Mexico’s Ocean Fire, Climate Change and Disney’s Moana – What connects the three?
By Brianna Fruean
A fire on the ocean surface west of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula was captured on video and went viral on social media. The roaring ocean blaze dubbed as “the eye of fire” was said to be started by a gas leak from an underwater pipeline.
As I watched the videos of the ocean fire in Mexico I couldnt help but draw the resemblance to Te Kā from Moana. The imagery and the story of mistreating Te Fiti (nature) to a state of roaring fire are eerily similar. We’re once again reminded of how destructive it is to touch things from the ocean that shouldn’t be touched.
In Moana, Maui took the heart of Te Fiti which led her to turn in Te Ka. Now humans are taking resources from nature that is causing destructive events like Friday’s ocean fire. The parallels between climate change and Disney’s Moana get visibly more clear each year, with the most recent event looking like a character straight from the movie.
I’ve always believed Disney’s Moana is about Climate Change from the moment I watched it.
MOANA: In the beginning life was perfect; Te Fiti gave people sacred gifts in form of islands, oceans and natural resources. In return, people loved and respected her.
REALITY: Indigenous communities lived/live in harmony with nature. Many indigenous cultures believed Mother Earth was living and breathing, this meant they respected her by never taking more than they needed.
-
MOANA: Maui became greedy and believed he was entitled to taking more, including the heart of Te Fiti.
REALITY: Industries and capitalists started taking more than the planet could handle. Taking minerals from seabeds, removing excessive coal from the ground and carving up nature.
MOANA: Once the heart was stolen, evil plagued the land and Te Ka the lava monster appeared.
REALITY: Humans have taken too much from nature and have created the climate crisis.
-
MOANA: Fishermen came back with no fish, the coconuts were rotten, and the land was changing.
REALITY: Oceans are warming, and corals are bleaching, meaning there’s a decline in fish stock. Saltwater is intruding soil which is making crops grow irregularly. The change in climate and rising sea levels is changing the state of the land.
MOANA: Chief Tui was in denial and didn’t believe anything wrong was happening even though he was seeing changes right in front of him.
REALITY: Many people in positions of power deny the existence of climate change despite the scientific evidence of its existence.
-
MOANA: Moana wouldn’t have been able to go beyond the reef without the traditional knowledge of her ancestors voyaging past and guidance from her grandmother.
REALITY: Climate Justice work must be guided by traditional knowledge and approached intergenerationally.
MOANA: Te Ka can restored to be Te Fiti again
REALITY: During the early parts of the Pandemic when the world went in to lockdown, nature had the chance to breathe. Around the world we saw smog start to drop, rivers run clearer and animals return to their natural habitats. This was proof that nature can be revived and restored.
Te Ka to me was climate change in life form. It was evil, merciless, and destructive. Without the heart of the mother island, MOANA’s small island of Motunui started to die. The more I see the state of our planet the more I’m reminded of how urgent it is to restore the heart of Te Fiti. To restore indigenous practices. To restore our vā with nature.
We all know we’d rather have Te Fiti then Te Ka.