The Question of Identity in Moana

The film Moana is rich with clear religious themes, such as the question of identity. At one point in the film, Moana’s grandmother leads her to a cave opening that has been concealed with rocks. Upon asking what lies inside the cave, her grandmother responds, “the answer to the question you keep asking yourself: who are you meant to be?”. After venturing inside the cave, Moana discovers large ships, realizing that her people were once voyagers and sea-farers. Thrilled by this exciting discovery, Moana inquires as to why they don’t voyage any longer. Her grandmother explains that after Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, the people stopped voyaging. She concludes, “we have forgotten who we are”. The issue of identity was one of the main themes in the film and is clearly communicated throughout the narrative. Everything seems to be telling a story, the sails of the old ships are illustrated with fish, boats, mountains and islands, the boat itself is carved with designs, some taking the form of a fish, and the people themselves are tattooed with various symbols and stories relevant to their respective identities. One example of this is found in Moana’s grandmother, who has a large tattoo of a stingray across her upper back. The relevance of this tattoo is affirmed as she is depicted as dancing with the stingrays - who are swimming around her - to the rhythm and flow of the ocean. Upon her death, a beautifully illuminated stingray, like the appearance of bioluminescent plankton, comes forth with great haste from the place of her death and into the water, as though she were anxious to see Moana off on her journey. Maui is another example of tattooes that communicate identity and story. The demi-god is heavily tattooed with different stories, both happy and sad, telling of both victory and defeat. Maui relays his favorites of these stories in song form as he outlines for Moana all that he has done that has benefited the human race. The power of story is relayed to the viewer when Moana, in a time of distress, as Maui is about to abandon the mission, she recites her story - and identity - to reorient herself in the midst of confusion. She states her name and where she has come from, recalling her people’s past as voyagers and the call inside of her compelling her to journey on the sea. The ability of story to orient (or reorient) man is further clarified as she subsequently begins to sing a song called “I know the way”.