Ho Breh...
amlit338amlit338My god! This story is amazing. Aipo does such a good job in evoking the complexities and paradoxes of people living in, forgive the pretentiousness, post colonialized cultures, hmmm yesss. There were moments in the story when I felt like I could have cried if my livelihood hadn't depended on it.
The plight of the characters, especially Alika, remind me of a good friend I have who suffered/suffers from middle child syndrome. He wasn't his father's child, nor his mother's and grew up with an ever welling bitterness and confusion toward his parents and siblings. Alika and the other local characters aren't Haoles, but aren't exactly Hawaiians either. Somewhere between the two, they've created a new culture of their own which is infused with both, and as the story comes to an end, proves to be confusing and heartbreaking for Alika. The scene when Michael and Alika meet up with the security guard and they Michael goes off on what being Hawaiian is, is a powerful one, with the security guard laying out Michael's ass with his language. Here's a guy who is working directly against the (supposed)interests of the locals, who speaks fluent Hawaiian. Contrasted with Michael, who lives the essence of the Hawaiian spirit, but who can't speak the language. Is one more Hawaiian than the other?
Another thing I find interesting, is that place where American values meet Hawaiian values. I guess this falls under the whole idea of neither here nor there I mentioned above. I love how in the end Alika realizes the neccessity of playing the game - no matter the ill feelings it stirs up in him - and how it's the old values which keep him cool - the concept of aloha. The metaphor of patching the net is pretty mean too, especially because the play closes with him teaching Stevie how to do it, in the same tradition that it was taught to him.
Gratuitous Danny the Lover GLover
The plight of the characters, especially Alika, remind me of a good friend I have who suffered/suffers from middle child syndrome. He wasn't his father's child, nor his mother's and grew up with an ever welling bitterness and confusion toward his parents and siblings. Alika and the other local characters aren't Haoles, but aren't exactly Hawaiians either. Somewhere between the two, they've created a new culture of their own which is infused with both, and as the story comes to an end, proves to be confusing and heartbreaking for Alika. The scene when Michael and Alika meet up with the security guard and they Michael goes off on what being Hawaiian is, is a powerful one, with the security guard laying out Michael's ass with his language. Here's a guy who is working directly against the (supposed)interests of the locals, who speaks fluent Hawaiian. Contrasted with Michael, who lives the essence of the Hawaiian spirit, but who can't speak the language. Is one more Hawaiian than the other?
Another thing I find interesting, is that place where American values meet Hawaiian values. I guess this falls under the whole idea of neither here nor there I mentioned above. I love how in the end Alika realizes the neccessity of playing the game - no matter the ill feelings it stirs up in him - and how it's the old values which keep him cool - the concept of aloha. The metaphor of patching the net is pretty mean too, especially because the play closes with him teaching Stevie how to do it, in the same tradition that it was taught to him.
Gratuitous Danny the Lover GLover
posted by Spencer at 1:52 PM
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