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New Zealand Politician Calls Out Disney For Overweight Portrayal of Moana's Maui

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B

BronsonLee

Member
This is the Disney that cast an actual fucking Hawaiian Polynesian girl in her first acting gig ever for Moana even though it is a goddamn voice role

They
Cannot
Win
 
S

Sanjuro

Member
DonMigs85 said:
He basically has Wreck-It Ralph's body
Click to expand...

Wrong. Wreck-It-Ralph is a genetic freak.

NBcYtDB.png


Maui?

aEByIGi.gif
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Yes, he's an exaggerated cartoon of a man with over-done proportions...... Exactly what exaggerated cartoon-sized people are.

His body type looks like exaggerated versions of Fatu or Samu of the Headshrinkers before whichever one of them became Rikishi and got much bigger.
 
A

adj_noun

Member
“Some time ago, there were reports of a collaboration between Disney and Blue Cross and Blue Shield,” she tells Yahoo Beauty. “The intention was to help children make better lifestyle choices. The campaign featured apps and websites including ‘buff, virtuous’ characters Will Power and Callie Stenics squaring off against nemeses like the lazy, grotesque Lead Bottom and the transparently-named Glutton.”

Unfortunately the efforts were “not as well received as BCBS or Disney had hoped,” Ivankovich says. “They were actually viewed as offensive, discriminatory, and served to ‘pick up where the schoolyard bully left off.’” The websites and apps were quickly removed.

Ivankovich is a strong advocate in preventing the “pervasive nature” of obesity stigmatization in culture and the media. “Proponents of ‘fat-shaming’ think that obese individuals would be best served if they could be given a ‘dose’ of shame,” she says. “They hold the belief that the individual would be more likely to drop unhealthy weight as a means of gaining societal acceptance. Recent research suggests that weight stigma precipitates weight gain and increased calorie intake as well as other psychological correlates, such as lower self-esteem and depression.”

That said, Ivankovich doesn’t believe Maui is depicted inappropriately. “When I saw the character, I did not see a fat man,” she says. “I saw a strong man who would easily fit the male stereotype of hunter, gatherer, and provider. Now, when I read what’s out there, I can see how some might be offended — but it’s drawing inferences that not everyone else might share.
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Here's the main bit on fat shaming. Primarily about something else Disney was involved in. The actual Moana stuff doesn't seem to fit the bill.
 
W

watershed

Banned
I don't see this as fat shaming. I think both characters have more realistic (in a cartoony way) figures and nothing we've seen so far makes fun of his body. I think it's actually fairly progressive of Disney.
 
B

BriGuy

Member
I'm not seeing it. Look at the guys who compete in those world's strongest man competitions; they're not chiseled Adonises (Adonii?) either, but no one in their right mind would label them as fat.

My biggest gripe is that this is CGI and not traditionally animated.
 
T

The Beard

Member
BronsonLee said:
This is the Disney that cast an actual fucking Hawaiian Polynesian girl in her first acting gig ever for Moana even though it is a goddamn voice role

They
Cannot
Win
Click to expand...

But Maui's body doesn't look like Duayne "The Rock" Johnson's, therefore it's offensive. Please understand.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Fuzyfrog said:
He looks Samoan....


Also this hasnt caused a stir at all in NZ, I think it was made the news once when the comment was made then we moved on and our news is back to watching the rest of the world fall apart
Click to expand...

I was kind of wondering who they were trying to make him look like, I'm part Samoan and I thought the same thing haha, though the tattoos are all wrong but I figured it was more a pastiche of cultures than anything specific. The hook he is wielding is found in both Maori and Hawaiian Cultures.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I don't understand how its fat-shaming to put a fat character in your movie.
 
C

Calamari41

41 > 38
Like, if they had made him look cut, the exact same people would be screaming that he should have represented "achievable" body types or some shit.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
Man, some of ya'll take this way too serious. It is only criticism by only a couple of people that literally every piece of art receives. Calm down.
 
B

blackjaw

Member
BronsonLee said:
This is the Disney that cast an actual fucking Hawaiian Polynesian girl in her first acting gig ever for Moana even though it is a goddamn voice role

They
Cannot
Win
Click to expand...

This.

It's not a white girl doing the voice of the main, it's a 14 year old Oahu girl from Mililani; native Hawaiian.

Disney can't win.
 
B

BreezyLimbo

Banned
RedStep said:
A) Isn't making one of the heroes a fat guy the opposite of "fat-shaming"?

B) Isn't insisting that the fat guy be skinnier the epitome of "fat-shaming"?

C) See A and B
Click to expand...

Yeah.

They're literally fat shaming and saying that the character being fat is fat shaming. There are not enough facepalms to facepalm with
 
D

Doomsayer

Member
Facebook and Twitter are an absolute cesspool of stupidity.

I don't normally comment on these things but its gotten to a point where every. single. day. we're reading about a group being offended about something totally mundane.

It's going to be worse when Disney issues an apology and delays the movie so they can make the guy more realistic... even though it's a fucking cartoon.

I hate everything and everyone.
 
T

The Beard

Member
Calamari41 said:
Like, if they had made him look cut, the exact same people would be screaming that he should have represented "achievable" body types or some shit.
Click to expand...

This is why people like this need to be ignored. There are lots of real issues out there, let this person go yell at a cloud by herself.
 
B

BronsonLee

Member
blackjaw said:
This.

It's not a white girl doing the voice of the main, it's a 14 year old Oahu girl from Mililani; native Hawaiian.

Disney can't win.
Click to expand...

And this is after Lilo and Stitch, where they cast Daveigh Chase as Lilo and then had a loooot of Hawaiians elsewhere
 
D

D i Z

Member
What's going to be really cool is when they get into his power set and it's not just the traditional 'pick up rock throw rock far' fare that we get over and over again.
 
A

Alienfan

Member
As someone who lives in New Zealand, a stereotype it may be, but these body types sure as hell exist. How is it fat "shaming" to just include a bulky character in the movie?
 
N

Not

Banned
Doomsayer said:
Facebook and Twitter are an absolute cesspool of stupidity.

I don't normally comment on these things but its gotten to a point where every. single. day. we're reading about a group being offended about something totally mundane.

It's going to be worse when Disney issues an apology and delays the movie so they can make the guy more realistic... even though it's a fucking cartoon.

I hate everything and everyone.
Click to expand...

Won't happen. This complaint has no merit.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
Doomsayer said:
Facebook and Twitter are an absolute cesspool of stupidity.

I don't normally comment on these things but its gotten to a point where every. single. day. we're reading about a group being offended about something totally mundane.

It's going to be worse when Disney issues an apology and delays the movie so they can make the guy more realistic... even though it's a fucking cartoon.

I hate everything and everyone.
Click to expand...

Talk about being overdramatic. I'm pretty certain Disney is confident in the art they produced and will stand by it.
 
F

Fuzyfrog

Member
Mental Atrophy said:
Mark Hunt can whoop those dopey actors' asses.

4sgxLaq.jpg
Click to expand...

This is the normal fit Polynesian build nowdays.
Him, Samoa Joe etc.

Rock, He has had surgery to steem the polynesian males tendency to put weight on in the chest as they age and he works out like a freak to have his build
 
P

Pizoxuat

Junior Member
From what I can tell, digging around in tumblr guts (where very few people seem to be concerned about this, btw, most are just excited for the movie) it's less concern about fat shaming. Having an awesome, athletic demi-god with a larger build is great representation! It's more a feeling that it's unfair that Pacific Islanders get so little representation, and then when they do get it, it's not idealized in the same way that white main characters in older Disney films have been. They aren't getting their Prince Eric, or their Prince... whatever the other princes names are. They are upset that the Greek demigod Hercules gets to be hot, but they don't find the Polynesian demigod Maui hot in the same way.

Which is an emotional reaction, you can't logic your way out of an emotional reaction.

There's some even more minor concern that the Maui of legend is never specifically called out in legend as having a larger build. It's not like they are doing any worse by Maui than they did by Hercules, but Hercules has wider representation and this may be the only representation of Maui that most people see.

My white ass thinks Maui looks incredible, his character design oozes personality and cool factor. And I am excited for the movie in general.
 
B

BronsonLee

Member
Yeah Rock is a fake ass Hawaiian
I demand they recast him with someone more in tune with their roots and heritage

Someone like...

Mr. Me
 
M

Mushroomer25

Member
Shaanyboi said:
...is there a history of stereotyping Polynesian men stereotyped as being fat? Because if not, I don't understand how this counts as "fat shaming". Or fat at all, really. He's hardly being presented as slovenly or obese or anything. He's clearly super skilled and presented as a tough character.

...This doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

I feel like the stereotype of 'fat Islander' certainly exists, but this seems like a fairly wild conclusion for critics to jump to. Especially because he doesn't appear to be all that fat, is a demigod (and thus technically not even human), and we've seen all of 45 seconds of him in motion.

Going to file this controversy under "Can't please everyone, I guess" for the time being.
 
S

StrangeTaco

Member
... have these people never seen a strongman competition or any kind of weightlifting? His build looks very similar to that where you don't get a bunch of rippling show muscles. Doesn't look fat whatsoever and probably bench presses trees.
 
T

The Lamp

Member
Dennis said:
The more interesting thing to me is that they made the girl have a fuller figure than they usually allow the princesses to have. She is less slender and waif-like than for example Elsa.

tumblr_inline_o9i32qObdx1tyi01g_1280.jpg
Click to expand...

They do it with islander characters. Lilo and her sister had thicker body designs than Disney usually does.
 
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