The Field Of Social Work

Whale Rider offers an inside look at a small Maori community located in New Zealand. The movie follows the life of a young girl named Pakiea Apirana, who is the granddaughter of the chief, named Koro. In the story, Paikea struggles to win the approval of her grandfather, as she is a girl, and in the Maori community, only boys could inherit the position of chief. This will become a central theme of the movie, as Paikea repeatedly experiences unpleasant encounters with Koro. In addition, throughout the movie, the various dimensions of religion can be observed inconspicuously, offering an even greater examination of the Maori culture.

In the film 'Whale Rider', by Niki Caro which follows the journey of a young girl named Paikea Apirana and her struggle for acceptance as a leader of her Māori iwi, and especially her grandfather. An important character in this film is Pai herself. This character has significant importance as she is used to portray numerous important ideas and themes throughout the film. Pai helps me to understand and appreciate that women can also be leaders that are equal to men if they have the right attributes. The director Niki Caro uses numerous different film techniques to convey this idea, such as; the camera shots and camera angles when Pai is giving her speech to Koro, the use of camera angles and props in relation to the dialogue when Pai if fixing the motorboat engine, and the use of props when Pai is teaching herself to use the Taiaha.

In the film “Whale Rider”, we explore the traditions of the Maori tribe located in New Zealand. This tribe holds their traditions very high and only direct descendants of the Whale Rider himself can become the chief of the tribe. The main character in the film is a twelve-year-old girl named Paikea. Her twin brother died during childbirth, leaving Paikea as the only child. Because Paikea is a girl, she cannot be the leader of the tribe. Since there is no one in his family to become the next leader of the tribe, Paikea’s grandfather, Koro, is very upset about the death of his only male grandchild and becomes worried about the tribe’s future after he is gone. Paikea is caught in the middle of this and desperately wants to be included in the

These contradictory styles stem from the characters’ different perceptions of culture which impact their identity. This is evident in a scene involving the reoccurring motif of the rope. Koro is attempting to fix an engine with a piece of rope whilst discussing where the ancestors originated from with Paikea. Koro converses in the traditional Maori dialect, and no subtitles are provided for the audience, which emphasises the significance of language to traditional Maori values and culture. “Weave together the threads of Paikea, so our line remains strong. Each one of those threads are one of your ancestors all joined together and strong”. He exerts force and physical strength to fix the rope in an aggressive manner, but subsequently, it frays; typical of Koro’s personality, his leadership style and methods are traditional. The crucial principle of the Maori identity - strength - is what breaks the rope, literally and metaphorically which is foreshadowing the future decline of the culture. He leaves to retrieve a replacement, Paikea mends the engine by taking a modern, different approach and promptly repairing the frayed piece by gathering the remains and tying it together. She applies Koro’s same technique of strength, displaying how she maintains her traditional culture, yet integrates her modern mentality to accomplish the task. This shot presages Paikea’s future role of mending the broken tribe, joining the ends of the past and modern times. Paikea’s scenes are dynamic and changing, a visual depiction of her flexible mindset and approach. Paikea demonstrates her ingenuity as a leader, yet Koro reprimands her as she is female. He states “I don’t want you to do that again, it’s dangerous”, implies that the task is too dangerous for her, presenting his patriarchal views. However, her completion of the task defies his archaic

The legend of Hi’iaka and Pele is a story of betrayal, jealousy and revenge. But also an explanation of the powerful effect of love and how it has no limitation. This myth also connects to the Reeves and Leslie family from their Hawaiian ethnic origin. The family comes from the Royal bloodline of Kauikeaouli or Kamehameha The Third. In their belief, the main Hawaiian spiritual protector is the Goddess Pelehonuamea (the fire Goddess) and they ask her for many different qualities to perpetuate their homeland and to keep the Big island healthy. This Goddess is also the one responsible to forming more of the early Hawaii island, helps push away storms and grant the local people the aspects of life that they surely need. Also, one of the family

A hero growing up usually has an awkward vive that displays them as an outcast. Reflecting to the beginning of the movie with the birth of Pai, her twin brother death symbolizes her characteristic. Throughout the movie “Whale Rider,” Pai at moments had a transcendent gender. Her short cut hairstyle and masticated clothes, hidden her feminine image but embraces her boyish characteristic. Others did not recognize Pai within the training school for her natural talent to compete against other males. In the Maori community, Pai is a disgrace because it was abnormal for a female to participate and practice within the traditional worrier school. Pai was not interested in the limited roles of what a woman are set out to do and refuse to limit her learning in the ritual of the worrier ancestors. Her grandfather clearly let her know that she is an embarrassment to him and the Maori community. He was blinded by the fact that her capabilities to with stand physical completions towards other male and in most cases defeat their pride. It was so obvious Pai had all the attributes of what her grandfather was seeking, but was ignorant by belief. There were numerous times she was caught practicing fighting technique and then punished by her grandfather. Punished by her grandfather and was forbidden by him to not

She had to work for what she got though. Right from the moment she was born, she was rejected by the members of her tribe. This was the result of her mother and twin brother both dying during the delivery, leaving Paikea. She was not liked immediately because her twin

The benefit of me being in the Social Work field is my personal experience with similar struggles. I would like to be the person I never had while going through my hardships. The resurrection of my old wounds that I have overcome would certainly be my weakness. With that being said, I am confident I could make a difference because, I have been in their shoes to a certain extent, so I can help relate to and speak from experience with those I am trying to help. There are many resources available for the people such as shelters, food banks, job training, and placement assistance. All they need is the guidance from a knowledgeable social worker who is willing to offer a helping hand to open these doors of opportunity. Working with the Boys and

She moves around frequently and lives in a rather rubbish neighborhood occupied by many other minority families. But despite how it may look to outsiders, Esperanza says it is a very safe neighborhood. While living on Mango Street, Esperanza recalls multiple times people in her neighborhood have fulfilled the stereotypical Mexican role, such as abuse by husbands, stealing cars, getting married early, and having many children. Even though Esperanza is surrounded by negative influences, she does not fall into the cycle that most women in her culture do, and instead decides to make something of her life, then come back and help the others do the same. Like Esperanza, Paikea comes from a very narrow-minded culture. Paikea is a Maori descendant and lives in a small village on the coast of New Zealand. Her grandfather is the chief, and Paikea’s twin brother was supposed to be the chief after her father, but unfortunately, he died when he was born. This left Paikea feeling rejected and unwanted by many people, simply because she was not “born a boy” (Whale Rider, 2002) for years. She was not allowed to be the chief because she was a girl, even though it was clear she was meant to be the next chief. Paikea’s grandfather refuses to believe it is the truth and expects Paikea to do what the rest of the Maori women do: take care of the men, cook, clean, and have children. But, Paikea’s rebellious actions to not do what she was

Paikea’s self-awareness is shown during the song at the beginning of the seen she is the only girl and knows that she must present herself well and when the other boys start making fun of her the grandfather then steps in. Paikea demonstrates self-esteem when she goes to start the boat motor. Her grandfather had just told her how strong the rope is so she starts it and this is a major bost to her self esteem until the grandfather gets angry with her for starting it.

The film starts off with the birth of a young Maori girl, named Paikea, who was initially not accepted by her grandfather, Koro, as she is a girl and therefore, destroyed his hope of having a grandson to take over his role as chief in the village. Throughout the film, Paikea tried her best to make Koro proud, not knowing that what she was doing was going against the Tapu, or sacredness. In the Moari culture, there is a belief in the separation of power, usually split between gender lines, Tapu and Noa. Tapu is sacredness and is

The story takes place in New Zealand where the Maori people of a small village claim descent from the Whale Rider, Paikea. By tradition the heir to the leadership of the Maori tribe has to be the first born son- a direct patrilineal descendant of Paikea. The Maori people faces a crisis as the current leader’s firstborn grandchild, a baby boy dies at birth while the second born twin, a baby girl survives. The girl grows up being certain of her calling to be the next tribe leader.

In the movie, Paikea decides to live up to her grandfather’s expectations and to do so she challenges the tradition by following her own path as a leader. An example of her determination is when she learns how to fight with a taiaha by spying on the lesson through the window when Koro had told her she couldn’t learn it because she wasn’t a boy. Her grandfather is the person with whom she is always in confrontation. In fact, when the Marae was beginning she sat at the front row. Koro then tells her to sit at the back because she is a girl, when she refuses to move he sends her away. On the inside, Pai is trying to make Koro proud and to be a role model but she has to break the “rules” set by Koro and the old traditions. Throughout the story she grows up

Pai remained with her grandparents and grows up in a traditional Maori family. Her family are the leaders in the community and her elderly grandfather is chief. They follow a patriarchal structure where the eldest male leads the tribe, Paikea believes she is the next great leader. But this goes against her grandfather and his sacred traditions. She proves to everyone she is

The movie is all about strong-willed female characters and how they overcome different obstacles in their lives.. The main protagonist of the story, Paikea, as well as many of the other protagonists, including Nanny and Muriwai are all shown as brave, independent female characters that others can come to depend on within their community. The stories of each female character is shown as a way to empower young women by giving examples of heroines that are, brave, strong, and dedicated, and can do just as much as any male without their help. This is particularly touching in the that setting of Whangara, whose chief Koro refuses to see women as potential leaders in Whangara’s future. “A long time ago, my ancestor Paikea came to this place on the back of a whale. Since then, in every generation of my family, the first born son has carried his name and become the leader of our tribe... until now.” (Paikea) This goes to show that after everything that the Maori community faces with misogyny and female role models, that even after everything, the community is willing to accept a female where a male who have