To the Chosen girl: do you know who you are? (meta)
Something I posted to Tumblr recently, because in procrastinating on writing fic (for
seasonal_spuffy), my brain insists on producing meta instead.
---
Let’s talk about a girl, one lone girl, chosen in all the world, for a job seemingly beyond her age and abilities.
No, not Buffy, not this time. (Although I may circle back to her in another meta.) I’m talking about Moana.
In perhaps the lowest point of the movie, after a failed attempt to get past Te Ka (in order to restore the heart of Te Fiti), after Maui deserted her out of fear that another confrontation with Te Ka would destroy his damaged magic hook, Moana gives up on the mission for which the ocean chose her. “It chose wrong” were Maui’s last words before his departure. And perhaps she believes him, if only in that moment of utter despair.
Then the spirit of Gramma Tala appears to Moana. In her infinite wisdom, Gramma Tala doesn’t just remind Moana of her strengths. She also engages her grand-daughter in a moment of self-introspection.
Gramma Tala: Do you know who you are?
And Moana, taken back by the seeming simplicity of the question, begins to list the various aspects of her identity:
Moana:
Who am I?
I am a girl who loves my island
I’m the girl who loves the sea
It calls me
I am the daughter of the village chief
We are descended from voyagers
Who found their way across the world
They call me
While Moana envisions her ancestors’ ships sailing across uncharted seas, she continues, confidence growing with each realization:
Moana:
I’ve delivered us to where we are
I have journeyed farther
I am everything I’ve learned and more
Still it calls me
And the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me
It’s like the tide; always falling and rising
I will carry you here in my heart you’ll remind me
That come what may
I know the way
I am Moana!
Secure in the knowledge of her identity, she resumes her mission with newfound energy and confidence.
Why does her identity matter? Why should it make any difference at all?
Because it restores her agency. She’s no longer on a random mission just because, as she has repeated like a mantra or as a claim to her authority, “The ocean chose me”. Being chosen by a higher power, especially when that power does not reveal its justification for that choice, does not actually empower the chosen (hello Buffy fans! ;)). It’s merely borrowed power, easily dismissed by nonbelievers. OTOH, realizing that “the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me” is empowering. It reminds Moana that she’s on this journey because she wants to, because she decided to answer the call. With the purpose of the mission internalized, she’s owning the decision to restore the heart of Te Fiti, because that’s who she is, chosen or not. That’s powerful.
Secondly, her identity matters because it’s a source of courage and motivation. Note that the title of this song between Gramma Tala and Moana is, “Song of the Ancestors.” Knowing she’s descended from a long line of wayfinders who have sailed across the ocean makes her voyage far from a crazy, pointless suicide mission. Instead, she recognizes it as a natural and long-practiced (if recently-halted) part of her culture. She’s capable because like her, her ancestors have successfully navigated to parts unknown, and overcome countless obstacles along the way. In taking on the mission to restore Te Fiti’s heart, she’s also restoring the tradition of her people. When Moana sings, “I am everything I’ve learned and more,” that “more” includes her proud heritage, both the legends and the collective knowledge.
Moreover, her identity lends legitimacy to the ocean’s choice. By both lineage and the characteristics she’s displayed since a young age (independence, compassion, courage, a sense of duty and responsibility, leadership skills, an explorer’s mindset, etc.), she proves herself to be the natural candidate. The higher power’s choice has been justified. The ocean chose her because it recognized her abilities before she did.
Thus, Moana is no longer the story of one individual, but elevated to the story of an entire culture. By knowing where you’ve been, you know where you are. By knowing where you are, you know how to get to your desired destination. This is both the literary truth of a wayfinder’s life, and a metaphor for navigating life’s journey, applicable to all.
Dreamwidth crosspost. Comments on this post are disabled on LJ. Reply or view the
comments on Dreamwidth.
seasonal_spuffy), my brain insists on producing meta instead.
---
Let’s talk about a girl, one lone girl, chosen in all the world, for a job seemingly beyond her age and abilities.
No, not Buffy, not this time. (Although I may circle back to her in another meta.) I’m talking about Moana.
In perhaps the lowest point of the movie, after a failed attempt to get past Te Ka (in order to restore the heart of Te Fiti), after Maui deserted her out of fear that another confrontation with Te Ka would destroy his damaged magic hook, Moana gives up on the mission for which the ocean chose her. “It chose wrong” were Maui’s last words before his departure. And perhaps she believes him, if only in that moment of utter despair.
Then the spirit of Gramma Tala appears to Moana. In her infinite wisdom, Gramma Tala doesn’t just remind Moana of her strengths. She also engages her grand-daughter in a moment of self-introspection.
Gramma Tala: Do you know who you are?
And Moana, taken back by the seeming simplicity of the question, begins to list the various aspects of her identity:
Moana:
Who am I?
I am a girl who loves my island
I’m the girl who loves the sea
It calls me
I am the daughter of the village chief
We are descended from voyagers
Who found their way across the world
They call me
While Moana envisions her ancestors’ ships sailing across uncharted seas, she continues, confidence growing with each realization:
Moana:
I’ve delivered us to where we are
I have journeyed farther
I am everything I’ve learned and more
Still it calls me
And the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me
It’s like the tide; always falling and rising
I will carry you here in my heart you’ll remind me
That come what may
I know the way
I am Moana!
Secure in the knowledge of her identity, she resumes her mission with newfound energy and confidence.
Why does her identity matter? Why should it make any difference at all?
Because it restores her agency. She’s no longer on a random mission just because, as she has repeated like a mantra or as a claim to her authority, “The ocean chose me”. Being chosen by a higher power, especially when that power does not reveal its justification for that choice, does not actually empower the chosen (hello Buffy fans! ;)). It’s merely borrowed power, easily dismissed by nonbelievers. OTOH, realizing that “the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me” is empowering. It reminds Moana that she’s on this journey because she wants to, because she decided to answer the call. With the purpose of the mission internalized, she’s owning the decision to restore the heart of Te Fiti, because that’s who she is, chosen or not. That’s powerful.
Secondly, her identity matters because it’s a source of courage and motivation. Note that the title of this song between Gramma Tala and Moana is, “Song of the Ancestors.” Knowing she’s descended from a long line of wayfinders who have sailed across the ocean makes her voyage far from a crazy, pointless suicide mission. Instead, she recognizes it as a natural and long-practiced (if recently-halted) part of her culture. She’s capable because like her, her ancestors have successfully navigated to parts unknown, and overcome countless obstacles along the way. In taking on the mission to restore Te Fiti’s heart, she’s also restoring the tradition of her people. When Moana sings, “I am everything I’ve learned and more,” that “more” includes her proud heritage, both the legends and the collective knowledge.
Moreover, her identity lends legitimacy to the ocean’s choice. By both lineage and the characteristics she’s displayed since a young age (independence, compassion, courage, a sense of duty and responsibility, leadership skills, an explorer’s mindset, etc.), she proves herself to be the natural candidate. The higher power’s choice has been justified. The ocean chose her because it recognized her abilities before she did.
Thus, Moana is no longer the story of one individual, but elevated to the story of an entire culture. By knowing where you’ve been, you know where you are. By knowing where you are, you know how to get to your desired destination. This is both the literary truth of a wayfinder’s life, and a metaphor for navigating life’s journey, applicable to all.
Dreamwidth crosspost. Comments on this post are disabled on LJ. Reply or view the
comments on Dreamwidth.