Posted by on December 29, 2003 at 07:20:14:
In Reply to: Re: JENNIFER LOPEZ on issue: The ROCK (SAMOA) vs. Hawaii ( Native's Prejudice) POLYNESIAN vs. POLYNESIAN. 2003, 2004, 2005 posted by Jojo on December 18, 2003 at 03:31:00:
I'm an American of Samoan background. I don't see the problem with Dwayne Johnson portraying King Kamehameha I. If he were a Hawaiian portraying King Malietoa of Samoa I wounldn't mind at all. I mean he has made his intentions known with his participation of this upcoming film, and he has nothing but the utmost respect for the late King Kamehameha and the Hawaiian people. Wether your 100%, 1/4, 1/2 or whatever. The only thing that would concern me then is that the events in the story be accurate.
But I guess that's not enough for you protestors. I mean what else do you want? Maybe if he held a public photo shoot showing himself kneeling and kissing the feet of a Kamehameha statue, would that make you feel better?
O.K. I'm sorry about the attitude. But if I'm understanding you protestors correctly, you want a Hawaiian to play the role of King Kamehameha, right? I guess I can understand that. You guys want to keep it racially pure. Fine.
But let's not forget that it costs money to make movies. These things don't just pop out of no where. One of the things these movie execs look at is how to make it worthwhile. In other words, can we make money from this. After all, they are in the entertainment bussiness. Keyword here is buisiness. They are not the Red Cross or whatever, giving free stuff. That's financial suicide. So of course they're going to be concerned about money. So I don't know what the big deal is about that either.
They want to make money doing what they love to do, make movies. And I want to be entertained. Put 2 and 2 together and I get 4 right? So what's the big deal? I mean, let me put it this way. They're worried about money, and the only actor they can think of that can pull this off is Dwayne Johnson. But you're worried about racial purity. Fine. Find me any Hawaiian actor of Dwane Johnsons success, ratings, star power, physique, familiarity, popularity or whatever you want to call it, and I'll personally settle for him. Personally, I can't think of anyone with any amount of Polynesian background who has the status of Dwayne Johnson.
I do care of my Samoan background, and I do care of my Polynesian cousins, and very much of my American heritage. I realy don't understand what the fuss is about, one form of Polynesian portraying another. Maybe it's because I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska or whatever. But to me, Dwayne Johnson and the execs working on the movie have approached the whole thing correctly. And that is with respect.
Another thought I'd like to ad about the protestors behaviours. It's kind of funny the similarities of their behaviour and what was it, racism? As I grew up, I've always wondered if it was limited to white folks, or what you would call haoles. I know much better these days.
saga