Brief summary of whale rider:
Based on the novel by Witi Ihimaera, Whale Rider is an inspiring film that tells the story of a small
Maori tribe, living on the coast of New Zealand in Whangara, and who have appeared to have lost all
sense of faith and interest in their deeply-rooted cultural traditions. The Whangara legend of the
'whale rider' dates back many years to when the legendary Maori hero, Paikea, appeared on the
back of a whale and established their Maori tribe. Now, in the present day, the current generation of
the Maori tribe are struggling with the pressures and the influences of the modern world, and are in
dire need of a strong leader to guide them to embrace their culture once again. They lack
enthusiasm and in order to prevent the total loss of this culture, a new leader is needed to be
recognised to lead the people back to understanding the importance of the existence of their
culture. Koro, the elderly chief of the tribe, understands the need for a new leader - someone who
will re-awaken the tribe and renew its lost strength and identity. However, Pai fails to be recognized
as the new leader as she is a girl, and her Maori tribe is still very much dominated by the notion of a
patriarchal society.
Themes in Whale Rider:
Coming of age:
Conflict of past v present
Culture and tradition: Positive or negative
Gender conflicts
Gender conflict: Boys v Girls
Females are typically casted in a stereotypically traditional role as being the passive follower;
females are the ones that obey the demands requested by the males. A great example is Mrs.
Apirana, Paikea’s grandmother. Although she does voice out her disapproval and annoyance of her
husband’s traditional preaching about males being superior over females, she still maintains the
household and takes Paikea out of the room whenever her husband is speaking to other male
members of the community. This shows that Mrs. Apirana knows her role is submissive and that she
must obey the orders of her husband in order to satisfy the traditional standards that he demands.
Paikea, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Mrs. Apirana. Through the “female gaze” and
“counter cinema”, Niki Caro portrays Paikea as a strong, self-assertive, relentless, intelligent, and
ambitious girl, who wants nothing more than to assume the role as the tribe leader. Although her
desires are shunned upon initially, the outcome of her diligence and perseverance to accomplish this
goal allows her to not only gain the title as a prophet-like leader, but also gained the respect of her
male counterparts. She also became an inspiring role model for females to follow in her footsteps.
In many ways, Paikea exhibited characteristics that resemble the male stereotype. Paikea knew from
the moment of her birth that she was not well-liked. Paikea had a soliloquy at the beginning of the
film, where she states “there was no gladness when I was born. My twin brother died and took my
mother with him. Everyone was waiting for the first born boy to lead us, but he died and I didn’t” .
Her grandfather often reprimanded her for being a girl because only boys can carry on the tradition
of being the successor of the almighty Whale Rider of the Sea. Her grandfather looked down on her
with contempt and viewed her as a burden because she could not fulfill this role, even though she
was always trying to convince him of her superiority. For instance, when her grandfather’s boat’s
rope was broken, Paikea took the initiative to tie the rope back and rev up the engine. Without
acknowledging her cleverness, he dismisses her skill and tells her, “don’t do that again, it’s
dangerous”. Her grandfather is the perfect example of someone who idealizes male dominance and
the fact that his granddaughter was able to fix the engine when he could not, he felt ashamed and of
lesser value than a female.
Paikea challenges gender role expectations by showing her ability to accomplish tasks that well
trained boys were not able to achieve. For instance, when Koro took the boys on a boat ride, he
threw his Reiputa (the whale tooth that the first born male carries around his neck) into the waters
and challenged each one of them to try and retrieve it. All of them failed at the task. When Paikea
learns of this challenge, she asked her uncle and his wife to take her out to the site where her
grandfather had tossed the Reiputa. She dove in without hesitation and eventually uncovered the
Reiputa from the bottom of the waters, alongside a lobster for dinner. This scene was metaphorical;
throwing the Reiputa into the waters and witnessing it sink symbolized the grandfather’s failure was
deeply sunken and that the tribe is sinking deep into defeat without a true male leader. When none
of the boys could recover the Reiputa, it will be lost forever, much like the Maori people without a
male tribe leader. The traditions that were once held so deeply will be lost at sea because none of
the men are able to step up and rescue them. However, from a “female gaze’s” perspective, Paikea’s
ability to retrieve the Reiputa symbolizes female strength and feminism. She defied
patriarchal expectations by accomplishing tasks that her male counterparts could not accomplish.
The true test of Paikea’s ability to counter the female gender stereotype was in the scene when all
the dead whales washed up to the shore. Her grandfather saw it as a sign that she had corrupted the
system and the ancestors are punishing them. The dying whales represented the dying patriarchal
standards; all the men were failing to succeed, if men cannot succeed at what they were
predisposed to do, then there is nothing left for them. The ancestral teachings can no longer be
passed on and the tribe’s purpose will die along with the whales. However, I believe that Niki Caro
was building up the story for the final climax. The final climax took place when Paikea looked from
afar and discovered the largest whale and she thought to herself, “it was Paikea’s whale that was
sent to us because we were in trouble” (Whale Rider, 2002). Even though her grandfather blamed
her for the dead whales because she had been disobedient and crossed roles to assume the male
role, she touched the whale and slowly held onto it and climbed to the very top. She road on top of
the whale and the whale came back to life and swam into the water. Niki Caro’s message at this
point is that, asides from the male hierarchy dying, a female leader will reign. She rode the back of
the whale and she thought to herself the entire way, “I wasn’t scared to die” (Whale Rider, 2002).
Paikea knew instantly that this was her moment to save the whales, just as the whale had saved her
ancestor Paikea from drowning at sea; she was saving the whale by bringing him back to waters. The
legend that the whale saved their ancestor Paikea started when the whale rescued him from the
waters, which lead future generations to believe that their ancestors came from the back of a whale.
Paikea’s new story as a female will be she did the opposite; to save the dying whales, she rode on
the back of the whales into the waters.
Music: Whale Riding scene
As Pai approaches the whale the music is very low, evoking a sense of tension and suspense. This is
juxtaposed against her complete calmness, allowing us to see and feel as if she knows exactly what
she is doing, she is where she belongs. As the music progresses we hear long, wailing notes,
reminiscent of whale song. This allows us to fully appreciate the atmosphere. It also reinforces the
idea of Pai’s connection with the whales, as we are seeing her as we ‘hear’ them