have two hours to entertain us.
I’m not going to say anything about the art and animation, because it was gorgeous.
I actually liked the protagonist for once. I usually have a distaste for whatever character flaws that they give the protagonist, but Moana was actually alright. It was a good decision on Disney’s part to not include obvious gender inequalities in the village just to pander to angry millennials (of which I am one of). They left that for Maui, of course. Anyways, strong protagonists are hard to write in films targeted for a children’s audience, so good for them.
Moana did have a great powerful villain, but in the end it turned out that the villain was not much of a villain. There was no real villain in the story, spoiler alert (except for the Kakamora, damn them!). It’s like watching LotR and then at the end you find out that the Dark Lord of Mordor is actually just a peacable wizard who got angry because someone stole his wedding ring, and after Frodo returns the ring they all go to the shire and have some great fireworks. It’s rather anticlimactic, but Moana isn’t written as a grand drama in the first place, so it all works out. Not exactly a plus, but not exactly a bad thing either.
Those were some of the goods. Obviously there are more goods shown in the film, but you gotta pay for those. Anyways, some of the bads.
The script. I will always have problems with the script, because it makes parts sound scripted. The quality was actually quite good, and the delivery was also quite good, so honestly not much to complain about here, but I must admit that I like complaining about a film’s writing.
On the topic of writing, the plot could have used some work. But I understand, I mean, hey, two hours. Seen better though.
I’m not going to say anything about the plot holes, because those were gorgeous too.
I should mention the lame deus ex machina by the ocean at the climax.
Random philosophical rants. Not exactly random, but I don’t see the need to put it in the film. Maybe I just don’t like exposing children to big questions, like “why were you chosen”. And then the fantastic non-answer, “maybe you were chosen for a reason”. Gee. Why were you born? Maybe it was for a reason.
Although I shouldn’t complain about that, because it’s a pretty good theodicy.
Oh yeah, and there was that even better answer Moana gave to Maui, “maybe you were worthy of being saved.”
Yes, that’s exactly how God works.
I really shouldn’t complain about that though, because this isn’t even a Christian film. I have definitely heard this answer multiple times in college bible studies (God sent his son etc. etc. because we was worthy of being saved), so I’m thinking the reason why I do hear that from good Christians is because their culture’s influence is leaking from things like this film. Happens to the best of us. Very, very easy trap to fall into, because it sounds so nice too.
They never actually answer why the Ocean doesn’t help out a bit, except for the snarky reply that Maui gives. You can almost feel the indignation from the writers. No theodicy here.
I mean, they can’t have the Ocean help out too much if they want a juicy two hour film. Can’t blame them.
Disney has not stopped telling the same message. So many of their films have the same message. It’s always about expressive individualism. It was really bad in Zootopia, but thankfully a lot more muffled here. There was significantly more influence from collectivism in this film, what with the tribe and all that, but the message of the film was still very much about Moana’s self expression.
I’m surprised that Maui didn’t end up ditching his hook and being all “well it turns out the power was in me the whole time and not the hook, I just had to believe, whaddyaknow”. In fact, they should have done that if they really wanted to promote their ideology. The Gods really just gave Maui a tool to help him realize his true potential. I’m glad they didn’t choose to do so, because that would just smell like classic liberal theology.
Anyways, perhaps Disney could try their hand at a film that doesn’t have to do with muffled self expression, but that probably wouldn’t sell as well. I mean, gotta indoctrinate those kids early, amirite?
Criticism aside, this film was surprisingly Christian in some respects. Moana is set up as a sort of prophet, like Elijah, who flees from Jezebel and complains that he is no better than those before him; unfit for the job. God encourages him, appearing before him in a gentle whisper, or Manta Ray, whatever floats your boat. Why did God choose Elijah for his task? God does not answer. The Ocean does not answer. Well, the Ocean has an answer (remember the turtle scene?) You could whisk up some answers though. Perhaps the Ocean chose to act this way so we could be entertained and taught in the two hours it had with us. Drama is a good teacher.
I was going to mention how God does not choose like the Ocean does, but honestly in some respects, he does. Sure, there’s the Romans 9 stuff, and yes God does not have mercy on people just because of their good character or because they gave a little baby turtle an umbrella. However, I do think there are instances where God chooses like the Ocean. Probably have to make a distinction between having mercy and choosing people for a task. Yes, there are Pauls, Gideons, and Moseses, but there are also Noahs, Jobs, and Solomons, who were blessed because of their character and faithfulness. You could make a very good case that yes, God does show favor to those who follow his commandments.
Wait, that much should be obvious.
I might write a bit some time about how Princess Mononoke has striking parallels with Christianity. Been meaning to do that for a long while (like a couple years). That one is really interesting.
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