Love is the Strongest Magic

A friend shared this post this afternoon, and I've found myself reflecting on it a lot. 

This is one of the best parts of the movie IMO (although the part that never fails to make me cry is when Moana's grandmother's spirit gives her the reminder and the strength to go on), but I'm not sure I completely agree with it...

There are a lot of valid points here:

• I agree that it's important that Moana meets Te Ka with love and acceptance and not violence, and that's what helps restore her.
• Yes, violence begets ruin. A violent approach could not have saved Te Fiti.

But I'm not entirely sure I buy the fact that "only women can help other women heal from male violence" -- and certainly not within the context of this film. While I am the first one to insist that Disney movies are not just simply animated fluff, and that they have complex thematic messages in addition to their morals, this goes a bit too far for me. 

One of the most striking things about Moana, for me, was its lack of emphasis on gender. That is, Disney went out of their way to tell a story where gender differences weren't front and center. After all, in the initial draft, Moana had brothers (6, I think?) and, as the youngest, she was constantly trying to prove that she was just as good as them and deserving of her father's pride and admiration. (SO glad they took that storyline out.) And, after all, this is the first Disney princess movie, where this isn't a romantic subplot. 

So, yeah. I don't think this is a movie about male violence or how women can help each other through it. Yes, women supporting other women is crucial and important, but I don't think the fact that Te Ka/Te Fiti and Moana are women is the point here. Rather, IMO, it's about Moana's humility and good nature -- regardless of gender. It's her act of saving the baby turtle when she was little that made the ocean "choose" her (as Grandma Tala points out) -- her kindness, her selflessness (she gives up the pretty shell), and her strength of character. 

It's more of an exchange of female wisdom and guidance. After all, Moana's journey throughout the movie is one of self-discovery and acceptance -- of finding her True Self, which is different from how others define her, namely her father (but, to some extent, her mother and community). They want her to be one thing, and she knows that she's meant for something different (to explore the world and sail the ocean). This is the advice she passes on to Te Fiti when she understands the effect of the stolen heart: she tells her that even though "they have stolen the heart from inside you / but this does not define you." I read this not as "healing from male violence" but as "honoring your true self."