Women do it better

When I started this last assignment I really wanted to focus on the movie “Water” since it is the movie the sticks out the most for me.  But as I went back to read my blog about the movie I felt like I would be rehashing the same points over again.  This got me thinking about  how  there are a lot of myths, legends, folklore, religious stories etc. that seem to show up over and over again.  Most of these stories seem to be connected by common threads and just told in a slightly different way depending on the culture or the religion.  What I wanted to do was look at a more uncommon myth and see if I could somehow find that story in one of the movies we say and do  my final blog about that. 

As I started to sit down and think about it, I really started going back to my knowledge on Greek  mythology.  I am no expert but it is a topic I find very interesting and to be honest, my husband knows it even better than I do.  I remembered two stories specifically; One about Jason and one about Atalanta.  I had to reread the stories and they both kind of stand very separate from each other but the small way in which they overlap reminded me if the movie “Whale Rider.”  This is my attempt to weave these similarities together.  First let me start by explaining the stories of Atalanta and Jason.

In Greek mythology, Atalanta was a famous huntress.  Her parents were Arcadia and Iasus.  Her parents did not want her and as a young baby, she was abandoned on the side of a mountain to die.  A bear had taken the baby in and nursed her and kept her alive.  Later some hunters had found her and took her in.  She grew up learning how to be an amazing hunter.  Because of this she went on to participate in many male dominated quests. 
 

Atalanta - The beautiful

 

Atlanta - The brave, strong, fast huntress 

 

One of these quests was that she wanted to join the Argonauts.  The Argonauts were some of the very first Greek explorers.  The head of this clan was Jason.  Jason was the son of Aeson who was the king of Iolcus.  Aeson’s half-brother Pelias had somehow gained control of the thrown.  Pelias was made aware that at some point he would be overthrown by a man wearing only one sandal.  Aeson decided to send his son, Jason, away to be educated in Chiron where all heroes go to be trained and educated.  Aeson thought this would be the only way to protect his son from whatever schemes Pelias had come up with to prevent Jason from regaining the thrown.
 

Advertisement for a Movie about Jason and the Agronautes - Who Atalanta wanted to join

 

Once Jason became a man he decided to go back to Iolcus to fight for his place on the thrown.  On his travels back, he came across a Hera disguised as an old woman who requested his assistance in crossing an overflowing river.  Jason did assist her and in the process lost one sandal.  When he arrived in Iolcus Pelias immediately recognized this man with one sandal as the man who was to overthrow him from the thrown.  Pelias decided to agree to giving the thrown to Jason but only when he brought back the golden fleece.  It was believed that acquiring the golden fleece was impossible so Pelias has had thought that he had figured a way to outsmart Jason and his dad and keep the thrown.  However, After many different adventures Jason was able to acquire the golden fleece. 

Both pictures are depictions of Jason once he obtained the Golden Fleece
 

Jason had declined Atalanta’s requests to become one of the Argonauts because he felt that having one woman on board would create jealousies with in the male crew.  After being  turned away and abandoned  by yet another male, Atalanta had a negative view of men.  Atalanta is most known for all she did to avoid marriage.  She decided that if she were to ever marry that her potential husband would have to be faster than her.  If they could not beat her they would be put to death.  She did this by chopping of their heads and putting them on spikes all around the arena. 

Now maybe you have read up to this point and think that I am out of my mind even thinking that the myth surrounding Jason and Atalanta is anything similar to the movie “Whale Rider” but stay with me a little longer and hopefully I can get you to see it as I see it.

If you think about Paikea’s character she essentially embodied both the male and female genders.  On the outside she was female.  She was unworthy of taking on the leadership position her grandfather currently held for their  Maori tribe because of her outer appearance in his eyes.  On the inside, she had what her grandfather was looking for in the young boys that were being trained for the leadership position.    

On one hand, Paikea and Atalanta shared very similar beginnings.  After the grief of losing his wife and son, Paikea’s father left her with his parents.  The grandfather, upset by the loss of the grandson and the fact that his own son will not adhere to the Maori traditions, she is in a sense abandoned.  Paikea’s grandmother will not have it and cares for her and loves her and essentially makes her husband open his heart and accept her as well. 

Paikea ends up an amazing warrior.  She learned the traditions of her tribe and how they fought and was good at it just like Atalanta was at hunting.  They were both athletic.  They both wanted to be a part of a world that was a “mans” world and both were denied because they were female. 

Pia as the warrior

 Atalanta as the powerful huntress/warrior

Paikea does show her manly side like Jason when she decides to go and dive and look for the whale bone necklace that her grandfather threw overboard while on a small boat in the ocean.  He had taken all the boys who were training to be the next leader out on the water.  He then threw in the necklace and whoever retrieved it would prove they were worthy of becoming the next leader.  All the boys failed.  It wasn’t until after the fact that Paikea’s uncle took her out and she dove for it and actually found it.  It was at this moment that Paikea essentially proved herself worthy of becoming the next leader; a place that her grandfather saw only a male heir taking over.

I am pretty sure this is not the myth that the director had in mind when making this movie but I couldn’t help but try and make a case for it being similar.  When I saw this movie the first tie in class I knew it reminded me of a story from Greek myth but I was not sure what I was thinking it was.  After picking the brain of my husband and doing a little research I knew this was what I was thinking.

As I thought about this more I realized that the story of a girl trying to prove herself worthy of a man’s role is nothing new.  In the Lord of the Rings, Eowyn had to disguise herself as a man and rode with Riders of Rohan to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields outside the White City of Minas Tirith in Gondor.  It was in this battle that she faced one of the biggest foes of all, the Lord of the Nazgul.  When they were face to face the witch-king said that no man can defeat him.  In one of the most woman empowering scenes in all of cinema, Eowyn removes her helmet and declares that she is no man but a woman and she does not fear him.  With a little help of a hobbit named Merry, Eowyn was able to stab the witch-king and defeat him.

Eowyn in her battle (women DO kick butt)
 

If you look all throughout literature, history, myth,, folklore, and fantasy there is always stories of a women having to prove herself worthy.  There is always a story of a woman who is not thought to be strong enough to do something that s typically reserved for a man.  I feel that the movie Whale Rider addressed this as well.  Having your grandfather as a the head of the tribe you belong too, stuck in the ways of tradition, Pie only option was to follow her heart and prove her grandfather wrong, that a woman could be the leader and do a great job and is worthy of that position.  This is just another example of how women often times overcome any obstacles to fight for what they feel is right and show the world just how strong they are.