Whale Rider : An Exemplary Film Of Feminism And Women Coming Into Leadership Roles

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s activist documentary, Blackfish, spurred a significant public dialogue following its 2013 premier. The film centers on the role of Tilikum, an orca whale at SeaWorld, in the deaths of three SeaWorld trainers, including, most recently, Dawn Brancheau. Cowperthwaite follows a suit brought against Sea World by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), weaving together testimony of scientists, former trainers, and family members of the deceased, among others, to make a compelling case against SeaWorld’s practice of holding and performing alongside orcas. Nevertheless, after its release, the film drew criticism from some of its participants as well as Sea World itself. Cowperthwaite claims not to have tried to vilify SeaWorld. However, this claim seems dubious given the film’s fairly evident anti-SeaWorld bias.

Niki Caro’s film, Whale Rider, beautifully captures the small village of Whangara, which is located in the northeast of New Zealand’s North Island. The film portrays a Maori tribe that tells the story of a long-held tradition. This film is rich in symbolism, which is easy for any viewer to understand. Whale Rider does a wonderful job of capturing the attention of the audience because of the intense and close relationships between the characters, the way Caro conveys the movie’s message, and the features the movie offers.

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.

This movie was made in 1953 when Indigenous people were being thrown into residential schools and having their land taken away from them. At the time of production, the producers felt that there was nothing wrong with film because during that period of time racism was a part of everyday life. In order to get a better understanding of these problems within the film I had to watch it. After watching the film, I was shocked at how much racism and sexism was a part of the film. Directors often degrade minority groups by portraying them a certain way so they are not put in the same category as the main characters. The imagery is in movie portrayed indigenous people in a negative manner. In one of the scenes, an Indian chief is shown yelling and making animal noises. This scene is unacceptable as it leads the audience to perceive Indigenous people as illiterate. Moreover, the scene dehumanizes the Indian Chief by portrayed him as an animal rather than a human. This contributes to the major problem of dehumanization because if the Chief is portrayed as an animal the audience is less connected with him therefore the racism did not seem that serious. When kids watch this movie, they take all of this in and it sticks with them so when they do see an Indigenous person in the outside world, they view them as animals instead of actual human beings.

Someone’s destiny may be known from the moment he or she is born; however, how that person will reach his or her’s destiny is unknown. The way someone can achieve their dream can be vastly different or very similar to another. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya follows Antonio Marez’s coming of age. He experiences loss of innocence, curiosity, and is torn about what his destiny is: be a Luna, a person of the earth, or a Marez, a person of the llano who is free. Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera is a film that tells the story of Paikea Apirana, a girl who is interested in becoming leader of her clan, but is rejected by her grandfather due to her being a girl. Paikea manages to prove herself to be the true leader through to her risks and hardships.

When I was born, my twin brother died and took our mother with him” (Whale). This shows that the grandfather had no joy when Pai was born because all he wanted was the boy so he could choose him to be the next chief, according to the tradition. Afterward, when Pai eventually became the first female leader of the tribe, the entire community changed.

The Whale Rider by Niki Caro is a film about a young girl, Paikea’s journey to acceptance from her grandfather. This film explores many themes such as feminism, family and conflict. One of the main conflicts explored throughout this film is the conflict between Nanny Flowers and Koro, Paikea’s grandparents. Conflict is an important issue in this film because it causes rupture among an already fractured family.

Being a woman in today's society, I am aware of the inequality that we still face today. "Makers: Women Who Make America" opened my eyes to how feminism began and how the movement got its bearings. When Shirley Chisholm said, "I have been more discriminated against as a women than an African American," it was extremely eye opening to how serious of an issue it had become. I was amazed to learn about how the divorce rates exploded when feminism began. To me, it sounds ridiculous that a man could not comprehend how his wife deserved to have the same rights and to be able to do things besides the common women household chores. "Makers: Women Who Make America" was an eye opening film that demonstrated how birth control, women's health care and abortion played a major contribution to the women's movement. Prior to

Throughout “Whale Rider” Paikea is expected to listen to what her grandpa tells her to do and say. Personally, Paikea feels conflicted and under pressure to stick to her grandpas rules, as she wants to go her own way. Her grandpa finds it hard to see Paikea as her own person and can’t accept modernity, which he is not used to. He also stops her from learning the ways of a Maori chief, which is something she still tries to do in secret with the help of the rest of her family. Koro sometimes fails to see what Paikea can do, as he feels very strongly about old traditions, but other times he sees what she can do and fails to appreciate it. Paikea just wants to be loved and accepted by her grandfather and her strong sense of leadership and determination to get that from him leaves her as a role model to others to be brave and to never stop until they get what they want.

At the beginning of both films, there are relationships with either respect or a lack of established between the main characters. In Whale Rider, there very first lack of respect is shown by Koro, who does not respect the fact that his son had a girl instead of a boy. This lack of respect is not because Koro does not love his son or newly born granddaughter, but rather because the tradition of a new chief always being the first-born and always a male is not possible with his grandchild being a female. Koro is the chief Whangara community, which have always considered themselves direct descendants of Paikea. Paikea is a

Kahutia was thus renamed Paikea and known as the whale rider (“Maori Mythology and Legend of Paikea”). In the movie’s timeline, Pai is a descendent of Paikea. Ironically, Pai became the new chief and whale rider, by almost drowning herself and riding the whales.

Filmmakers use traditional gender stereotypes to produce characters audiences can easily identify with by portraying conventional images of a person with identifiable characteristics. In previous years, the dominant representation of a women in film has been the passive, subjugated protagonist. However, through the development of female empowerment and added feminist representations of film, the female heroine transformed to become strong and independent women in her own right, as an individual character.

Gender discrimination is an unfavorable treatment based on gender. It causes the elimination of individual’s right and opportunity (Reeves and Baden, 2000: 2). Gender discrimination usually disadvantages women because women are considered inferior in society. Virginia Woolf states that gender discrimination is a result of the imbalance power between men and women (in Dobie, 2012: 114). Apparently, women have already suffered the discrimination since a long time ago.

The idea of women being equal to men has been debated for a very long time. Even when civilizations were just starting, most women were treated very differently from men. When women started fighting against this oppression they were called feminists. Feminism can be separated into three waves. The first wave of feminism was from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s. The second wave was from the 1960s to the 1980s. The third wave of feminism started in the 1990s, but its end is unclear. Some people believe it has ended and the fourth wave of feminism has started, but others believe it continues today. The different waves have been very different in some aspects, but very similar in others. The main differences between the first and third wave of feminism are what they fought for, how they protested, and society’s reaction to their cause.

In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system,