My Hawaii On Screen Film Proposal

My idea employs an ensemble cast with characters whose lives intersect and intertwine in a dramatic comedy.

WORKING TITLE:                             "Ohana Means Family"
    This saying is familiar to many because of the success of the Disney movie "Lilo & Stitch", so the appeal to mainstream audiences would be present.

PLOT:  At a large family wedding, various story-lines of different characters whose lives and choices intersect within the state, island and culture of Hawaii.

SETTING:  Hawaii Island, Waikoloa Four Seasons Resort
                     Various home and business locations on the island for different characters (seen
                               during flashbacks)

INTERACTIONS/STORY:  Wedding day of a locally born and raised couple, family and friends have come together to celebrate.  Many local cultural traditions seen at reception (Bonzai, money dance, etc.).  Various guests of the bride and groom have backstories that intersect with each other and are seen through flashbacks for the audience as they spend the day together celebrating the marriage of this young couple.
  Examples: - father and mother of the bride are contemplating divorce, father has had an 
                        affair with his business partner, another man, who is also at the wedding
                     - maid of honor and best man both have feelings for the bride and groom
                     - cousin of bride has been estranged from family since coming out, and shows
                       up at the wedding with his partner
                     - sister of groom and her husband have recently bought a home and now he has
                       lost his job with one of the telescope companies on Mauna Kea

CASTING:  First priority is to actors with Hawaii ties:  Jason Momoa, Tia Carrere, Jason Scott Lee, Bette Midler, Roseanne Barr, Bruno Mars, Kelly Hu, Joe Moore, pretty much any of our local newscasters, radio personalities, entertainers, business owners, elected officials, any of our Miss Hawaii's, and most importantly...the cast of ENG 205!

SOUNDTRACK:  The music of Kuana Torres Kahele, Lito Arkangel, Pomai Longakit, John Keawe, among others

Section 7: Homegrown

I am homegrown product.  One side of my family history can be traced to the Filipino immigrants who came to work on the plantations in Hawaii in hopes of earning money to send home to family in the Philippines as well as the hope of a better future.

Patsy Iwasaki's "Hamakua Hero" is a graphic novel that relays the true story of an immigrant from Japan who came to work a plantation on the Big Island.  Both the encouraging and tragic events of his short life in Hawaii set the foundation not only for the future generations, but also for a community.  In the movie "Picture Bride" by Kayo Hatta, we see plantation life from the perspective of a young Japanese woman who comes to Hawaii in an arranged marriage to work on a plantation with the end goal of earning enough money to return to Japan in the near future.  In the documentary, "Mabuhay With Aloha", we see the same plantation life perspective of the first Filipinos to Hawaii.  The hardships all these people endured are the foundations our generation has built upon and grown from.    

Looking back further in time on film, we have "Hawaii" based on the James Michener novel, and "Princess Kaiulani" by Marc Forby.  These movies show the colonization of missionaries in Hawaii and the dissolution of the Hawaiian monarchy respectively.

Moving forward in time to present day, we have "The Descendants" by local author Kaui Hemmings Hart that relates the story of the heirs descended from the marriage between a missionary and a woman of Hawaiian royalty.  One subplot has the heirs faced with the decision of selling the land that has been passed down through generations for development.  The story also holds themes of anger, infidelity, and power as we have seen in other movies this semester.

Our present has been shaped by our past here in Hawaii.  We have the knowledge of our past to help us define our future.

Section 6: The Angry Hawaiian

   


Since the late 1960's many movies made in or about Hawaii have depicted the native or local people as angry, threatened/threatening and violent in relations with Euroamericans, or haole, as well as each other.  Movies such as Aloha Summer, set in Hawaii during statehood, depicts a coming of age story for a group of young men and their families visiting Hawaii.  Interactions with locals did not always go well between the males in the film, with racism still clearly seen between both cultures as well as within the classes of the haole who are visiting.  

     In 1987, the movie North Shore depicts another non-local arriving in Hawaii with the main theme of cultural differences between the locals and the haole and rights to the ocean, the land, and what is still perceived as inter-racial as well as a inter-class relationships.  Hollywood uses films such as North Shore as a negative representation of locals as very territorial, a much different perception from movies such as Blue Hawaii which served to invite outsiders in.

     With 1998's Beyond Paradise, the anger that the locals are depicted as having extends more towards each other than towards the haole.  The other consistent theme we see is in how the locals live:  typically in poor, undeveloped areas which could now be viewed as sustainable living, but back then and especially to outsiders, was viewed as a class division clearly marking locals as poor.

     This "angry Hawaiian" theme ties in with the Hawaiian sovereignty movements that began in the 1970's.  While the era saw the revival of interest in Hawaiian music, dance, language and culture within the State of Hawaii, Hollywood chose plots that depicted the people as selfish, uneducated, violent, poor and aggressive much more than did the earlier films such as Bird of Paradise.

Section 5: Tiki Tacky Too!

   

     The year 1958 brought another fantastic (insert sarcasm) film to the big screen in Roger Corman's She Gods of Shark Reef.  This fascinating tale of two brothers, wanted by police for the crimes by one brother, wash ashore after a shipwreck on a uncharted island populated by beautiful island women.  Lest anyone think they had died and went to paradise, there is much mystery and suspense surrounding the customs of the women and their shark god.

     The island women are shown dancing a relatively authentic hula, with the exception of young Mahia, whom one of the brothers falls for.  As is typical of these movies, there are many scenes underwater not only including the shark, but also a very ominous looking tiki that marks the area where the young virginal women are sacrificed to the shark god.  The movie poster (seen above) also displays the tiki artwork. Tiki is present in many movies and television shows whenever Hollywood wants to indicate something as taboo or forbidden.  Yet the tiki itself spawned an entire culture as a theme that represented an escape for people in the 50's and 60's.

     In another example of tiki in film, The Brady Bunch took their viewers to Hawaii in in 1972.  Among all the different aspects of Hawaiian culture encountered by the Brady's in Hawaii, Bobby finding a tiki at work site they were visiting.  At first believing it was a good luck charm, the Brady boys quickly decided it was actually bad luck when one accident or incident happened after another, especially to those wearing the tiki.

     In an effort to rid themselves of the bad luck, they visit Mr. Hanalei, who tells them the legend of the tiki and how it must be returned to its rightful place in order to stop the bad from happening.  As a local who grew up on the legends of Hawaii, I am always frustrated when visitors would take for granted the stories of Hawaiian culture and believe themselves immune to such warnings of bad luck. It shows a  disrespect for the culture.

     In 2008 the article "Tiki Doen't Have To Be Tacky" in the Wall Street Journal shared the history of the tiki culture and how it had waned by the mid-80's but has since experienced a resurgence in popularity.  Writer Eric Felton identifies "good tiki" as grace and elegance and "bad tiki"as steel & glass totems, plastic lei, in other words "camp".  I think campy tiki is unavoidable as it represents an escape to those who need to be away from their 9-5 worlds and imagine themselves in a place where the alcohol flows freely on a beach in Waikiki.  I can appreciate the appeal tiki culture has, the value of the art of tiki, but it is still important to understand and respect the culture it originates from.
   

Section 4: Hawaii: State of Fantasy

      In 1958, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific came to the big screen.  This film, based on the Broadway play, has many different story lines taking place including reflecting the racism of the era.  While the movie is set in the South Pacific during World War II, as with many island-living movies, it is associated with Hawaii. While the tropic scenery is already beautiful, strangely filtered lenses indicate when a scene is meant to be dream-like.
 
     The filtered lenses are used in the enchanting musical scene "Bali Ha'i",  making the off-in-the- distance island even more alluring and attractive.  This magical fantasy island is given feminine attributes as it beckons and calls to the men who lay eyes on it.  In adding to the femininity of the island, it is explained that this is where the planters daughters as well as the young island women are housed so as to save them from the desires of the American military men stationed in the South Pacific. This type of taboo placed on the island perpetuates the Hollywood practice of depicting the islands and its people as enticing but off limits.  The women of the island range in depiction from young to old, thin to heavy, attractive to unattractive.  The American woman who are military nurses on the island are all attractive, fit and "off-limits" to the enlisted men making the idea of the island women of Bali Ha'i even more enticing and appealing to the Euroamerican men.

     Blue Hawaii, introduced a new era of Hawaii to movie goers.  Taking place shortly after Statehood, Elvis brought sex appeal to a man who while Euroamerican, had strong ties to the island.  Despite his parents wishes that he carry on the family business, Chadwick Gates had plans to open up his own tour business on Oahu after his two year stint in the army.  The beautiful, brightly colored scenery (as well as clothing) and million dollar photography of Blue Hawaii is a selling point to encourage the idea of travel to paradise.

     Despite the beautiful scenery, the locals in the film are portrayed as not having responsible or respectful jobs.  The Gate's houseboy/bulter is named Ping Pong. Maile, Chad's girlfriend is not respected as a proper choice for Chad according to his mother.  Despite her clearly racist opinions of locals, Chad marries Maile in the films stunning finale, showing an inter-racial relationship finally coming to fruition (marriage).  Still, getting to that point (the iconic wedding photo shown below), Maile is depicted as bending to Chad's every will, including having very little say to his marriage proposal.

Section 3: Patriotic Infidelity

     With the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II, the issues of distrust and suspicion among the people in the islands was a focus of more Hollywood movies such as "Jungle Heat", released in 1957 with a plot of events prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Much discrimination towards locals were obvious in movies such as this.  One character views the locals as "a few steps removed from their primitive ancestors" and that they must be kept in line.

     Discrimination between locals and whites alike as well as labor problems were on the rise prior to Pearl Harbor's bombing.  In "Jungle Heat", we witness the belief by one plantation manager that "curiosity leads to laziness" in regards to the laborers of the plantations and organization within their ranks.  There is a common suspicion that Japanese are being snuck in to Hawaii and causing labor issues and accidents on the plantation that is the scenario for this movie.  The movie also includes suspicions on a Filipino plantation worker who may be behind the accidents occurring as well as a potential uprise by the laborers.

     As seen in Section 2:  Bombing Paradise, there is infidelity, distrust, and suspicions between the white men as well and the one white woman featured in the movie.  The locals are resigned to supportive roles with few speaking lines.  There are no luaus, or spectacular hula sequences in "Jungle Heat".  The movie evokes a negative connotation of what life in Hawaii was like prior to Pearl Harbor, and therefore not a place one would want to be.

Section 2: Bombing Paradise

     Many movies have been produced and marketed about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into World War II.  Some examples, as we have seen in class include "Air Force" (1943),  "From Here To Eternity" (1953) and "Pearl Harbor" (2001).  How Hawaii and its people are depicted in these movies raises many questions that reflect the temperature of the human condition in that era.

     These movies all made use of locations that have become synonymous with what is perceived about Hawaii as a place:  Diamond Head and the white sand beaches.  Hawaii is represented as a place where life is "suspended" and will be left behind upon to return to routine life in the U.S.  Until that time of departure, life for the people here was strung together by common themes of distrust, infidelity, tragedy, betrayal, escape and loneliness in the time following the events of December 7, 1941.

     The other implication that Hollywood made in these movies was that many locals aided in the Japanese raid in Pearl Harbor and this belief was perpetuated stateside.  Not only were Japanese not to be trusted, but anyone from Hawaii might be suspicious.  While Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach may be location draws to visitors to the islands, the idea that local people could not be trusted laid the foundation for the negative perceptions of the people who lived here.

Observing Pearl Harbor from the air.

Distrust, violence, betrayal.

Escape, fear.