Cultural Aspects Of Female Empowerment In The Disney Movie 'Moana'

From Disney’s feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, through to many of its princess movies, the female protagonist is reliant on a male counterpart as either their goal or last hope. For example, Ariel in The Little Mermaid sacrifices her voice for a far off prince and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty can only be awoken by a kiss from one. However, as public opinions in society changed, Disney also shifted it focus when it came to dealing with female leads. To do this, they scripted strong and independent women, who could rely on themselves, rather than on some glorified man. Although transcendentalism does not solely focus on females when it comes to its ideals, the practice of self-reliance by these modern Disney princesses is in direct

Moana Disney’s creators address diversity in their 2016 film Moana by having the movie have non-white cast, a woman as the main hero, and a lack of love interest for the main character, Moana. This movie was a pleasant surprise making Moana, a strong independent woman who waited for no man to save her from despair, but did it herself and succeeded. Most princess movies that have been created always had a love interest where the princess always waited for her prince charming to come save the day so they both could live happily ever after. The other aspect of diversity Disney created was having the movie celebrate having a rich culture of colored people.

I have chose to write my final discussion on the newest Disney movie Moanna. Moanna was the classic example of someone going through the Heros Journey. Although she already is held higher than most though because she is the daughter of the chief, so ultimately the next leader. She always longing for more. Her grandmother is the one that pushes her to go follow her heart, When the tribe is in trouble Moanna goes to the call of the journey to find Maui who is a shapeshifter. Maui was all about himself and did not care to help Monna help her tribe. Monna ends up helping Maui when he needs it the most, he teaches her how to sail and continue their journey. They are defeated though by a monster. Maui goes on about his way and Moanna is lost. Defeated

Moana contains many themes connected to the idea that nature is an escape from corrupt society. For example, Moana faces many problems on her island, such as the fear she will not make her father proud as the next chief, and the physical problems with the island not producing enough food to sustain its citizens. Therefore, Moana will often escape to the beach to be with her grandmother, who taught her to “dance” with the waves (Moana 2016). Moana uses the ocean as an escape from her problems in her home, and her society which does not accept her love for the ocean. Such a belief that nature can be an escape from problems is very transcendentalist. Next, Moana has to travel across the ocean to achieve her goal of restoring the heart of Te Fiti and saving her island. The ocean actually

“The ocean chose me for a reason” - Moana. The Disney film, Moana reflects the twelve archetypal stages of “The Hero’s Journey.” Moana is a 16 year-old girl who defies her father’s wishes and braves the ocean to find a demi-god named Maui, who stole the Heart of Te Fiti and left the world to decay. All of Earth’s living beings depend on her success of restoring the Heart of Te Fiti because it will revive all life once it is returned. Moana’s voyage throughout the movie follows the physical and mental processes that the stereotypical hero experiences in their respective forms of media.

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

Te Fiti, an island goddess, created all life and became an island after falling asleep. Her heart, a small pounamu stone, was sought after by the monstrous forces of the sea until it was stolen by the demigod Maui. As a toddler, Moana discovers the heart as she is collecting shells near the ocean. After her chieftain father, Tui, orders her to return to the village, she never sees it until much later. As Moana grows up, she has the responsibility of becoming the next chief of the island. Due to her friendship with her grandmother, Gramma Tala, she keeps her dream of leaving the island alive.

Moana is a unique film that is released by Walt Disney in 2016. A typical Disney film consists of a beautiful princess who wants to find a true love in her life; however, Moana, the main character of the film, broke all the stereotypes and expectations of a Disney princess since Moana’s conflict does not arise from a love interest, but from a desire to save her island. The story of the movie is that there is a girl who lives on the island, but her island is dying because Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti. Therefore, her purpose is to across the ocean to find Maui and make him return the heart of Te Fiti in order to restore life on the Motunui Island, but the chief of the island “ her father “ wishes for their people to stay within the confines of the island’s reef because he thinks beyond the reef is dangerous, but Moana went against her father’s

Moana has determination when she is trying to persuade Maui to return the heart of Ti Fiti and restore the island. Moana expresses, "I am Moana of Motusi. You will board my boat and restore the heart to Tafiti. "(Walt Disney). Moana declares this until Maui obeys her order.

For assignment two, I have chosen the Disney movie Moana. Moana is a 3-D computer animated musical fantasy adventure film. The film music was composed by Mark Mancina, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foa’I. Moana was released in November of twenty sixteen, the movie takes place in Polynesia Islands of Motunui, Moana is chosen by the Ocean to return the heart of Te Fiti, but her father forbids her from going near the ocean. After Moana grows older, she sets out on her own to find Maui the shape shifting demi-God who stole the heart of Te, Fiti to help her sail across the ocean to return the heart and save her Island. The scene that I have chosen for this assignment is the scene where Moana. Sings the “who you are” song to Te

The film “Moana” is a unique movie from Disney, that isn’t another one of those “helpless princess gets saved” movies. Disney’s two-hour film is about Moana - a strong Polynesian female protagonist that does her best to save her island from a demigod named Maui. Disneys film “Moana” is an improvement for Disney because they had Moana be an independent character, they took their time on the movie, and they tried their best to depict all the characters in an appropriate way. The main character in “Moana”, Moana, is unlike any other Disney princess.

The Little Mermaid is a perfect depiction of the typical teenage heroine who is striving to find happiness in her own life, but is restricted by the wicked femme fatale who attempts to destroy all that is good, and sabotage the heroine’s happy ending. Our teenage heroine in this case would be Ariel, the 16-year-old daughter of Triton, the king of the ocean. While Ariel comes from royalty and is praised for her beauty, youth, and innocence, her bright and independent self undergoes a physical transformation that leads her to become a mute doll who is focused on seizing a kiss from the prince, and winning his heart. On the other hand we have Ursula, who was exiled by Triton to live a lonely and miserable life. Ursula undergoes her own transformation where her evil ways allow her to steal Ariel’s voice for herself, and use it to seduce the prince to marry her in order to demonstrate power and control. Although Ariel and Ursula both desire their own form of happiness and success, Ariel’s desire and the lengths she’ll go to acquire love represents a stereotypical society of powerless women who depend on men for their survival. As opposed to Ursula, who seeks revenge and the crown of Triton but ultimately fails; her failure demonstrates the power of men that will always dominate over women in the end, but her attempt represents the ambitious women out there that want more than just love.

When most people think about Disney movies, their mind often goes to the stereotypical princess movies in which the protagonist wears a pink ball gown. Time and time again these princesses must fight their way through the story in a luxurious ball gown in order to end up with a prince. However, there are many Disney movies that work to challenge these gender stereotypes. The movie Moana is a recent example of a Disney production that works to break the imposed stereotypes placed on children from an early age.

My second concept is Power and the direct connection it has with the ancestors of Moana’s people. For generations her family has had the power to control what goes on in the reef. Thousands of years ago, Polynesian people were architects at traveling the seas. Finding new land and providing new voyages for their people. Over time they found New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, and many other small islands.

In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is portrayed a strong and courageous person, he can be seen as a great character because he overcomes many obstacles to be able to help the Princess survive. Although Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale and is stereotypically more admired by girls, the masculine tale might be liked by the male population because they aspire to be the male hero. Maleficent shows the feminine tale and warns the girls that not men cannot be trusted in some cases, and that there is no need to have a man by your side. A woman can survive on their own using her own intelligence and courage to overcome any obstacle that she might face. For the female population, this change is very important because this “hero” story helps us relate to the character and our desire to do great and special acts (Seger 387). This film proved that a woman is capable of defeating evil, and brings a new perspective into Disney