Hawaiian's have every right to be sensitive to their culture - casting a non Hawaiian as a Hawaiian Queen is gonna cause people in Hawaii to get mad. Trailer looks good but better mixed Polynesian actresses out there.
shareCry me a river, how are you going to say the trailer looks good one minute but then say that some Hawaiians will get mad. Who really cares darling it is just a movie and before anyone says Keisha again, I really am glad she did not get the part because her acting skills have declined. Q'orianka can act her but off but has to walk on eggs shells to please who, you can't make everyone happy, I in all honesty feel that even if they had cast a polynesian actress, people still would be bitching. Hell people said she was not Indian enough to play Pocahontas for god sakes. They need a life. Oh and personally I feel if you have a issue make your own Hawaiin movie, oh you won't but you will complain. No wonder Hollywood ignores minoritys.
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That is the first thing I thought of when I saw who was playing the Princess, I know Hawaiians hate it when the actor/actress isn't hawaiian. They were gonna do a movie on Kamehameha with the The Rock playing the leading role but he's Samoan (I think) and the movie didn't go through because people were upset!
shareI can understand why some Hawaiians would be upset, but not all of them are. Hawaiians, like everyone else, aren't a monolithic group who think and feel alike.
I'm Hawaiian, and while it would've been great to have a Hawaiian woman cast in the role, I am very happy it's someone like Q'orianka, who is a kind, sensitive person, and an advocate for her people...many of the same qualities as Princess Ka'iulani.
You can't blame people if they want a national icon to be played by one of their own. It still causes a bit of grief that a non-Scot played William Wallace (Braveheart, duh) but it's to do with national pride more then rational thinking. I believe most people will change their minds after they watch the movie but they'll always mumble that she's isn't one of them. That's not offencive, it's truth.
shareI totally agree with you. I certainly can understand and like someone else said, not all Hawaiians feel the same, but MOST people here however, especially the way they replied, really are clueless as to the politics involved in the film industry just as it exists in any corporation. Hollywood is no different, just like any other corporations, there will be some who feel that the worker (actress in this case) doesn't have the qualifications that could've been met by someone else who may have been under represented. All of these play an important factor.
Unfortunately, like any other business, the main issue is how much $$$ can be generated and to do that, the project manager (producer in this case) will do what he feels is necessary to get that result and if it means getting a well known actor/actress and dressing them up, then that's what they'll do.
That's kind of akin to saying that a heterosexual actor should only portray straight characters and homosexual actors can only portray gay characters. What really matters is an actor's or actress' ability to convey the essence of the person they are portraying.
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Good point. I never thought of that!
shareIn other cases I would agree with the original post of this thread, it is sad and frustrating when a actor is not the nationality of a title character.
However in the story of Princess Ka'iulani and the circumstances around her story, I will take an exception being that hers is not well known in american history, I for one did not know about her until I read a mini biography of her life a year or two ago.
And I don't know too many actresses who are of scottish and hawaiian descent which is what she was, certainly there may be some actresses out there who are but, my point is at least her story is being told to a mainstream audience.
What I found laughable was Mel Gibson playing a Scotsman William Wallace, it was a great movie, but seeing him in a kilt? What I know now about Scots history and how the film blundered some of the facts, now that was a shame.
I agree with a lot of the posts, I also think it would have bee better is a Native Hawaiian teen had been cast, but I think the actress did a great job with story. I recall reading about the princess in a book I came across in at the library a few years ago. Her life is fascinating. I watched the movie a few months ago and really enjoyed it.
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