Moanaâs core sentiment isnât her yearning to explore the wider world. Instead, itâs her internal conflict between her desire to be a perfect daughter to her parents and her personal longing to venture into the unknown. Sheâs uncertain about her true desires, which is why she canât abandon her duty as a daughter. Understanding her roles and responsibilities within her community brings clarity to her. Would you readily embrace uncertainty if you already had clearly defined roles and responsibilities? If you could, you would be a completely different person from her. Moanaâs inner struggle canât be fully comprehended without a strong sense of duty.
Discussion
People from individualistic cultures may believe that the best solution for her situation would be to free her from all her responsibilities. This is the common approach of American feminists when they address womenâs rights issues in Islamic or traditional African cultures. They arrogantly assume that a strong sense of duty is a result of suppression on individualsâ personal needs. I can speculate on the reason for this ignorance because many cultural studies are conducted by Japanese researchers or ardent supporters of Japanese collectivism, whose primary perspective is that powerless individuals are completely absorbed into the strong notion of the community as a single unity. They appear to lack a proper understanding of individuals who willingly take on their responsibilities and make sacrifices to serve the community. Is it because they have never participated in group projects? I jest with my cynical tone.