As a Pacific Islander (Samoan), I could relate to the characters in this film, especially the father Jake The Muss. As a warrior people, Islander life is hard, and it comes with the damage that was introduced to our people from European intervention back when Island people first had contact with the expeditious Europeans.
The Pacific Island people of Maori, Tonga, Hawaii, Fiji, Tokelau, Easter Island, Tahiti, and Samoa to name a few, have all felt the results of European and American intervention. This film epitomizes the lifestyle of people who were once chiefs, warriors, and royalty, and the results of the alcohol and western ways that produced characters like Jake and many Islanders like him.
Our people were a race of proud warriors, and this film is powerful in it's depiction of a family torn apart due to the effect of substance abuse on the warrior and his family. It is sad, but I can relate because I was that way with my first wife. I drank, and confided in the comfort of my Samoan brothers placing them first before my family. I beat my wife constantly and with little or no provocation, and was able to hold a reputation as a gang elder and fighter within my hood in Los Angeles, CA. This ripped my family apart, as the Heke family in the story. The guilt of my past life appeared before me when I saw the film, and even now I cringe from the life I lead 12 years ago.
The depiction of Maori lifestyle is on point, as a large number of my people live in those conditions. Among Samoans, there are more of us on mainland USA than back home. Many Samoans (like the Maori's in the film)live in urban areas, infected with substance abuse, and gangs. Violence is an everyday thing, and the movie depicted all of these points. NOT FAR FROM FACT.
The Pacific Island people of Maori, Tonga, Hawaii, Fiji, Tokelau, Easter Island, Tahiti, and Samoa to name a few, have all felt the results of European and American intervention. This film epitomizes the lifestyle of people who were once chiefs, warriors, and royalty, and the results of the alcohol and western ways that produced characters like Jake and many Islanders like him.
Our people were a race of proud warriors, and this film is powerful in it's depiction of a family torn apart due to the effect of substance abuse on the warrior and his family. It is sad, but I can relate because I was that way with my first wife. I drank, and confided in the comfort of my Samoan brothers placing them first before my family. I beat my wife constantly and with little or no provocation, and was able to hold a reputation as a gang elder and fighter within my hood in Los Angeles, CA. This ripped my family apart, as the Heke family in the story. The guilt of my past life appeared before me when I saw the film, and even now I cringe from the life I lead 12 years ago.
The depiction of Maori lifestyle is on point, as a large number of my people live in those conditions. Among Samoans, there are more of us on mainland USA than back home. Many Samoans (like the Maori's in the film)live in urban areas, infected with substance abuse, and gangs. Violence is an everyday thing, and the movie depicted all of these points. NOT FAR FROM FACT.
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