Are Female Pasifika People Under-presented In Popular Culture?

I thought I would do something different this week and respond to females being oppressed. This is a response to the following video that Esther showed in class the other day about female film makers. I will just be writing an analysis about how Female Pasifika people aren't featured much in movies and TV shows.

Pacific shorts in the New Zealand Film Festival:

While watching the video, I couldn't help but notice that these female filmmakers only managed to make "short film" rather than feature length ones. I then started to realize that in general, Pacifika females in general are not represented in many TV show/movies, if I were to think of ones from the top of my head. A famous example of a TV show that gained national exposure is of course bro'Town. This show was created by The Naked Samoans (all male) and the main lead characters were all boys.

I think that Maori females have better representation in popular culture with Keisha Castle Hughes making it big with Whale Rider where she got nominated for an Academy Award. There's also the Maori actress Rena Owen who starred in Once Were Warriors and even managed to snag a bit-part in Star Wars: Episode II. Pasifika males I feel have made it "big" so to speak. The most famous Samoan (or Pacific Islander) ever is probably Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Not only did he become a famous professional wrestler, he's now one of the most recognizable people in the world now that he has become a Hollywood actor.

The only Pasifika women I know that are on TV right now are two actresses from Shortland Street. One is Frankie Adams (who plays Ula) and the other is Teuila Blakely (who plays Vasa). Shortland Street has always been a good show that portrays characters from many different cultures. Sadly though, these are the only two Pasifika actresses I know that are on TV right now.

However, I do feel that Pasifika females are better represented in NZ's music industry than they are in the TV/Movie one. Ladi 6 is of Samoan descent and has lots of songs that were in the NZ charts. Not to mention she will be playing at the 2014 Big Day Out. Another Samoan singer that has been quite successful in her career is Aaaradnha.

Where I'm From

Where I'm From

I am more than just a yellow face
"Oh another Asian"
"He's foreign"
"He can't speak English"
Have I already been put in place?

"He must be from China?"
"He must be from Korea?"
"He must be from Vietnam?"
"No, Japan, perhaps?"
That's not where I'm from

I've never seen my motherland
I've never seen the great walls
I've never seen the temples
the towns, cities or malls
It's not where I'm from

I was raised in New Zealand
I was raised in South Auckland
Mangere
Papatoetoe
Manurewa

I was raised on dollar chips
I was raised on spray cans
Graffiti
Slang
Rap and Hip Hop

Am I just a foreigner?
No
Am I just a tourist?
No
Am I just a china man?
No

I am a kiwi
I'm from New Zealand
This is where I'm from

Shams' Identity Response- DRAFT

By now I should know what shade of red my blood is
To represent who I am in a world full of uncertainty
And to keep my grandmother's blood running through generations
I used to be ashamed to never have been able to keep up with the culture

My mother tells me
'You used to sit on your baby chair and grandma would make you Dolma, how can you not remember?'
My father asks me
'What do you know about your country? About your culture?'
My sister mocks me
'You wouldn't remember because you were too young'
My brother insults me
'You don't know how to speak Arabic; I'll speak in English so you can understand'

For the most part,
They are right.
I don't remember very much of my grandparents
I don't know much about my country's history
I was too young to remember everything
I don't understand Arabic to the extent that my family does

But I have been privileged to meet my existing family on the other side of the world
To have parents that educate me about my culture on a daily basis
To have photographs and videos of my past
And to have the ability to understand, let alone, speak the language of my ancestors

I Knwo Who I am- Wild Dogs Under My Skirt (Seminar brief #2)

Dear MAMA             

I am your daughter

Why is it so hard for our people to believe?

Dear MAMA

My skin may be white

But who are they to judge my colour

Who are they to question

Our God’s creation

Dear MAMA

My hair is brown

My eyes are brown

But it does not mean they can judge what I’m proud of

Dear MAMA

They say I’m funny

Talk funny

Look funny

Laugh funny

But yet why don’t I feel embarrass

Instead I’m always happy

Dear MAMA

I may not speak your language

I may not act like you

I may not walk like you

I may not talk like you

But I am damn proud to rep my culture

Damian Seeto - Colour Blind

What I really am is just not what you see
Just because I am half brown and white
Doesn't mean I am from the side of dark or light
I am who I want to be

My brown family think I look funny because I'm more pale
My white family think I look funny because I am more wide
It shouldn't be about choosing one side
I am who I want to be and aspire at study at Yale

What is wrong about being mixed?
It feels like society labels me as taboo
This makes me think that most people always act like poo
To those that look down upon me, I think they're all dicks.

The world should judge people by actions not color
If this was the case
It would be a more happier place
This is what I was taught by my brown father and white mother

We are all human beings and should all live in peace
Whether you are one race, two races or more
Or even if you are rich or poor
I will repeat and say we should all live in peace

Identity response.

Identity has always been that weird aspect.

A concept of uniqueness and freedom of personality.

A uniqueness that's grouped with thousands of others.

Unfortunately, that's just reality.

But me?
I just want to be free.

They say my ethnicity

creates my identity.

That your background

creates your foreground.

Can't you see that this isn't me?
I speak Nihongo.

Grew up with Bushido,
I understand the complexities
Of Musashi's Go Rin No Sho

But I don't think I'm Japanese.

People been running their mouths,

saying only if you speak your mother tongue,

then part of your culture you become.

Are you telling me, that I speak European?
I guess it's true,
Yo hablo un poco espanol too, Muy bein.
So no me pongas en una caja
con las personas que no son de mi propia.

I don't even remember Spain,
I was there for four days when I was ten.

My parents aren't spanish,
Their parents aren't spanish.
So what do I need to do,
to make my European title vanish?

I just want to be me,
a kiwi.

Don't Question My Identity - in response to Wild Dogs Under My Skirt

 

I am a full- blooded Samoan

I cannot speak the language

I was born in the Island

When I was only 6 years old

I migrated to the land of milk and honey

My own people

Pacifica people

Discriminate my colour

My mother tongue that I cannot discover

Questioning my identity

Questioning my ancestors

Judging every move I make

Feeling disappointed

Feeling abandoned by my own people

Feeling lost

But for whatever cost

I strive to prove who I am

To be known as a Samoan girl

Who I am

My identity

My ancestors

Who fought with your ancestors

For our independent during the colonisation

To prove I’m your daughter

Here’s my offer

Strike me with your sharp chisel

Strike me with your hammer

Imprinted my thighs

Let the dark ink

Combine with my blood

As I will let go of

My body

My mind

My soul

To prove that I am

Your daughter

The proud one

The may be weak

But supposedly strong

Accept me as who I am

Because I am a full blooded Samoan