The depictions of the people of the Pacific Islands by those of the surrounding world have been shaped greatly by perceptions carried back to native countries by early European explorers. The stereotypes and stigmas that have been attached to the complex and various cultures of the Pacific Islands has lead to a great deal of identity crisis within the islands.
The American film, South Pacific (1958), directed by Joshua Logan, clearly exemplifies the simplification of a culture in accordance to the social misconceptions of the blanket culture of the Pacific Islands. This film depicts the experiences of soldiers in the South Pacific, as the title suggests, in an idealized Hollywood manner. Aside from the quintessential blossoming romance storyline, the film is rife with cultural misrepresentations and a depiction of the American perception of the Pacific Islands. The representation of the indigenous people is wildly stylized and includes the usual stereotypical clothing, actions, and intellectual capacity. The cinematography grapples with the idea of the elusive paradise on the island of Bali Ha’i. These two major components of the film capture the absolute misunderstanding of a complex people to fit the expectations and entertainment of the people of the United States.
Within the film, various characters play into the tropes of the Pacific Islands, particularly the character, Bloody Mary and her daughter, Liat. Bloody Mary, though seemingly simple, plays a complicated role in this film. She serves as both the comic relief and the wise fool, serving as an operator of business of island merchandise. In the opening song of the film, “Bloody Mary,” the soldiers sing a mocking tribute to the island woman. They sing, “Blood...
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...s. “South Pacific Lyrics.” Last modified December 12, 2013. http://www.metrolyrics.com/bloody-mary-lyrics-south-pacific.html.
Nero, Karen L. “Time of Famine, Time of Transformation: Hell in the Pacific, Palau.” In The Pacific Theater: Island Representations of World War II, edited by Geoffrey M. White and Lamont Lindstrom, (pages). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989.
Reed, John. “Review.” Review of The GI War against Japan, American Soldiers in Asia and the Pacific during World War II, by Peter Schrijver. The Journal of Military History, 2003.
Sledge, Eugene B. With the Old Breed. New York: Random House, 2007.
South Pacific. Directed by Joshua Logan. 1958. Kaui: South Pacific Enterprise, DVD.
University of Canterbury. “Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies.” Last modified December 12, 2013. http://www.pacs.canterbury.ac.nz/people/nero.shtml.
In the rough and tropical island of Papua New Guinea, lived an exceptional aggregation of individuals called, The Gebusi. In the 1980's, The Gebusi tribe was anything besides up to date and acculturated. The Gebusi had their own particular singular and special customs and conventions that they rehearsed and accompanied. The Gebusi tribe took part in custom homosexuality, divination or witchcraft was exceedingly respected and polished, and they partook in particular sister-trade relational unions. By 1998-99, The Gebusi tribe had made another lifestyle. The Gebusi had gotten accustomed with new social convictions, modernization due to “western ways” that had changed their lives until the end of time especially changing their ways and view on gender roles and sexuality.
...have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have reaped the consequences, yet they are only Pacific Islanders; they lay dying from cancer, being born with birth defect, and even mothers giving birth to stillborn babies. (Keever, 1-23)
“The more you know, the less you need.” The attitude from White Australians towards Indigenous Australians was extremely unfriendly, and due to the fact that Aboriginal Australians had knowledge about things the European settlers believed did not matter they treated as if they were uneducated nuisances. The aboriginal people believed that the land they had lived on for generations belonged to them; however the White Australians came and took the land. This also means that the Europeans took what the Indigenous people valued most, and that was their land. Authors and directors convey different attitudes, values and beliefs in different ways, however it still has the same impact.
As a result, both films represent Natives Americans under the point of view of non-Native directors. Despite the fact that they made use of the fabricated stereotypes in their illustrations of the indigenous people, their portrayal was revolutionary in its own times. Each of the films add in their own way a new approach to the representation of indigenous people, their stories unfold partly unlike. These differences make one look at the indigenous not only as one dimensional beings but as multifaceted beings, as Dunbar say, “they are just like us.” This is finally a sense of fairness and respect by the non-native populations to the Native Indians.
These four documents on the indigenous responses to western imperialism are all connected by their topics, historical context, and event happenings. Queen Liliuokalani was a strong, independent ruler of her monarchy and she continued to give an endless amount of trust and satisfaction to her island natives. Most people would consider “Hawaii’s Last Queen on American Annexation”, due to its legitimacy and context that significantly has the best perspective.
In the 1930's Native Americans and women were viewed as inferior races. The films produced during the early part of the 20th century, particularly those starring John Wayne reflected these societal attitudes. The portrayal of minorities in Stagecoach and Fort Apache clearly reflect the views of society at that time. The depiction of the West is similar to that which is found in old history textbooks, em...
The article by J. Osorio entitled Gazing Back: Communing with our Ancestors, began with a tribute to David Hanlon who was an inspirational and important teacher and figure in Osorio's life. For me, reading this article was so moving, inspiring and a microcosm of an entire semesters' accumulation of knowledge and insight into a culture which I have lived along side my entire life but never fully understood. I do not know if comparing my appreciation for professor Osorio to his of David Hanlon is a worthy praise because Hanlon has affected Osorio's entire life, but I do know that I have never believed in the spirit of contemplation of a culture so much until now and sitting through six weeks of Hawaiian Studies class.
American Hawaii Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, it’s nice year-round weather, and its culture. Thousands of vacationers come to Hawaii each year to get away from the stressful city and relax. But do they know how cruel the Americans were to the natives? Do they know how we corrupted their culture and their religion? Do they know how Hawaii really became a state? Probably not. When most people think of Hawaii, they think of happy Hawaiian babes hula dancing and palm trees swaying in the warm breeze. Hawaii has still held on to many of their traditions although they were invaded by Americans. But you have to go to a museum to see their old way of life. Hawaii is now populated mostly by Americans. Native Hawaiians have adapted to our American lifestyle and much of their old traditions and beliefs are lost in history books. America dominated over the Hawaiians just as they did with the Native Americans. The Hawaiians didn’t even stand a chance against big brother. They probably feel the same way towards America just as a child does with stubborn parents. Now I will tell you about the history of Hawaii so you will see how the United States came to annex Hawaii. Hawaii was first inhabited by the Polynesians. They came in canoes from other islands around the pacific. They called the new found island "Hawaii", which means "home" in Polynesian language. Hawaii was their home until the white man came in and took advantage of these simple, happy aborigines. The corruption of this unique and fragile culture first started when Captain James Cook ran into the islands on January 18, 1778. After Cook’s discovery, many other foreigners (mostly American) visited the islands. They brought clothes, livestock, orange trees, horses weapons and souvigners. Foreigners also brought with them a handful of deadly diseases such as smallpox, measles, syphilis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. During the time period of Cook’s arrival in 1778 to 1820, the population of Hawaii dropped from 300,000 to 135,000 due to the diseases! Another problem was the introduction of alcohol. Like the native americans, Hawaiians were not immune to alcohol. Hawaiian’s were very sensitive to alcoholism. Hawaiians religion was a very complex one with many gods. They worshiped idols and they belived in many f...
The representation of race in Hollywood cinema has been a widely discussed topic in film analysis since the medium’s inception. Historically, non-caucasian ethnicities have been underrepresented and/or misrepresented on the silver screen. It was normal for a white actor or actress to adorn themselves in black or yellowface to represent these races and further alienate them into the category of “the other”. This exclusion has been used time and time again as a tool for distinguishing not the race being alienated but those who are doing the alienation. In the following essay I aim to assess this phenomenon specifically in relation to representation of Asians in Hollywood cinema. To support my theory, I will put into conversation both Gina Marchetti’s essay, “White Knights in Hong Kong” and Anne Cheng’s essay, “Beauty and the Ideal Citizenship: Inventing Asian American in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (1961)”. It was when asked to consider the question of national identity projected upon the bodies on screen as written about by Marchetti and Cheng that I came across my own thesis. Through their in depth analysis I was able to code an underlying theme in the historical representation of Asians in cinema. The theme in which Asian identity is derived through strategically situating them as “the other” in order to explain what it truly means to be an American.
To some, it seemed that the assimilation of Maori children was a success. “People probably see on the surface that we’ve led successful lives. But that’s on the surface.” Many of those who were taken as children suffered from depression and other psychological disorders as adults due to their experiences as children. Those affected by such disorders may seem as though they are thriving when in fact they are severely damaged emotionally. One cannot remove a person’s entire culture from their life
During the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom as part of the Okinawa Prefecture in 1879. The Senkaku Islands became the Sino-Japanese boundary between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Qing empire. In 1885, the Japanese Governor of Okinawa, Nishimura Sutezo, asked the Meiji government to take control of the islands. However, Inoue Kaoru, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, commented that the islands had been given Chinese names already. Yamagata Aritomo, the Minister of the Interior, eventually turned down the request to incorporate the islands after listening to Kaoru's advice. 50%
The Polynesian peoples have a lifestyle quite different than that of any other culture, as living on an island requires a level of flexible adaptability in order to cope with such a different, sometimes difficult environment. We see the way diverse cultures build their lives around their circumstances and how they respect them in their cultural myths and stories. The Polynesian legends emphasize the physical environment that they live in. They are quite different than any other region in the world, but the beauty and individuality of the Polynesian culture is prominent as seen in their mythology.
Every human being, in addition to having their own personal identity, has a sense of who they are in relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous, representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
The inhabited islands clustered in the Caribbean Sea are an interesting study in cultural and social identity. Colonized by european powers from the Fifteenth Century, the Caribbean islands have become mixtures of cultures from Europe, Africa, and India, as well as from the original inhabitants of the islands. As a result, describing and defining the Caribbean is a much more difficult task than it appears on the surface. The norms and ideas of identity and history that exist on one island are vastly different than those that exist on a near neighbor, despite similarities in geography and history.