Cultural Diversity and The Whale Rider
The Whale Rider is a 2002 film by Niki Caro set on the coast of New Zealand. It is about a small native tribe called the Whangara. These people believe that their history dates back more than one thousand years to one man called Paikea. He is thought to have reached their land by riding on the back of a whale after his canoe capsized. Thus, he was called the "whale rider". The entire Whangara society is based on this folklore. Paikea was considered to be the first Whangara chief and all Whangara chiefs following him had to be his direct descendants, and, in addition, must be first-born and male. The movie is set at a time when the current chief of the tribe, Koro, must find a new chief. He is an aging man and his sole purpose in life is to find a new leader for the tribe to succeed him. Given the heritage of this people, the chief would have to be a whale rider. This requires a very special person, so Koro's whole mission is to find that individual.
The film opens with Koro's profound disappointment upon learning that his own grandson, who he believed would become the next whale rider, had died at birth along with his mother, with only his twin sister surviving. With only a granddaughter and no male survivor, he had lost his only hope that his grandson would become that leader. For Koro, it was an unquestioned fact that the tribe's leader must be male, and it was unimaginable that the boy's twin sister, Pai, might fill that role.
This film portrays a longstanding prejudice in all cultures about the limits of women's' role in society. In this regard, European and Polynesian cultures are much alike in that they have a tradition of prejudice against women. This tradition is still deeply rooted in American society in spite of its leadership in women's rights. In the division of labor between genders, men are protectors and providers, and women are the weaker domestic caret...