Disney pulls costume after outcry from Pacific Islanders

Home > National >

print dictionary print

Disney pulls costume after outcry from Pacific Islanders

테스트

The Disney Store website shows the Maui Halloween costume on Wednesday. Disney said it would no longer sell the boy’s costume for a Polynesian character that some Pacific Islanders have compared to blackface. The getup features the full-body tattoo art that adorns Maui, a lead character in the upcoming animated movie “Moana.” [AP/NEWSIS]

HONOLULU - Disney said Wednesday it would no longer sell a boy’s costume for a Polynesian character that some Pacific Islanders have compared to blackface.

The getup depicts Maui - a revered figure in Polynesian oral traditions who is viewed by some Pacific Islanders as an ancestor - who is a character in the upcoming animated movie “Moana.” It has a long-sleeve brown shirt and long pants featuring full-body tattoos. It comes with a fake shark-tooth necklace and green-leaf “skirt.”

Disney’s online store had offered boy’s pajamas and a men’s t-shirt in a similar design, but those products were no longer available Wednesday.

“The team behind Moana has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the Maui costume has offended some,’’ the company said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize and are pulling the costume from our website and stores.”

Chelsie Haunani Fairchild said it’s off-putting to have a child wear the skin of another race.

“Polyface is Disney’s new version of blackface. Let’s call it like it is, people,’’ Fairchild said in a video she posted on Facebook.

The Native Hawaiian college student said in an interview the costume doesn’t honor or pay homage to a culture or person, but makes fun of it.

Fairchild, who is attending school in San Antonio, Texas, later said she accepted the apology, but it didn’t change what the company did. She said Disney only stopped marketing the outfit because people spoke out.

“Moana’’ is due for release in November. The animated feature is about a teenager who sails through the South Pacific to a fabled island. She meets Maui, who helps her explore the ocean.

Tevita Kaili, a professor of cultural anthropology at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, said he was happy Disney responded to the criticism and pulled the product.

He said the costume featured tattoos that would be used in Polynesia by chiefs, adults and those committed to the community.

They’re removed from their cultural context by appearing on a Halloween costume, he said.

“For most of us in the Pacific, in Polynesia, we see Maui as an important ancestor to us - as a real person,” he said.

The costume earned international condemnation.

Marama Fox, a co-leader of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori Party and a member of New Zealand’s parliament, said the costume was a case of cultural misappropriation and an example of a company trying to profit off of another culture’s intellectual property.

The movie itself, she said, appeared to be playing into stereotypes.

“It depicts Maui as a bit of a beefy guy, and not in a good way. That’s not the picture I have of the Maui who fished up the North Island, and had a number of feats attributed to him,’’ she said. AP
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)