Whale Rider Review

women and the rite of passage for a 12-year-old girl in the Maori culture. The movie begins in

New Zealand. Pai, the main character is born as a twin. During the pregnancy, her twin brother

and mother die. Pai is then raised by her grandparents. Koro, Pai’s grandfather, is the chief of

the Maori people. He has much love for Pai but does not want her acting as a boy and trying to

become a chief. She teaches herself how to become a chief behind his back. By the end of the

movie she has won the respect of her grandfather and aspired to be a chief.

animism- a belief in spirits or otherworldly beings. The Maori believe in spirits in their culture.

anomie- people are unsure of what is expected of them, and they find it difficult to fashion their

actions in terms of conventional norms. Pai felt ano

3. Two theories I saw evident in the film were: Family system theory and conflict theory. The

certain role for men and a ceratin role for women. A pattern is the way that the grandfather

performance as a chief became noticeable to her grandfather at the end of the film.

sex behave. Gender roles play a huge part in Maori culture.

5. Other sociological insights/patterns/connections are: an insight is that every culture has a

Some topics in this essay:
Koro Pai’s, Pai Conflict, Whale Rider, Zealand Pai, maori culture, male female pai’s, female pai’s gender, Own Warriors, whale rider, family system theory, chief gender, conflict theory, male female, female pai’s, grandfather chief, family system, system theory, pai’s gender,