Moana Review: Harrison

There are not many movies out there that portray women as powerful. It has become such a problem that it has become typical in society today. So much of a problem that there was a test formed that represents women’s roles in movies. The bechdel test is a test for a movie that has two female characters speaking on something besides a man. The mako mori test is a harder test for a movie to past that requires at least one female character who has her own narrative and her narrative is not supported by a man. I found it rather hard to choose a movie that meets all of these requires but finally I settled on the new Disney Princess movie Moana.

Disney has really been trying to mix things up a bit and portray different races and body types of young women. They are starting to show different messages of independence in young women, showing that they no longer need to be rescued. Their newest princess, Moana, is a polynesian teenager on a mission to save her people from the destruction of the world. Moana is less of a princess and more of a chief to her people on her island of Motunui, which is an early settlement in the North island of New Zealand. She is heir to her father who grooms her into becoming a proper leader of their homeland.

The movie starts with showing a story of how the world was formed: in the beginning Earth was just oceans, until the island goddess Te Fiti came about and used her heart (a small green stone) to create life. Without it all life would die. Her heart was stolen by a shape-shifting demigod named Maui who wanted to give it to humans so that they would be able to create life on their own. Maui was then battled by Te Ka, goddess of lava, for the heart. He loses, leaving him and the heart lost in the ocean. The ocean chooses Moana a few years later to sail the oceans, find Maui, and have him return the heart.

The only problem with this quest — and, being a Disney movie, there has to be some kind of challenge — is that Moana doesn’t know how to sail, and her father won’t let her or anyone else leave the reef because of the dangers of the ocean. Moana finally decides to leave after the sudden death of her grandmother who tells her she has to save their island or it will die because the heart of Te Fiti has not been returned. The rest of the movie revolves around Moana setting out on her quest to save the world. With Maui, her pet rooster Hei Hei, and the ocean as her allies she is unstoppable. I believe the movie passes both tests. Moana is the main star of the movie and she has her own story that was not brought in by a man. Men are rarely brought up in the movie because shockingly Moana doesn’t have a prince nor does she need one. I think her not having a prince is what makes this movie so powerful. I believe she is the first Disney Princess to not have a prince of any kind and that’s important. It shows a change in the system and in the cultural norms of today’s society. Finding a man and being rescued is not the main idea of the story and that’s why I believe Moana passes the Mako Mori test and the Bechdel test.

The test that I would like to create is called the She-Stand test. The She-Stand test would require for two female characters to be in a movie together, not be against each other and each have their own story. I believe it is important for a film to meet this criteria because most of the time when two girls are in a movie together they have tension and I never understood why. I feel like it makes females look bad as though we can’t handle being around each other without it being a competition. I would honestly really like to see this stop. Sadly enough it was very difficult for me to find a movie that meets these requirement. Moana does not meet these requirements because she is pretty much the only female character consistently in the movie. Hopefully in the near future there will be more movies that meet the requirements for my test.

Overall I found the movie very enjoyable. I think that Disney did an amazing job portraying the culture and a young woman of color. Unlike earlier princesses of color like Tiana, Moana doesn’t look or act like every other Disney princess and I think that’s what makes her stand out a lot more. She is strong and doesn’t need a man or anyone else to rescue her, she is the rescuer of her own people. The movie completely exceeded all of my expectations and I applaud all those involved. It is a very good movie for children of different cultures, body types, and goals to watch.