Moana Film Review

It has been obvious that Disney has progressively tried to shape their image of the Disney princess brand to reflected and appeal to the liking of its audience. Before they grew a multibillion dollar industry, they relied on socially intrinsic, but dangerously restrictive gender ideals to develop a conservative set of "perfect princess" standards and a traditional gender stereotyping princess culture. Once feminist critiques began to point out the discrepancies  between what Disney portrayed as the ideal woman compared to was society should view as the ideal woman, we see a gradual shift in the characterization of princess roles in Disney's newer films.

While it is impossible for a cooperation giant like Disney to please everyone, the gradual changes they have continued to make throughout each new princess wave has been, overall, very successful. At first, princesses were passive damsels in distress whose only hobbies centered around housework and singing. However, eighty years later, we arrive at a princess who is not only dynamic, but a hero in her own right, curious, brave, independent, and smart.

I would like to commend Disney on their striking execution of the characterization of Moana, and believe that this next wave of princesses to come has started Disney down a path of a less gender stereotyping and one that will continue to focus to promote female empowerment that has real substance.

Moana's "wishing song" is one that induces curiosity -- she stares out into the water and wonders about the great beyond. She wants to know 'how far [she'll] go" and is intrigued by the unknown. She is creative and envisions that there must be a solution to her people's problems somewhere past the membrane of their safe island, and is brave enough to deviate from her father's wishes in hopes of saving her island.

This action symbolizes a high moral development that should be infused in the minds of youth. Moana's actions illustrate an act as a form of civil disobedience, however, this deviant decision is clearly and thoroughly explained. You see her wrestle with wanting to be obedient to her family and respecting their rules, but you see the film justify her final decision to go against her father's wishes, especially through the grandmother, in a way that was extremely powerful.

Is was clear that she was going on her journey to save the island, and this act of deviance makes a maturely developed moral decision understandable to children. It subconsciously promotes the idea that even if society's rules say one thing, an individual's moral code might find flaws in the system, and it is important to empower yourself to do what you think is right, not what society deems is right. It stresses the need to think critically about the messages and values you want to soak in from society, and to challenge messages that you disagree with.

I find that a rather powerful message given the discussion of the portrayal of gender roles and woman empowerment (or lack thereof) in Disney films and the need to teach kids media literacy.