A Competition With No Less Value than Gold
The year 2021 marked the release of Finding ‘Ohana on Netflix. The world was still dealing with lockdowns. This film felt like a refreshing breeze during this period. It was promoted as a family film like The Goonies. It featured cave exploration, treasure maps, family feuds and more. However, the audience was quick to understand that the treasure was not gold, but family, roots and the word ‘Ohana. Ohana extends to family beyond blood ties, to the community and culture. This is the treasure people often take for granted.
Pili is a teenager from Brooklyn and a fan of geocaching. She is sent to O’ahu to take care of her grandfather who is sick. Although the initial reaction is disappointment due to the lack of good wifi, both her and her brother Ioane begin to uncover the mysteries of Hawaii while also learning more about their family and their roots.
Kea Peahu And The Daring First Step Into Acting
Kea Peahu has a role of a lifetime, portraying Pili in her debut film. Skeptics were quick to remark upon Peahu’s selection to portray a character in a Netflix film of such purported scale, considering the level of prominence she had achieved as a dancer due to the absence of any previous acting experience. Never the less, Peahu’s vivacious and carefree demeanor was a perfect reflection of Pili’s character.
Peahu’s reallife experiences helps her capture the essence of the character she plays. In contrast to the film, Peahu had to pivot from dancing to adapting to the set of a film, something which was a transition for a great many of her peers who were not as seasoned. It has been observed in interviews that Peahu shared quite a bit with the character she was portraying, particularly Pili’s streak of defiance along with her willingness to go above and beyond. The Indian audience, particularly the younger females, resonated with the attitude that was showcased. Many Indian teenagers were inspired by Pili’s journey, particularly the part where she had to stand up to her disapproving elders, along with the fact that she was able to come up with her own identity in a country where there is a conflict between advancement and tradition.
The Responsibility and Identity Crisis of Alex Aiono
The character Ioane, Pili’s older brother, is played by the YouTuber and musician, now actor, Alex Aiono. In the movie, the character has to battle the culture shock from Brooklyn and the need to belong. Aiono’s life is paralleled in the character’s development of accepting Hawaiian culture and knowing his protector role.
The mixed heritage of Aiono and the Samoan and Maori descents impacts the pop culture career he is pursuing and is the focus of his off-screen life. That world in which one gets the feeling of being boxed in is captured in Ioane’s performance, bringing to life his pride and frustrations. This is also relatable to Indian audiences. It is the feeling of being torn between the West and one’s culture which NRIs and even Indian youth living in the urban areas resonates with.
The Grounded Veterans Incorporated in the Adventure
Beside the kids’ motivation, the film’s focus was supported by the older actors. Leilani who has to manage the rebellion of her kids and the declining health of her father is played by Hollywood action movie actress Kelly Hu. Also, Kimo is a grandfather who bridges to Hawaiian culture and is played by Branscombe Richmond who adds seriousness to the role.
Hu, who has previously commented on representation issues in Hollywood, viewed the project as more than just entertainment. To her, it was an opportunity to showcase stories that are rarely, if ever, captured on the world stage. The notions of returning home, as well as ancestral reverence, were profound for her. Richmond, on the other hand, relied on his genuine Hawaiian background, giving the film’s cultural elements authenticity as opposed to tourist veneer.
The Buzz and the Backlash
Once Netflix released the trailer, it was said that Finding ‘Ohana was an exciting new film for families that featured Polynesian culture. Many, however, were quick to point out the film was an almost direct copy of The Goonies. One critic referred to it as “a Hawaiian remix.” This copy and homage debate has popped up in other contexts as well. Fans of the 1985 classic enjoyed noticing the parallels, such as booby-trapped caverns and eccentric supporting characters in her newest work, while younger spectators experienced these elements for the first time.
The Goonies never fully penetrated the Indian market, and as a result, the film was received in a much more self-contained manner. Social media conversations centered around the Indian concept of family trips “back to the village” where city kids are taken on adventures to explore family lore that seems almost fantastical.
Behind the Scenes: Making Adventure Real
With good reason, a full-feature film debuting on a Disney platform is not likely to be a mere holiday postcard from Hawaii. Director Jude Weng brought on cultural consultants, and was careful to show proper regard for the Niʻihau legends the film referenced, like the Night Marchers. Cast members later said that these scenes were filmed with various rituals to honor the myths, and, although the crew didn’t trumpet it, there was ritual sincerity.
Hiccups were to be expected, but filming in caves and in the tropics was to be an accomplishment. Equipment was often befogged or malfunctioned. For the young actors in the audience, long days in soaking-wet sets proved to be an extraordinary, if not extreme, test of endurance. Peahu claimed that she was often so terrified that she wanted to hump her stunts to show that she was able to, without the need to be such an utter coward, for her, an utter coward, catching the stunts as a double, which reigns supreme in parallel stunts, and w reign supreme in utter.Themes That Spread Over Seas
At its core, Finding ‘Ohana is about one’s identity – setting out from the nest and coming back home to it. The message crossed the borders of Hawaii and found its counterpart in countries like India’s, where culture, labor, and the generation gap often result in a collision. The film’s themes of revering the aged, reconnecting with one’s culture, and discovering the strength of unity in family resonated with Indian families, where often summers meant adventurous trips full of reluctance to the grandparents.
Even the treasure hunt became a metaphor. The gold and artifacts began to represent history, not just the physical stuff of treasure. For audience members in countries suffocated by a lack of narrative history – this was a reminder that heritage is the true treasure buried and waiting to be discovered.
“The Audience Didn’t See: What Was There”
With all the fun and the show, many were oblivious to the underlying tones embedded in the screenplay. The constant need to prove oneself in the case of Ioane, for instance, goes beyond sibling rivalry. There is an immense burden placed on the boys within immigrant and indigenous families to perform, and prove, their capability from a young age. Pili’s geocaching obsession is a reflection of the globalized digitalized ‘spend most of their time on the Internet’ generation, and the ‘face the real world’ phase that eventually comes. Kimo’s seemingly absent body serves to make the audience recall the unspeakable weight of the oral tradition: a form of knowledge that is forever lost unless shared and transmitted.
Those who are fans of the movie are able to recognize and explain important images: Hawaiian inscriptions within the cave designs, the symbolic images of water serving as a source of life and as danger, and the quiet Hawaiian chants that are a backdrop for the entire movie.
The Legacy of a Family Film That Found Its Heart
Though it didn’t bag millions at the box office, the movie Finding ‘Ohana did receive wide international exposure after being streamed. It was an opportunity for the cast to showcase their culture because it was more than just a ‘credit’ to them. Especially for the audiences in India, it served as a reminder of the universality of family values and culture, which, for many, was an eye-opener.
And this, perhaps, is the true treasure the film discovered: the ability to bring families together to look beyond the distance they have traveled and reconnect with their roots.
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