First of all, coming from the Islands of Micronesia, I could not be any happier that Disney is finally releasing a movie about a Polynesian princess. It was all hype from its announcements to the trailers. However, since the release of Moana trailers, Disney has been bombarded and fired with so many questions about controversial issues regarding the new movie.
You probably have seen it all over social media, but Maui’s fat-shaming has been a controversial concern for most people. It goes back to a concerned Facebook comment from Jenny Salesa, a New Zealand politician, who said “When we look at photos of Polynesian men and women from the last 100-200 years, most of our people were not overweight and this negative stereotype of Maui is just not acceptable.” It is definitely a negative stereotype of Polynesian men. Therein lies the problem of what image will this movie impose to children’s minds? They might grow up thinking all Polynesian men are corpulent. Although, there are others who also think of it as a mere representation of different sizes and that it is not stereotypical at all.
Besides Disney’s fat-shaming of Maui, I have seen a plethora of talks, memes, and comments on social media about the movie being of Hawaiian culture. I’m over here like, “but it’s Polynesian.”
Moreover, consumer complaints also came up regarding the release of Disney's "Moana" costume line. To those who aren't aware, the line includes a Maui costume which is a brown zip-up suit along with tribal tattoos and a ti leaf skirt. Disney released a statement on Wednesday apologizing that they did not mean to offend. However, the statement release did not stop the consumers and social media to comment about it and express their thoughts and feelings regarding the brown-skinned costume.
"Brown skin is not a costume," people are saying. Due to these sudden complaints and negative feedbacks, the costume was removed from their line. Personally, I am pretty sure that Disney had no intentions of offending other people and cultures. Nevertheless, with a variety of social justice events and issues currently going on around the world, people are starting to read into things and deeply analyzing it. Although, I do see it from the consumer's perspective. It is a cultural appropriation of their traditions. From the brown skin to the tattoos, people are saying it is inappropriate to wear a brown skinned costume, let alone the ink. It is not the way Polynesians or islanders want to be represented or stereotyped as.
What do you all think of these issues?
