Re-type or Stereotype?

 

In his article Film As a Colonizing Medium, Vilsoni Herenko addresses the issue of feature films (such as the above clip from South Pacific) depicting "anywhere Oceania" as attempt to appeal to a broader audience base, thereby increasing revenue.  He states (and I paraphrase) that these films present the Pacific Islander as a one dimensional caricature which leaves the viewer with a lasting impression of a representation of Oceania and its people which is as generic as the film.  Jolly (in Point Venus to Bali Hai) states that the film combines "a melange of images from Fiji" to "the Hanalei coast of Kauai in Hawaii." This, coupled with the Asian girl "happy talking" with would-be-hula-hands, is almost laughable. I say "almost" because there is a very real danger that viewers will believe this to be a true representation of Pacific Islanders. Though this may be a stretch, I believe most people do construct their paradigms around what they see/view/read and hear, and not everyone investigates any further.  As with any medium, film can be tweaked to present or represent.  Having lived most of my life in Hawaii, as well as being married to a Samoan family for over thirty years, I am deeply troubled by representations such as this.  This may account for my "writers block" around the subject.  It hits too close to home.

I recall the television shows and commercials of my youth. Hawaii 5-0 was big when I was in my teens.  We used to laugh at how Jack Lord would say he was in Kalihi when we could clearly see he was in Kahala, or that he was "driving mauka on Kalanianiole Hwy (which only goes Diamond Head and ewa). The way the pidgin never really sounded like pidgin. There was C&H Sugar, which depicted brown skinned Asian children sucking/chewing "pure cane sugar from Hawaii." I remember the Hawaiian Tan (a brand name tanning oil) girl, again with brown skin, almond eyes, long straight black hair, the "perfect" figure (according to Western standards) and a Hawaiian print bikini bathing suit.  I can recall commercials selling "Aloha."  Selling Hawaii.  I remember when tour guides clad in bright "aloha" attire carrying leis and breathing "aloha"  greeted visitors on the tarmac. I remember the brown skinned boys diving for quarters to the delight of tourists who tossed the coins off the side of their cruise ships at Aloha Tower. There were "hula girls" swaying their hips gracefully to hula auana...a watered down, haolefied hula. In my lifetime, I have seen the landscape change and my landmarks disappear.  Fields that once yielded crops now grow houses.  That is what we grow in Hawaii...houses, hotels and tourist attractions.  And...how many "locals" can actually afford to buy one of these houses?  How many cars can this island support?  How many more "visitors" and "visitor" attractions? And...what would happen if ships and planes stopped importing our food from the continent?

Elsewhere in Oceania, natives have experienced/are experiencing the same type of exploitation.  Many factors of colonization, decolonization, reconstruction, and migration have contributed to gross generalizations and stereotyping which have been countered by both scholars and artists.  Film is a fairly new medium for Pacific Islanders.  It is a perfect medium for people who come from oral traditions. It offers the opportunity to retype the stereotype by using sight and sound.

 

Juxtapose the above clip of Taua ( see http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/filmcatalogue/Films/Taua---War-Party.aspx) a "short" film based on the Maori proverb Mate atu he tete kura, ara mai ano he tetekura (in war, leaders fall and leaders rise) with South Seas. Though a "short" film (as opposed to "feature" or full length) director Tearepa Kahi, manages to portray multidimensional characters, each one unique to himself.  With body language, facial expressions, and only one line of dialogue, Kahi presents believable/credible characters.  The camera angles and the tempo of the film leave the viewer feeling as if he/she were actually there, experiencing a slice of time past, brought to the present.

Using film as a medium, Pacific Island film makers are bringing their own brand of movie to the theatre.  They show the diversity of Oceania. They tell old tales in new ways.  Using sight and sound, they are representing themselves in ways in which they can recognize themselves, thus retyping the stereotype.

For more information on Pacific Island Film, please visit www.nzonscreen.com