Whale Rider Essay

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite in the documentary, Blackfish (2013), argues that captivity triggers aggression in killer whales. Cowperthwaite supports her argument by demonstrating shocking footage and emotional interviews to present a convincing case against keeping these animals in captivity and for human entertainment. The author’s purpose is to show the problems that are caused by captivity in order to aware the audience that keeping killer whales in captivity affects their behavior mentally and physically. The author writes in resentful tone to Sea World, the people who visited Sea World, and those who were present during the killer whale incident. Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that keeping killer whales in captivity at SeaWorld affects their mentality due to how they are being treated. She makes this argument by applying pathos, ethos, and logos.

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.

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.

The claim further argues that said stress can be directly blamed for the violent outbursts of the orcas against the training staff. When whales are taken away from their families in the wild waters, they grieve the pain and suffering that is associated with that parting, thus making the whales an emotional time bomb. The documentary provides grounds to argue that orcas suffer the emotional repercussions of separation, much like humans do by with the fact that scientists have proven them to be conscious of human-like relationships and feelings via MRI’s. Moreover, included in this documentary was a commercial of a killer whale giving birth to baby Kalina. Much like our society, killer whales value their relationships with their offspring. Once Kalina was taken from her mother, Katina, is shown being immobile in the corner of the tank, audibly screeching and crying. Being able to see and hear the tragic response of the mother makes the audience empathize with the orca and want to cry for her. Incorporating this event shows how holding orcas in captivity can negatively affect them psychologically. This vivid scene gives the audience the ability to sympathize on a personal level with a mammal other than

Killer whales, also known as orcas, are the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. In their natural habitat, killer whales have been described as docile and majestic creatures. Killer whales are known to travel in pods that are composed of matrilines. Matrilines are groups of whales connected by maternal descent. Relationships between killer whale calves and their mother are extremely close knit (“Behavior”). Beginning in 1965, SeaWorld – a marine zoo, began capturing whales from the wild to perform in shows for park visitors’ entertainment (“10 Things You Didn’t Know”). In the documentary Blackfish, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite urges and reassures audience members that keeping these large creatures in captivity is a horrible thing that is dangerous for both the whales as well as the humans that interact with them. To accomplish this persuasion, Cowperthwaite employs the use of rhetorical devices ethos, pathos, and logos to solidify her claims.

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.

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.

If you travel along the east coast of Hilo, Hawaii’s shoreline, you might find some beautiful beaches. One of these beaches, Onekahakaha, is the beach where a little girl lived, in a cliff under the rocks, wearing a crown of flowers atop her head, dancing to the sounds of the ocean waves hitting the sand. Everyone knew her, and everyone loved her. Her name was Emmely Stallion, but everyone called her Emma. People said that she could hug a stingray and not get stung. They said that she had a pet shark that was so friendly, that he was even friends with shark hunters. He even offered them a ride! Even so, the frequent rider of the shark was none other than Emmely herself. She wouldn’t wear Lycra Women’s Swimwear in the ocean, one with shorts-like

The film “Whale Rider” is an example of gender discrimination. It is a story about a girl, Paikea, who wants to be the new leader of her tribe. Paikea Apirana is the female protagonist of the film. She is an 11 year old girl, who was born into the Whangara patriarchal tribe. But Maori tradition states that only a male can carry the knowledge and be the leader of the tribe. Because of this, her grandfather, Koro the current leader, does not allow her to join in the leader training. She never gives up. And finally, she becomes the first female leader of the Maori tribe.

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.

In the 2002 epic film, Whale Rider, Niki Caro intended it to deliver the message that females are empowering individuals that can counter the “male gaze”. The film revolves around the life of an 11 year old girl, who wants to gain the approval of her grandfather and assume the role of being a tribe leader that her late twin brother was destined to be. From an early age, Paikea was disciplined, as evidenced by her objection towards smoking. When she finds her grandmother’s friends smoking at the table, she informs them that they should stop smoking to maintain their reproductive integrity. In school plays, Paikea is always the center of the group. She even won a speech contest for the East Region of New Zealand. Caro presented Paikea as an independent and strong minded individual who had the ambition to

Exposure to cultural practices and clearly defined gender roles profoundly influences one's identity. The movie ‘Whale Rider’ directed by Niki Caro represents a Maori culture struggling to adapt to the modern world changes in relation to gender. The film follows the harrowing story of Pai, a young female grown up around the Maori culture, she is denied opportunities of traditions and her birth rite of being leader due to her culture’s outdated ideas of the female gender. Koro’s strong belief of keeping a sexist archaic tradition is criticised by Caro as Pai, and the community suffer the consequences. Pai, the protagonist of the film, struggles against the gender roles defined by her Maori culture.

Kūapakaʻa’s chant, “Hurry, Hurry, Hurry” (Nakuina 51-52) from Moses Nakuinaʻs The Wind Gourd of Laʻamaomao is a chant Kūapakaʻa chants to Keawenuiaʻumi and his men when Keawe was in search for Pākaʻaʻs whereabouts. This chant foreshadows what Kūapakaʻa will bring to them if they donʻt come ashore and how the future will take place if they choose to sail without stopping ashore. Kūle’a Kawakami-Kauweloaʻs drawing, The Wave that Went depicts Keaweʻs canoes being destroyed by any size wave as they refuse to go ashore. No hand can help them, only solution is to go ashore!

In the prominent historical movie ‘Whale Rider’ directed by Niki Caro, she wished to convey the immensely significant idea that anybody should be able to be a leader, male or not. She wanted people to realise all of the females that’ve been misused in this society because they are ‘not good enough for power roles.’ Caro used a variety of techniques to help the reader understand this idea. These include: Voice over, close up shot and dialogue.