Whale Rider
16 years ago
Imperial Federation Map
This is a map of how the world looked to Britian in the 1880s
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Whale Rider
Like many of the works we have read this semester, the film Whale Rider addresses the issues of cultural conflict, pride, and change. Which one of these issues made the greatest impression on you as a viewer? Please share your assessment and understanding of this issue in a post. Don't forget to support what you say with one or more specific examples from the film and then make a connection to something else we have read this semester AND something from your own life.
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One of the issues that stood out to me the most was change. That was something that the little girls grandfather could not accept. He couldn’t really deal with the fact that his granddaughter had the qualifications to become the next chief but the thing was she was a female. Being a chief was always a boy thing. This semester we read a lot of novel that also dealt with change like Kite Runner, Things Fall Apart, and Animal Farm.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie the Whale Rider,I believe that it has to do more with culture, because the family is more into cultural experiences. It all started when the little girl was born, her grandfather wanted her to be a boy so he can be in charge. The girl throughout the movie trys her hardeest to prove to her grandfather that she can do anything a boy can do. For instances when she was fighting he beat the boy and her grandfather still didnt accept her.
ReplyDeleteThe issue that made a great impression on me was pride. Pride is when someone cares much about where they come from or anything like that. In the movie Whale Rider the grandfather had much pride for where he came from and for his customs. One of the customs taught was believed to be for only boys. They were taught how to be chiefs. When pai found out about it she became very interested and wanted to do it. Her grandfather wouldn’t let her because she was not a boy. He took much pride in making it only boys. Well he found pai fighting another boy and she beat him and the boy faced the consequences and couldn’t get on the boat because he got beat by a girl. The grandfather also had a custom where he would throw a shark tooth in the water and a boy had to get it and if he did then he became a chief. None of the boys he taught could get it but when pai went out there she went in and got it. That made her grandfather upset because she was a girl that could do a boys job. This also relates to the book kite runner we read. Baba, the father of Amir took much pride in his kite fighting and so when Amir failed to win it made Baba upset and he had to keep trying. Finally Amir won it and Baba was very proud of him. This relates to my life because my dad takes much pride in what we are. We are Italian, German, polish, Indian, and Pennsylvania Dutch. A Polish tradition that we practice is going to family get together with all of our family. When I don’t go it makes my dad mad and I have to be forced to go then.
ReplyDeleteTiffany Powell
ReplyDeleteAs a viewer, pride is the one that has had the biggest effect on me. It is what stuck out the most to me in the movie. The grandfather had so much pride that he didn’t want to give up for his granddaughter. He had wanted to keep the tradition of male chiefs going within his family and that if it had changed it would be his fault. Just as when she had won the little battle with the boy and the sticks he came and yelled at her saying that she was going to ruin him. This situation can be compared to the character Napoleon in the novel animal farm. He was so into himself and had so much pride within himself that he wouldn’t step down for anybody no matter what. Something that I can compare myself to with this is when I know somebody else is correct about a situation and I don’t want to admit it because it hurts my pride that I’m wrong. If it is something that I truly believe is true it’s hard to forget it and have to believe somebody else. Pride is the biggest factor to me that I believe has changed things and has had the biggest effect on me as a viewer.
Out of the many themes from the movie Whale Rider, I would have to say the one that I connected with the most was the change issue. Pi’s grandfather, The Chief, was unable to accept the fact that Pi, a female, could possibly be destined to be the next chief. Throughout his history, and the history of his ancestors, the chief has always been a male - the oldest male in the family. When Pi’s twin brother died at birth, it was obvious the Chief was very upset. He expected his first grandson, the son of his oldest son, to become the chief of their village. When the baby died, he did not know what to do. Throughout the entire movie, it was clear the Chief was in denial of his granddaughters powers. When his wife handed him the whale-tooth necklace, he was confused as to who was the chosen one that retrieved it from the bottom of the ocean. It took his granddaughter almost dying for him to realize her fate and to accept it. In the story The Kite Runner, moving to America was a huge change for Amir and Baba. When Baba was asked for his ID and debit card in the gas station, he was very offended. In his country, the people used sticks as a credit card, and didn’t use identification at all. The change was very different for him, but it was important that he learned to adapt to the new ways – or else he would never be able to survive. In my life, I have never been doubted, but I have had to deal with some change. Currently, as a senior in high school, all of my peers are applying to college, which is very different from what we have known over the past twelve years of our educational lives. Change can be scary, upsetting, exciting, and new – all at the same time. The most important thing though, when dealing with change, is to accept the new challenges and be able to adapt. Adaptation is the number one rule in dealing with change, and surviving through it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the issues that had the greatest impression on me as a reader was the cultural conflict. The grandfather was upset because he wanted a grandson to train into becoming the next leader or chief. He would not take the time to notice and accept the fact that his granddaughter was the actual one who was most qualified and had the most knowledge about their ancestors and history, all because she was a girl. She tried to do everything to show him such as learning how to fight, speaking, and calling upon their anccestors in time of need. He wouldn't pay her any attention because she's a girl. In the novel Kite Runner, Hassan was Baba's son, however he never told anyone because Hassan's mother was a Hazara. This cultural difference would cause a huge conflict if others knew about it. I also experienced something similar to this cultural conflict. When my sister and I were born, my dad's father was upset because he wanted my dad to have sons to carry our last name on into the generation. Although he loved us regardless of our gender, he refused to give us our chinese names. He was too worried about our chinese last name staying alive in our family. Cultural conflict is found everywhere, and it can become a great issue.
ReplyDeleteChange was the issue that made the greatest impression on me as a viewer. In the movie the Whale Rider the chief’s eldest son’s wife gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But tragedy struck. The eldest son’s wife lost her life while giving birth to two beautiful babies, but they not only lost a loving member of the family they also had lost the day old baby boy, the next chief of the new generation. As the chief’s granddaughter grows older she had showed many signs of becoming a leader, the chief, but her grandfather fore bide her to do anything the boys did. She could beat the boys at any thing and everything, she even beat the one boy that the chief had faith in. But her grandfather blamed her for all the mishaps that were occurring just because she was a girl doing what a boy is suppose to do. The grandfather had to much pride in his hart to let change bestow itself upon the tribe, by him doing that caused the all the mishaps that were occurring. The granddaughter knew who she was and what her position was in life. But at the end, the grandfather accepted the fact that the next chief was going to be his granddaughter. The connection between the Whale Rider and the Things Fall Apart is change. The main character Okonkwo of Things Fall Apart can not adapt to change even though everyone else did he couldn’t because he had to much pride, but at the end he dies because of it. Well I really don’t have nothing that I could connect to in this situation, but the one thing that I can’t adapt to change is that my mother getting married to someone that is not my father and I would never call my father, but I have to make this change and except it because I just want my mom to be happy
ReplyDeleteAs a viewer of the film Whale Runner, the issue that made the greatest impression on me was the conflict of pride. In the film the grandfather and leader of the village was way to prideful to see that he had everything he needed from the beginning. Because of his pride things in the village and in his own home went bad. His pride clouded his judgment
ReplyDeleteThe issue of change had the biggest impact on me, because the grandfather couldn't accept change. He couldn't accept that his granddaughter was a cheif, because of how she was born a girl. He would of be happier if it was a boy, because he thinks a boy should be cheif not a girl. Also like this the story of kite runner with the change of his home country had change and Amir couldnt't accept it. In my life couldn't accept when I had to move in with my grandmother after my dad lost his job.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Whale Rider, the scene when the grandfather is shocked by his wife giving him the whale tooth. He was curious on who found it and couldn’t believe it was his granddaughter when she gave him a clue. He never thought she was worthy enough and that she was wiser then himself. He soon came to find out that anything is possible but you have to be willing to accept change. Their family came with a long line of chiefs and his granddaughter was the first female to ever succeed at a mans jobs. The grandfather to me had made an amazing improvement by accepting his granddaughter has the one the gods chose to represent them.
ReplyDeleteAnother book we read in class that had to do with change was Things Fall Apart with the character Okonkwo. Okonkwo was someone who never liked changed and to him that was how it was always going to be. When he came back from exile after being there for seven years, he was disappointed on how much his people changed. His major concern was the new religion that came into the village. Everyone was transforming their lives for the better. The Christian religion basically proved that their religion was all based on superstition. In the end Okonkwo had enough and committed the ultimate sin by hanging him self.
I have experienced much change in the last eighteen years of my life, but the one that made the most effect was when one of my parents passed. It was difficult because I was use to them always checking up on me and letting me know when I was doing wrong. It took a while to get back into a regular schedule and sometimes still is hard. But I know that I have obligations and I can’t let that hold me back in order to be successful, because that’s what they would want.
The greastest inpression left on me was the cultural conflict. Becoming chief was a huge thing for many of the young children, well the boys. It was not good for any girls to become chief because it wasn't the tradition. The young boys parents did not follow the tradition like they were suppose too. One of the young boy's father did come to see him dance, but left to go hang with hus friends. It made his son feel like he was nothing to him, but it wouldn't make a difference if he even try to talk to him. For example, In Things Fall Apart, when Okonwo lived in the village, the elder had died and was taken to his homeland not buried in the village they lived in. In my family, our cultural verys from other peoples. When we have dinner, we all sit down and eat together, but i noticed when i go to my friends, they order dinner and eat at different times. I think its weird to not have time for your family, becasue something could happen one day and you wouldn't be able to say your last memory was eating dinner with your family.
ReplyDeleteThe film whale rider had a theme of culture. In their culture it is obvious that the grandfather believed that only men can be chiefs and not females. The grandfather did not like or appreciate the fact that his granddaughter was disrespecting his tradtion. This is connecting to the book The kite Runner when their tradition is to have kite battles with one another. One of my traditions is to have sunday dinner every sunday but if we miss a sunday then it messes up the whole tradition and idea.
ReplyDeletePride had the greatest impression on me. The film Whale Rider had many pride from the granddaughter and grandfather at the end. In the novel Kite Runner Amir has pride that he found hassans son. I have pride in life because i have so much to do and I'm just happy that I'm where I am today.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say change during this semester had made the greatest impression on me as a viewer because every story or movie we read and watched can be traced back to the common theme of change. In the movie Whale Rider the grandfather was not willing to accept his granddaughter. The consequences because he could not change until nearly the end was he drove his wife away even further. Another prime example of change effecting people in the stories is in the book Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo hung himself for his inability to change when the missionaries’ came. In my life I have had to change a lot from being miserable and angry at everything that didn’t go right in my life to happy and easy going. The change was necessary to me I think because there is bigger things to worry about and waste my time on.
ReplyDeleteThe film Whale Rider made an impression on me as a viewer because of one of the issues addressed in the movie. The issue that made the biggest impression on me is pride. In Whale Rider the chief did not let his grandaughter live her destiny as a chief. He did everything possible to deny the fact that she was a leader and it was in her blood to lead. This issue also connects to an earlier piece of litature I had read in this semester. In the novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo had too much pride to give up in war and took his own life. This also relates to my life as well. I once had too much pride to admit I was wrong and I lost someone very important in my life. Pride can be a good thing but, too much pride can end in disaster.
ReplyDeleteOne of the issues in this movie that made a strong impact on me was the parent/child relationship. The grandfather had some issues with his son, who refuses to follow the traditional way of life and refuses to listen to his father. He moves away, while leaving his daughter with his parents. Another conflict was between the father and his daughter; they didn’t live together and weren’t as close as they should have been. The young daughter lost her mother and doesn’t have the attention she needs from her father.
ReplyDeleteCultural conflict is a clear and present issue in everyday life. In the movie Whale Rider, it is seen many a time. The one boys father left his son's concert to go with his friends that did not wish to stay a part of the ancient culture. It can also be seen when the grandfather refuses to accept that the girl has the ability to become a great leader; the normal culture is to have a male leader. These two are changes that effect the culture in the film Whale Rider. Similar to Whale Rider, cultural conflict is seen in the story Things Fall Apart. In this book about an African village, white men try to impose their culture upon the natives. This conflict leads to death and chaos. In my own life I witness conflicts everyday. I watch crime in the name of color. Blacks killing whites because of their ancestors. Whites killing blacks for their color. Whites killing whites because of their religon. A constant cultural conflict.
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