The Film A Whale of a Ride Essay Example for Free

The Film A Whale of a Ride EssayThe film Whale Rider took me on a whale of an emotional ride. though there is a recurrent and overarching feeling of great-whale-in-the-sea calm, strength and beauty, there is a strong undercurrent of emotional turmoil, with which each of the main characters struggle.Each experiences an Eriksonian/Psychosocial crisisAt 12 years old, the main character, Paikea Pai, has successfully navigated through Eriksons first four stand fors. She exhibits much industry over inferiority, with more(prenominal) skills and competence than her peers. Riding her bicycle, she passes a hatful full of boys, she beats hemi in a taiaha (fighting stick) challenge, shes always a lead in local cultural performances, and her writing earns her a prestigious award. Pais struggle is in the Identity vs. Identity/Role Confusion stage. She wants so much to become the leader that she feels called to be, and is obviously equipped to be, but her father, and Maori tribe customs, doesnt allow a female to be chief/leader. Shes torn between her desire to lead, and her Pakas and tribes refusal to allow her to lead. At 1 point, she nearly leaves for Europe with her father, before being called back to stay on the island by the whales. Pai stays true to her true self, and her virtue is fidelity. Grandfather, Koro (a.k.a. Paka), experiences Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair. Hes obviously been very generative in raising Pai to be such an amazing young lady.However, due to his Maori tradition blinders, he begins to stagnate, because he wont allow Pai to continue on her path to leadership. Along with his slide from generativity to stagnation, he moves from integrity to despair, despairing that as much as he wants it, and as unuttered as hes working for it, a new Maori leader/chief escapes him. Its not until the end of the story that Koro breaks free from his inside-the-box thinking, stagnation and despair, and embraces Pai as a gifted leader, saying to her wise leader, forgive me. I am but a fledgling new to flight. Now thats generativity and integrity in action Itsuplifting to see Koro regain his caring and wisdom. Like Koro, grandmother, Nani, experiences Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair. But unlike him, makes much more of an effort to stay in generativity and integrity. She slips into despair, only when it seems that stubborn Koro might never accept Pai, or any of his children, as they are, for who they are.This is when Nani leaves him, bringing Pai along with her. She possesses all of Eriksons stages virtues, especially love, care and wisdom. Pais father, Porourangi, experiences Identity vs. Identity/Role Confusion, and Intimacy vs. Isolation. He affirms his identity as an artist based in Europe, in the face of Koros challenge that he should be leading, or at least staying with and supporting, his people. After obviously sharing deep intimacy with his wife, he found new love with a adult female in Europe, with whom he fathered another child. It was clear that Porourangi shared intimacy and understanding with Pai, despite the fact that they lived so far apart. He also shared a love-hate intimacy with Koro, apparent in their greeting embrace, followed by their angry dispute.Uncle Rawiri, also experiences Identity vs. Identity/Role Confusion, and Intimacy vs. Isolation. He initially assumes the identity of his dead-beat friends a live-for-today slacker. He seeks intimacy with his girlfriend, and to a lesser degree, with his buddies. When Pai asks him for help learning taiaha, Rawiri begins to recreate his identity as a strong, fit, Maori tribesman. He even starts jogging on the rim In addition to establishing a stronger identity, he builds upon his intimacy with Pai, and gains generativity and integrity as he teaches her and helps her along.Koros parenting pattern seems to be a mix of Authoritative and overbearing Parenting (page 264). Based upon how well-adjusted Pai is a t the age of 12, its apparent that Koro and Nani use plenty of authoritative parenting. However, when it came to Pais stepping out of the Maori traditional box, Koro took a much more authoritarian approach, disciplining Pai harshly, and giving her no opportunity to discuss her opinion or emotions. Part of Koros punishment was his aloofness and withholding of affection. Since Pai was likely more utilize to Koros and Nanis authoritative approach, it must have been that much more difficult for her to bear Koros authoritarianparenting.I appreciate that Pai reaches a stage of Kohlbergs Three Levels and Six Stages of Moral Reasoning (page 336), thats beyond her years. While most 12-year-olds would diversionction in Level 2, Stage 3 considerably girl and nice boy, and some in Level 2, Stage 4 equity and order, Pai achieves the morality of Level 3, Stage 5 social contract, and Stage 6 planetary ethical principles. It would be much easier for her to follow Level 2 moral reasoning, follo wing Koros wishes, and staying within the traditional Maori good girl and law and order moral boundaries. But urged on by a passion for her family, people, history and beautiful local sea and island wildlife, she rightfully breaks the Maori social contract and follows universal ethical principles, in order to bring hope and life back to the whales, her family and people. She does so by asserting her leadership, in opposition to Koro and her Maori communitys tradition of male leadership.I loved this movie because it was so visually and aurally beautiful, and the characters were passionate and believable. Pai has passion for her family, people, traditions and natural surroundings,. Koro has the same, but is forced to wrestle with the realization that there are no Maori boys or men qualified to lead. It was a joy to see him figure it out in the end, and head out to sea alongside Pai, who was everything he yearned for but couldnt see that it/she was right in front of him. Nani is an am azing, passionate nurturer, who knows how to, for the most part, run things, while keeping Koro thinking that hes in charge. Being an artist myself, I appreciated Porourangis passion for his art and family though it was obvious why he couldnt live with Koro.It was fun to see Rawiris passion for teaching Pai the old ways carry over to influence him to clean up his own act. I dream of someday positively impacting people with my art, in the face of many voices (often including my own), which say that its not practical or possible. So it was encouraging for me to see Pai hold on to her dream and succeed. The scenes that stood out for me were the ones that showed Maori culture Rawiri, and later, Pai, demonstrating their taiaha skills, Pais performances, and the final scenes of boat-launching festivities. I also appreciated the awkward, mostly silent dinner scene after Koro caught Pai taiaha fighting with Hemi, the ridiculous scenes with the under-achieving boys, and the imaginatively s hot and magicalwhale-riding scenes.