Whale rider is a movie about an ancient tradition more than one thousand years old of the Maori people in a small coastal village of New Zealand. This tradition recognizes only the successor’s first born son belonging to the Paikea’s heir to be the leader Chief. Paikea is the name of the Chief of the Maori tribe who is considered a warrior and leader because he has escaped death and survived during the capsizeding of his boat and ride on the back of the whale to shore.
In the movie, Koro, the current Chief of the Maori people, was desperately looking for an heir to be the next successor of Chief to carry on the tradition. Koro’s oldest son, Porourangi, had refused to be the next inheritance, so Koro wass counting on his son to give him a grandson who wioulld be the next Chief. Unfortunately, Porourangi fathered twins, a boy and a girl, but the boy diesd along with his mother right after birth, leaving the surviving girl called Pai. Koro refused to acknowledge Pai as the inheritor of the tradition because she was not a boy. After what happened, Porourangi decided to leave town to study internationally leaving Pai home to be raised by her grandparents. Twelve years later he returned home as a celebrated international artist and was pressured by Koro to give him a grandson so he canould fulfill his dream of retaining the ancient tradition. Koro was unsuccessful in convincing his son, and he started to gather all the first born boys in town and trained them to be warriors hoping that one of them would be revealed to him as a great leader.
Pai, on the other hand, recognized that she was being prejudiced against because she was not a boy, but her love for her grandfather and her determination to become the next successor was unprecedented. She enlisted herself to be recognized as the Chief’s heir with the help of her grandmother. She determined to learn about the traditions, the chanting, and the warrior skills from her uncle who was an exemplary warrior fighter. The determining factor that gave her the final recognition was when a massive school of whales in the ocean was stranded on the beach in respondingse to Pai’s calls. Koro was very sure that this was an apocalyptic end to his tribal tradition unless there would be a leader who made the ultimate sacrifice to save his people and becaome the Whale Rider. After many unsuccessful attempts were made to save the whales and return them to the ocean, Pai came to the whales and they responded to her calls, then she rode them back to the ocean. This was the finally moment that touched Koro and he later recognized and acknowledged that Pai was the chosen one to be the warrior and the leader of the Maori tribe.
Gender prejudice against women is obvious in this movie and it shows that male superiority is dominant in the older generations. In the older tradition, only males can be leaders because they are physically strong and are great warrior fighters. Their power lies in their physical character and appearance, more so than that of their wisdom and knowledge. It is no longer held true to this day since we recognize knowledge is power. Regardless of gender, we will nominate the person that has the wisdom and knowledge to be the best leader for the people. We have technology and the arms power that can protect us from our enemies. We no longer rely on the male dominance with physical superiority or warriors that can fight to be a leaders. Women around the world have proven that they can be great leaders of their countries and we need to acknowledge that gender should no longer be a factor in the selection of any positions in our society.