The film depicts the struggles of a Maori chief as he searches for a worthy successor, and the clash between the older generation and the younger generation. Koro, who is the village chief from the older generation of Maori, places utmost importance on tradition while his son, Porourangi, is more modern and does not share Koro's reverence for their customs. This can be seen when Porourangi refuses to claim his birthright as the next village chief and defies his father by leaving their community to live on the other side of the world. Koro does not understand Porourangi's penchant for art, while Porourangi does not seem to understand the depth of Koro's despair at not being able to find a chief from a suitable lineage. However, Porourangi was honouring his Maori culture in his own way through his art exhibitions in Germany, as he was able to share a part of it with people who would most likely never be exposed to it otherwise. The village boys' lack of respect for tradition when they first began their training also illustrates this clash between the two different generations, for instance, Hemi talks about the training he is about to receive rather flippantly when he tells Pai about it.
The film makes a strong point about the inability to accept change, and tendency to cling to customs that have been passed down since the beginnings of the community. Koro absolutely refused to consider Pai as a potential candidate for the position of the new chief despite his love for her and the fact that she is the perfect choice if one to were to judge her based solely on her bloodline, which is what is typically done. The sexism shown by Koro is blatant, but I suppose I cannot blame him as he was raised in a patriarchal community that has strictly adhered to tradition all this while, and that is all he knows. Although Pai expressed obvious interest in becoming the new chief and demonstrated her willingness to learn as well as her skill with the taiaha, Koro consistently doubted her and responded to her determination by downplaying (when she managed to start the boat's engine) or even being outright dismissive (when she beat Hemi at using a taiaha) of her achievements.
I feel that the concept known as the "backfire effect" captures Koro's attitude and behaviour towards Pai most accurately. This concept holds that individuals who receive evidence that goes against their beliefs may not merely ignore the facts that challenge their views; in fact, they may become even more convinced that their pre-existing opinion is right (Nyhan & Reifler, 2006). In the film, we see that the more Pai displays behaviour which hints that she might be worthy of the title of chief, the colder and more distant Koro becomes towards her, to the point where Pai had to go stay with her uncle Rawiri for a while. Koro's determination to quickly find a successor also increases when Pai becomes less afraid of showing her interest in stepping up to the job. Koro is eventually forced to accept the fact that his granddaughter is indeed worthy of leading their people when he sees her on the back of a whale and after he finds out that she had managed to retrieve his whale tooth necklace. The ending scene shows the entire village united due to Pai's initiation ceremony; those who left for greener pastures abroad have returned home to celebrate the dawn of a new leader.
The message that this film imparted to me is that although our culture and the customs that come with it are important and we should hold on to them, some traditions need to be challenged in order for society to move forward and the people to achieve success. There are traditions in place because that was what worked for past societies but as change creeps up on us due to modernisation, we should not let tradition hinder our progress; neither should we completely cut it out of our lives - instead, we should try to find a nice balance between tradition and modernity.
References
Nyhan, B., & Reifler, J. (2006). When corrections fail: The persistence of political misperceptions. Retrieved from https://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/nyhan-reifler.pdf
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