Reflection: Moana

I watched Moana for the first time with several of my young (female) cousins. I was pretty weary before the movie started; the trailer of the film looked promising, but my experience with prior Disney princess movies (watching as a teenager, rather than a child) was… disappointing, to say the least. By the timethat Moana was released, I had already begun to do research for a high school independent study about gender in Disney princess movies, and perceptions of body image. This research experience made me hyper-aware of the fact that I was sitting next to several young girls who meant the absolute world to me. For the next hour and a half, they would be absorbing the messages of the film, and I wanted them to be empowering. For once, I was pleasantly surprised while watching this Disney princess film.

I will not pretend to be an expert of any kind on Polynesian culture, so I cannot speak to the legitimacy of the portrayal of Moana’s community and story. I fully recognize that this portrayal may be problematic. However, I can say that, when I finished the movie for the first time, I struggled to think of a single issue that I had with the portrayal of gender throughout the film. As I watched the movie again for Decoding Disney, I was reminded of two primary things that I really appreciated: the lack of an emphasis on romance and Moana’s much more realistic body.

I think that the general storyline of Moana is pretty amazing, but I think one of the most empowering aspects is the fact that Disney portrays a mentorship relationship between an older man and younger woman, and romance is never considered within that relationship. Unfortunately, there is generally a strong stigma against this kind of mentorship. Society tends to sexualize any male-female relationship and it can be hard for some young women to feel comfortable reaching out to powerful men in authority positions (maybe even more so now, in the wake of #MeToo). Moana was amazing in that the female lead was pretty fearless in seeking this relationship and, by the end, Moana and Maui had developed an incredibly special friendship bond - nothing else. I think the depiction of this type of relationship is absolutely critical, especially for young girls, because it shows that interactions between men and women do not always have to relate back to romance, despite the message that most other Disney films tend to relay. I was pleased knowing that my young cousins were being shown, through a moving and entertaining movie, that they can (and should!) feel comfortable and determined in establishing strictly friendships with men.

I was also pleased with the depiction of Moana’s body - something that I had already been impressed by in the trailer. To be clear: her body is definitely not perfectly realistic. Her eyes are still at least as wide as her waist. However, she is also noticeably much stronger than any of the other princesses. Her arms and legs have a lot of muscle, and she is not afraid to use that strength.

The one major problem that I had with Moana in relation to gender was the size of the male characters versus the size of the female characters. Men are, generally, larger than women. They are not, however, three times the size of women, in the case of Moana’s parents. They are definitely not five times the size of women, in the case of Maui. This size disparity seems to be something Disney has gotten worse with over time, as Brave has a similar problem.

Overall, I continue to be pleased with Moana. As always, there are steps to take for improvement, but I love knowing that there is a movie out there for young girls and boys that depicts a strong young woman who is not obsessed with finding a male romantic partner. Most of all, I love knowing that little girls whom I care about so deeply have Moana as a role model.