1
By referring to specific sequences from a film of your choice, chart the
transmission of ideology from film to society by referring to the visual.
A simplified definition of ideology is: a system of beliefs that are
embedded in every sign, that is, everything around us in which meanings are
encoded (Nayar, 2010). As argued in psychoanalytic theories, children first
encounter with the world and ideologies is through the visual (Rose, 2001,
p.111). Ideologies are transmitted mainly through repetition of visual signs.
Audiences consume repeatedly visual signs encoded with ideologies through
mainstream texts and become passive subjects of these dominant ideologies
(Nayar, 2010). In this essay, we argue that neo-colonial ideologies and
Western patriarchal ideologies are deeply encoded in the visual
representations of Polynesian cultures in Moana (2016). Neo-colonialism
refers to a new form of colonisation that is more subtle, less violent but more
pervasive (Nayar, 2010, p.246).
In Moana, neo-colonial ideologies are transmitted on two levels:
through an expropriation and whitewashing of Polynesian cultures and
histories; and through transmission of Western ideologies to passive
subjects of mainstream cinema. By identifying the nuclei, that is, scenes
which cannot be taken out of a text without altering the plot (Barthes,1977, p.
94), Moana can be summarised as the story of a brave girl who, with the
help of a man, goes on a journey to save what matters most to her - her
island. Then, both of them save the world. If taken out of its Polynesian
context, the plot of Moana is a formula that Disney has repeatedly used in
many of its mainstream audio-visual texts set in different cultural contexts,
for instance, Peter Pan (1953), whereby Wendy, a young girl, goes on an
adventure with a “boy” who refuses to grow into adulthood and together they
save the imaginary World, Neverland, by fighting against Captain Hook; or
Frozen (2013), whereby Anna, a young girl goes on a journey with a funny
, 2
man, Kristoff, to save what matters most to her - her sister, Elza - and save
the world. The main difference is that the heroines are portrayed as more
assertive in more recent movies. Rather than portraying the culture of a
particular indigenous population of Polynesia, Disney sets the story
thousands of years ago on a fictional island and hence, represents
Polynesian cultures as a whole by expropriating and making an amalgam of
Tongan, Samoan and other Polynesian cultures while overlooking the
cultural diversity within and across Polynesian islands. Hence, although
Moana is the first Disney movie about Polynesian cultures, Disney is able to
use the same formulaic mainstream plot and appeal to Western and
Polynesian audiences mainly through the visual. As Rose (2001, p.113)
argues, “ideologies work at the level of our subjectivity” and as proven by
Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis theories, central to subjectivity is the
visual.The movie starts with visual illustrations of a tale whereby the sea and
islands are visually represented through Maori tattoos; then we see Maoi, a
huge tattooed brown man with curly hair and his lower part covered with
leaves, an old tattooed brown woman wearing the type of clothes associated
with Polynesian cultures, children sitting under a hut, a beautiful island with
white sandy beaches surrounded by a crystal blue lagoon. At first glance, the
audiences immediately associate these visual signs in the opening scene
with Polynesian cultures. The paradise trope associated with the visual
representation of Polynesian islands is highlighted through the colourful and
vivid images of the blue sea, clear sky, green island and people living in
harmony. Visual representations in Moana are often misleading as they do
not represent Polynesian cultures but the expropriation of a Western
capitalist industry and hence, perpetuate neo-colonial ideologies. Instead of
aiming for accuracy in the visual representations, Disney aims for more profit
by altering the visuals of the movie to fit a larger viewership’s preconceived
ideologies, such as racist ideologies about male Polynesians being
overweight, heavily tattooed and having curly hair. Hence, as Yoshinaga
(2019, p.190) argues, “throughout the film’s development, the story team
altered the demigod’s shape from classically lean to comically large (Ito)—a
By referring to specific sequences from a film of your choice, chart the
transmission of ideology from film to society by referring to the visual.
A simplified definition of ideology is: a system of beliefs that are
embedded in every sign, that is, everything around us in which meanings are
encoded (Nayar, 2010). As argued in psychoanalytic theories, children first
encounter with the world and ideologies is through the visual (Rose, 2001,
p.111). Ideologies are transmitted mainly through repetition of visual signs.
Audiences consume repeatedly visual signs encoded with ideologies through
mainstream texts and become passive subjects of these dominant ideologies
(Nayar, 2010). In this essay, we argue that neo-colonial ideologies and
Western patriarchal ideologies are deeply encoded in the visual
representations of Polynesian cultures in Moana (2016). Neo-colonialism
refers to a new form of colonisation that is more subtle, less violent but more
pervasive (Nayar, 2010, p.246).
In Moana, neo-colonial ideologies are transmitted on two levels:
through an expropriation and whitewashing of Polynesian cultures and
histories; and through transmission of Western ideologies to passive
subjects of mainstream cinema. By identifying the nuclei, that is, scenes
which cannot be taken out of a text without altering the plot (Barthes,1977, p.
94), Moana can be summarised as the story of a brave girl who, with the
help of a man, goes on a journey to save what matters most to her - her
island. Then, both of them save the world. If taken out of its Polynesian
context, the plot of Moana is a formula that Disney has repeatedly used in
many of its mainstream audio-visual texts set in different cultural contexts,
for instance, Peter Pan (1953), whereby Wendy, a young girl, goes on an
adventure with a “boy” who refuses to grow into adulthood and together they
save the imaginary World, Neverland, by fighting against Captain Hook; or
Frozen (2013), whereby Anna, a young girl goes on a journey with a funny
, 2
man, Kristoff, to save what matters most to her - her sister, Elza - and save
the world. The main difference is that the heroines are portrayed as more
assertive in more recent movies. Rather than portraying the culture of a
particular indigenous population of Polynesia, Disney sets the story
thousands of years ago on a fictional island and hence, represents
Polynesian cultures as a whole by expropriating and making an amalgam of
Tongan, Samoan and other Polynesian cultures while overlooking the
cultural diversity within and across Polynesian islands. Hence, although
Moana is the first Disney movie about Polynesian cultures, Disney is able to
use the same formulaic mainstream plot and appeal to Western and
Polynesian audiences mainly through the visual. As Rose (2001, p.113)
argues, “ideologies work at the level of our subjectivity” and as proven by
Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis theories, central to subjectivity is the
visual.The movie starts with visual illustrations of a tale whereby the sea and
islands are visually represented through Maori tattoos; then we see Maoi, a
huge tattooed brown man with curly hair and his lower part covered with
leaves, an old tattooed brown woman wearing the type of clothes associated
with Polynesian cultures, children sitting under a hut, a beautiful island with
white sandy beaches surrounded by a crystal blue lagoon. At first glance, the
audiences immediately associate these visual signs in the opening scene
with Polynesian cultures. The paradise trope associated with the visual
representation of Polynesian islands is highlighted through the colourful and
vivid images of the blue sea, clear sky, green island and people living in
harmony. Visual representations in Moana are often misleading as they do
not represent Polynesian cultures but the expropriation of a Western
capitalist industry and hence, perpetuate neo-colonial ideologies. Instead of
aiming for accuracy in the visual representations, Disney aims for more profit
by altering the visuals of the movie to fit a larger viewership’s preconceived
ideologies, such as racist ideologies about male Polynesians being
overweight, heavily tattooed and having curly hair. Hence, as Yoshinaga
(2019, p.190) argues, “throughout the film’s development, the story team
altered the demigod’s shape from classically lean to comically large (Ito)—a
