In the movie Moana, the heroine’s “voice inside” calls her to sail against convention. She dares to hope and dream of a better situation beyond the safety of the shore, writes Rita Glennon.
“They have stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you.”
– Know Who You Are (Moana)
Disney movies of late have tended to fill my heart with courage and my eyes with tears. Diving into films that my young children can enjoy, I often tear up, none more so than during the first Moana movie (2016).
I cry when the family matriarch encourages our heroine to listen to her inner voice: “That voice inside is who you are”. And I weep when Moana ‘confronts’ the surprise villain of the film, walking boldly through a parted sea to fulfil her destiny.
Moana’s task is nothing less than restoring the heart of this beast – a luminous emerald-green stone that was plucked from her years ago by the mischievous demi-god Maui. Te Ka is livid with lava and ready to blow up at anyone who crosses her. The once fertile and fecund landscape is now barren and blackened; it is denuded not only of trees but of trust.
When Moana approaches the boiling, roiling monster, it is not the brave warrior I relate to but Te Ka – the antagonist who has lost her peace, joy, creativity and indeed her voice to a rage that leads only to a desire for destruction.
Most people are familiar with anger as an unpleasant, even if motivating, part of life. Whether triggered by a minor setback, a grave injustice or a profoundly deep wound that is near-impossible to access and understand, anger tends not only to incense us but to choke us as we suppress its worst potentials.
The theft of an emerald stone – or any object – is easy to get one’s head around, but what of a stolen heart? And what, in fact, does it mean to have your heart stolen? We’re not talking about transplant surgery.
Perhaps the heart in question is a person’s true self: their alignment with their core values; their contentment, peace and spiritual wellbeing; their authenticity; their integrity.
Alas, stolen hearts abound in the human family. They are pinched in one-off incidents like break-ins and break-ups and pummelled by repeated abuses of trust and/or power. As the book title goes: bad things happen to good people – from microaggressions to massive betrayals.
I know what it’s like to have my heart stolen, but such situations are often complex, and in the court of personal privacy, I’m not always the best judge. On reflection, there is often an element of collusion on my part. Looking back, I can see that I have given away my heart at times, abandoning my beliefs, lending my good name to causes I don’t espouse, expending my time, emotions and thoughts on poor choices, or acting against my better judgment: against the quiet voice of reason or wisdom that waves red flags; against the caution and good example of my elders; against the truth of my tribe. Was my heart stolen then? And if so, by whom?
In Moana, the heroine’s “voice inside” calls her to sail against the convention of the times. Like all adventurers and explorers before her, she dares to hope and dream of a better situation beyond the safety of the shore. She casts herself into the deep, trusting the voice inside and making a great leap forward for herself and her people. She acts in good faith. She believes.
But where there is doubt, deception, dishonesty or desecration, to act would be to act in bad faith. And bad faith does not breed confidence, courage, compassion, love or joy. It chokes the voice inside, and it’s hard to sing when your throat is throttled.
In the climactic scene of Moana, our heroine sings to her adversary. Moana is at one with her purpose, and at one with Te Ka. A Jesus-like figure, sent to heal the broken-hearted, Moana looks on her adversary with eyes full of love and compassion. She sees beyond Te Ka’s flailing limbs of lava and croons sweetly to this suffering soul. The seas part at her feet and, like the Israelites, she walks towards the monster, emerald heart in hand, singing:
I have crossed the horizon to find you
(Ou loto mamaina toa)
I know your name
(Manatu atu)
They have stolen the heart from inside you
(Taku pelepele)
But this does not define you
(Manatunatu)
This is not who you are
You know who you are
I cry every time. In this Disney movie, an amazing truth is afoot during this seabed crossing: anger is but the evidence of a stolen, or broken, heart. And the remedy is always what God offers us: love, compassion, peace, mercy.
We may lose our heart connection, but we always know who we are when surrounded by the love of God. It is always more than the rage that consumes us. And when the heart is restored, how can we keep from singing?
