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.
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
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.
