Jason Momoa's Hawaiian-language series that has enraged Trump supporters

In the first season of The White Lotus, Creator Mike White reinforced the tone of a black comedy critical of the tourism industry with an outline of a postcolonial discourse from a Hawaiian perspective. One of the supporting characters explained how the United States had appropriated the archipelago to the point that its original inhabitants had ended up working in subsidiary jobs for white economic interests. For most Westerners, Hawaii has been reduced to an exotic landscape of paradisiacal beaches and flowery shirts where you can spend your vacations if you have a little money. It is probably Hollywood's most recent attempt at creating a Hawaiian-centric fiction. Lilo & Stitch...

Hence the cultural interest ofThe great warrior (Chief of war), the first commercial series spoken largely in Hawaiian, which tells the story of the Polynesian archipelago during the reunification process led by Kamehameha I in the late 18th century. The production is an initiative of Jason Momoa, the star ofAquaman, which puts its star status at the service of a historical fiction about Hawaii from a local point of view, but crafted with the ambition of a great epic. To the point that they have counted on Hans Zimmer, the composer of Gladiator, for the soundtrack that he co-signed with James Everingham. Momoa has teamed up with producer Thomas Paʻa Sibbett to bring forward a project that does not focus on the most famous Hawaiian king but on another, lesser-known historical figure: Kaʻiana, who was the first warrior from the islands to travel to other territories and return to Hawaii with a series of knowledge and utensils (about the reunification war.

Momoa's character is introduced in the first episode fighting underwater against a shark. The actor thus imports the heroic aura ofAquaman, while legitimizing the status of no warrior of his character, a fighter who is defined by his skills, and not (only) by dynastic issues. The first episodes ofThe great warrior They portray Hawaiians as a combative and courageous people, with various conflicts between the islands. In its portrayal of the violence of this pre-colonial community, the series is similar to the film. Apocalypto by Mel Gibson, without falling into the same recreation in the gore and cruelty. The characters are defined above all by their role in power struggles, from Ka'iana as the warrior who wants to serve the interests of the people and not the ambition of a ruler, to Kaʻahumanu (New Zealander Luciane Buchanan), Kamehameha's youngest wife, who struggles to find her place in a patriarchal society.

Endangered Language

Although it now has the status of a co-official language, Hawaiian was banned from the late 19th century until the 1970s. Its marginalization during these decades was such that it is now considered endangered. The underlying theme ofThe great warrior It's the mammoth cultural transformation that opening up to outside influence brought to Hawaii, with issues such as the introduction of firearms that changed its "art of war," the beginning of other forms of trade, and the progressive appropriation of territory and culture by colonial powers. Therefore, it's a great achievement that Momoa spearheaded a project in a language that even he didn't fully master. The fact that an American Apple TV series is being filmed in Hawaiian is so unusual that it has even sparked anger and astonishment among the most Trump-supporting segments of the audience.