Im not going to lie, I honestly have no idea what to talk about. Which is unfortunate because I need to type an extra 200 words for my Warrior classification. I feel like in class we have been doing the same thing for so long and I cant keep talking about it. I read/glanced over the, "Annoying Ways People Use Sources" excerpt. It's interesting but Im kind of sick of force writing things that i'm not passionate about. This project is great but for your own well being and mine i'm gonna have to switch it up. Don't worry I wont stray too far. On a lighter note I actually watched Moana, so Im going to attempt to focus on the villain theme and how they apply to disney movies.
The enigma of the character of Maui was very intriguing to me throughout. We see this character once depicted as a great villain who is selfish beyond belief. He's a curse and a parasite to all of the "Hawaiian world", as his narcissistic actions could lead to really the death of a whole race. Yet as the plot thickens and continues the viewer learns that all of Maui's actions have been made unselfishly for the betterment of others rather than himself. That his bad name or label is only as a result of an honest mistake that was only attempted to provide for others. As we get to know Maui better he transforms into the movies second and maybe even biggest hero for some. However in finishing the movie I did not leave with the notion that Maui is a hero. I understand that he is misunderstood as most villain's tend to have this consistent backstory. That he conducts himself and carries out his work for self betterment, as he continuously falsely tells himself that it is not for him yet for everyone else. Which is clearly depicted in his solo, "Your Welcome". Im not going to sit her and make the claim that Maui is a villain, but I will make the connection that for all the good he produces it is all for narcissistic means. He only cares that people think of him as a saver, which is shown where he would not help save Moana and her people for the majority of the movie. Until of course when Moana points out that his reputation is on the line, and then and only then, his inner hero is triggered. Not to mention that he locks Moana in a cave to die when they first meet.
In my opinion Maui is a master of persistence. He is willing to do all that it takes to build his reputation and only really cares what other's think. His tattoos serve as his own personal trophies of how great of an individual he has become. All through this persistent to build his reputation which has been practiced so heavily to the point where on numerous occasions he has risked his life for his reputation. In the end Maui is not a bad guy and even does a lot of good. Yet he is self driven by his own desires that quickly become covered up and hidden by his resulting good deeds.
I was going to go straight out and say......
That I have a problem with the way disney portrays it's villains. At least from an adult view. In my opinion disney villains are glossed over and usually tend to come full circle in the end, which does send a good message to children. Something along the lines of that evil can be overcome, and that people can change. Or that the villain ends up learning a valuable lesson and in the end they are reawaken and changed for ever. These are all innocent messages that are probably good for children to learn. Yet after studying villains there psychology and their tendencies, I have come to the conclusion that this is bullshit. Disney display a certain type of flexibility that I honestly don't see being realistic for villains to be able to practice. Most real villains throughout history cant change because they are so psychologically wound up and set in their way's. Mostly caused by early events that happened during their life, which have formed them into the, "Monsters" that they have become.-Drew Christensen
So then after writing this my plan was to talk about these villains that made the quantum leap to unrealistically change for the better. Which is where I realized that i'm actually an idiot. That I am so removed from my childhood that I didn't even realize that this is extremely rare in disney. Most villains don't come full circle, they get eaten by an alligator, locked away in jail or banished to the underworld to name a few. Then I realized that the villains who actually come full circle are simply misunderstood. They were good all along and just weren't shown in that light such as characters like Stitch or Maui. There is no changing the psychology of these villains just the way that they are preserved by others. This flexibility factor actually doesn't exists for most disney villains. In fact most villains feel misunderstood even if they are truly bad which leads to their own justification of their actions being acceptable. As shown in this funny video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93lrosBEW-Q
https://www.google.com/search?q=moana+maui&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0psDgoNXSAhUBYiYKHQBbBH4Q_AUIBigB&biw=1440&bih=826#imgrc=ENGO8P_Jc_sTEM:
http://vsbattles.wikia.com/wiki/Disney
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/disney-villains/