How "Moana" Is Healing My Religious and Cultural Wounding

Prepare for the unpacking of the Disney movie you didn't know you needed.

Our local theater just put on Moana, Jr., where all the actors were middle school kids from around the area. The kids (and their supporting adults!) absolutely knocked it out of the park, my 4-year-old was captivated, and I was reminded why Moana is most definitely the best Disney movie in existence. Not least of which because it is written by the gifted songwriter and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, of course! 😍

Maybe I’m just a sap, but I find the music and themes of Moana to be so compelling that it brings me to tears every time I watch it. For the uninitiated (who ARE you, anyway???): Moana is a story of an island girl whose family lineage means she will be the next chief of the island. Her people live their whole lives safe on the island, never going beyond the reef, but Moana longs for more. She’s an explorer at heart, but is told by her people that she needs to fall in line and fulfill the role that is expected of her. Many adventures and a heroic journey later, she manages to save the island while foresaking neither herself nor her community.

One of the many reasons to love Moana is that it’s a not a traditional princess story, and even better, it’s not about white people at all. The folklore in the movie is based on actual cultural myths, pulled from the cultures of the Pacific Islands region. In a nod to feminism, Moana is in line to be chief of the village. She doesn’t want to settle for that, though: Moana is on her own hero’s (shero’s?) journey, a journey typically assumed to be for males. There is no rescuing prince at all; just a conceited demigod with whom there is no romantic plot.

Something I am repeatedly struck by in watching Moana is the articulation of the struggle to find your own role in a collectivist culture, where the good of the whole is given first priority. There is no assumption that she should make her own path without regard to the needs of her community.

Her father urges her to subsume her wild dreaming into the good of her people, something he had to do himself at one point: “Moana, stay on the ground now / Our people will need a chief and there you are / There comes a day / When you’re gonna look around / And realize happiness is where you are.”

On the other hand, her grandmother (essentially the “crazy village lady”) suggests there might be another way: “You are your father’s daughter, stubbornness and pride / Mind what he says but remember / You may hear a voice inside. / And if the voice starts to whisper / To follow the farthest star / Moana, that voice inside is who you are.”

I find this a particularly fascinating dynamic in light of our Western, American culture and the subculture of evangelicalism. Our cultural norm assumes the primacy of the individual and believes whatever we need to accomplish, we can do it alone: through our own power, merit, hard work, etc.

What would the capitalistic, American telling of this story look like? Probably exploiting the resources of the island (a direct contrast to the way the islanders use every part of the coconut, for instance). Moana would certainly not be in line to be chief, since America hasn’t managed to elect a female president, and all the less so evangelicals allow female leaders. I imagine the protagonist’s central conflict would be more about finding his destiny (Manifest Destiny, say…) and achieving his dreams than listening to the whispers of her heart while being part of a community.

And the evangelical telling of this story? Obviously there would be no myths¹ about demigods and the personification of the ocean and the goddess Te Fiti whose heart was stolen. Moana, a girl, would not be a leader: if she was the protagonist, she would need rescuing from a male in the story. She would not be encouraged to listen to the “voice inside,” since your own voice is not to be trusted in evangelicalism: she would be trying to listen for the voice of God, or rely on guidance from the older, male leaders of her people.

I’ve noted to myself that there is an element of collectivism (-ish) in evangelicalism… but only insomuch as it discourages people from listening to their own consciences and relying on their own intellect. In the church, you actually are encouraged to subsume your own interests, desires, and talents for the good of the church / God. But the dynamic that feels toxic in evangelicalism (lose yourself for God and the carefully curated system created by male evangelical leaders) … does not have the same effect on me in Moana — an actually collectivistic culture.

Like any good Five*, I’ve sat with the lyrics of the songs, wondering why they can make my heart swell and my eyes teary even in the middle of a coffee shop. (*we like to think our feelings rather than just feel them, you know). But inside this answer is why I feel like Moana is — and I’m not exaggerating — helping heal the wounds left from my religious and cultural upbringing.

Moana, the character, is full of fire, stubbornness, passion, desire. These qualities are NOT seen as “too much,” though. Her father deeply empathizes with her inner conflict of serving her people vs following the wanderings of her heart. He encourages her to find happiness where she is not because her spirit is bad or too much, but because her people need her leadership.

Her grandmother speaks to the whispering voice inside Moana, honoring her passions and dreams and encouraging her to find a way to go after them. She promises Moana that even after grandmother’s death, Moana will never be without her. The ocean, too, will be there to support and guide her.

If I were to summarize the impact on me, it would be: Moana is a powerful girl with huge dreams and ambitions, but she also has a deep love for her people and wants to find a way to navigate life without losing herself or her people. She is supported on all sides by people who truly believe in her and understand the conflict she is experiencing inside. And in the end, she is able to save her people by using her adventuresome spirit, her willingness to take risks, her stubbornness, and through the support of her ancestors. She does not deny herself but becomes most fully herself, and in doing so, it’s exactly what not only her island, but Maui (the demigod) and Te Fiti (the goddess who creates life) need as well.

(Grandmother:) “She loves the sea and her people / She makes her whole family proud.” … (Moana) “And the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me… I am Moana!”

Am I about to ask you to join me in the comments to talk about a Disney movie? You bet I am! Have you seen the movie? Even if you haven’t, how do you resonate with the themes around purpose, individual vs community identity, leadership, how your family views your talents and your roles… Go wherever you want with this one. Then, maybe go and watch the movie yourself (again)!

1. Side note: something I find very lovely and freeing is considering all of the origin stories from different cultures to be “myths.” This includes the stories told in the Bible about Adam and Eve and Noah and the Promised Land, etc. It’s a giant act of hubris for evangelicals / Christians to declare other cultures to be believing in false “myths” while they consider their own, equally unprovable, origin stories to be “facts.” And on the other hand, I can see origin stories in the Bible as informative about where and how this people group sees themselves in the landscape of history, how they interact with the deity, and what they see as their purpose.