Everyone's Pissed at Moana, and Disney

     Every few years, the Walt Disney Company puts out a new installment in its series of animated princess movies. Helmed by their animation branch, Walt Disney Animation Studios, their princess movies have been some of the most beloved and critically lauded animated movies of all time; despite their success, there hasn't been a shortage of controversy surrounding them. Disney has been criticized for promoting the damsel in distress archetype, having all their princesses be extremely skinny, and promoting love of self-empowerment. But even with the criticism, Disney keeps making them and they keep making money. In a few months they have the newest installment coming along, "Moana," a story about a young Polynesian woman exploring the ocean in an attempt to save her people. When first announced, Disney was praised for tackling a new culture, often left out of their mostly monochromatic princesses; but as time has gone on, the criticism has come back.

     A majority of the criticism has revolved around another main character named Maui. In Polynesian folk lore, Maui is a powerful, shape-shifting demi-God. In the movie, he's being voiced by Dwayne Johnson. Many were happy with the casting of Johnson, since he is of Hawaiian descent. But when the character model was presented, the character was criticized by a vocal minority that he was fat. People have said the character being portrayed as fat is a stereotype of Polynesian people. Maui is supposed to be strong and powerful, but they say the character in the movie is not. They must have watched a different trailer than myself. In the trailer for the movie, it's clear that Maui is incredibly strong; at one point he lifted a boat over his head like it was a feather. While the character isn't incredibly muscular, he actually looks like an Olympic power-lifter instead of a bodybuilder; and if it's not obvious, power-lifters are much stronger. The character is drawn like he should be drawn, large and powerful. I do find it funny that the same people calling Maui fat are the same people calling Moana too skinny. Apparently it’s OK for women to be on the larger side, but men should be very athletic. Once again double standards have reared their ugly head when it comes to movies.
     There have been a few other controversies around the movie, such as a full body Maui costume with his tattoos and a darker skin color. The costume was compared to black face; Disney has since pulled the item and apologized. I usually try and play devil's advocate and understand both sides, but in this case Disney made a bad and frankly dumb move. But as always, at the end of the day, I don't really care. Disney Animation has been on a roll for the past few years, and I'm sure "Moana" will be great. When the movie rolls around, and you still may feel offended by it, there is a simple solution. Just don't go see it.

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moana.svg