When Jeanné Kapela watched Disney’s trailer for the live-action “Moana” with her 2-year-old daughter, she was disappointed to see that the beloved main character has straight hair.
“For me, that was devastating,” said Kapela, who is also a state representative. “It was even more devastating to sit there with my daughter, who has curly hair as well, and to know that Disney didn't feel like it was good enough for their screen. That's the kind of message that Disney is sending right now to young women with curly hair.”
Fans have been excited to see how the movie would compare to the 2016 animated version. But, the apparent change in Moana’s hair in scenes shown in the trailer has sparked debate about the representation of Pacific Islander hair in film.
“As someone who has curly hair and knows how hard it is to be vulnerable and wear your hair natural when there is so much straight hair bias in this world, we all knew what Moana’s hair should have looked like,” Kapela said. “Disney’s version of it does not look like it’s Pacific Islander hair.”
Lack of curly-haired professionals in film
Fans have taken to social media to comment on the actress’s hair. One Instagram post gained nearly 50,000 likes and more than 7,000 shares.
Some commenters have accused Disney of whitewashing Moana’s character, recognizing that she's a fictional character but represents physical Pacific Islander traits.
While the curly hair trope can represent the untamed side of a movie character, it can depict characters as less attractive. For example, in the 1969 film “The Legend of Johnny Lingo,” the young Mahana, whose hair was curly, was considered undesirable to other islanders.
As Mahana married a wealthy man, she was then considered beautiful. One scene in the film shows the actress’s hair appeared to be straightened and curled with a curling iron.
When local actor Moses Goods saw the live-action teaser for "Moana," he said he felt hurt to see Australian actress Catherine Lagaʻaia's hair.
“A lot of people think that we're overthinking this, but I think we should talk about this,” Goods said.
He compared Lagaʻaia’s hair to Dwayne Johnson’s character’s hair, which appears to be curly in the trailer. Johnson, who voiced and acted in the 2016 and 2024 animated "Moana" films, returned to his role in the live-action remake as the demigod Māui.
“Dwayne Johnson's hair is much fuller, but he’s the comic relief,” Goods said. “What is that saying? That the lead has to have what is considered beautiful by some, which is straight hair, and the comic relief has the other type of hair, which makes it the silly type of hair, the hair that is not desirable.”
Goods, who is Native Hawaiian and Black, said it has been a struggle in the film industry to find people who know how to work with his hair texture, which is coily, long and thick.
“There I am in the chair and I can see how people are almost panicking because they don’t know what to do with my hair,” Goods said. “I've been in situations where other people have been called in to work on my hair because the people that were hired initially didn't have the skillset.”
HPR reached out to the cultural consultant of the movie. She declined to comment because of a nondisclosure agreement. However, in a social media post, she said the reason why Moana's hair was straightened is because curly hair distorts the background in computer-generated imagery, or CGI.
Native Hawaiian hair stylist Ralph Malani agreed and said it’s about continuity in the hair department.
“Meaning the hair has to look exactly the same in wind, in humidity and in rain,” Malani said. “That is not always possible with natural hair because you don’t have time to keep going in and restyling the hair.”
Malani has worked on nearly 40 films, including the live-action “Lilo & Stitch.” He said Hollywood operates on a budget because CGI is expensive. He added that with textured hair, CGI won’t adapt to the hair patterns, and it might even look fake on camera.
“With very curly, textured hair, which is beautiful, it's not the best hair for that kind of stuff,” Malani said.
But Goods says that’s a poor excuse and that technology has come a long way. He said that Pacific Islanders are just now telling their stories in film and hopes more representation of their hair will be shown on screen.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We're getting there, but we have a long way to go,”
Decolonial curls versus Western beauty standards
Hair is a big part of Pacific Islander identity, however an individual chooses to wear it.
In many Pacific Islander cultures, hair is an extension of mana, or spiritual energy. Hair is also featured in folktales like the maidens who saved Guam by weaving their hair into a fishnet to stop the giant fish from devouring their island.
Pacific Islander hair comes in various textures: straight, wavy, curly and coily.
But in many Hollywood films, there hasn’t been much representation of various Pacific Islander hair due to Western beauty standards centered around straight, fine hair.
Fans were ecstatic to see the Australian actress Catherine Lagaʻaia with voluminous curls that reflect Moana’s character. But many people on social media said Laga‘aia’s hair appeared to be blown out with a hair dryer, then curled with a curling iron.
Kapela, who is Native Hawaiian from Kaʻū on Hawaiʻi Island, has tight, ringlet curls that she’s grown to admire over the years. That hasn’t always been the case.
She recalled her father brushing out her curls, then sending her to kindergarten that same day.
“Anyone who has curly hair knows you can’t brush dry curly hair because it turns into an afro,” she said. “I remember going to school and I can remember the boy who said it to me, which said, ‘Your hair looks like a bomb went off.’”
When Kapela entered beauty pageants at 17, a director told her that she needed to fit into a so-called “Barbie box.” That was the first time she experienced hair stylists using hot iron tools to style her hair.
“That moment really shaped how I wore my hair for many years,” Kapela said. “So to this day I have moments where I will reach for the straightener or the curling iron when I feel insecure,”
Kapela has now taken ownership of her hair. She wore her hair straight during her first year as a lawmaker in the Legislature and now rocks her natural hair, calling it decolonial curls.
She wants her daughter to feel confident in her curls.
“I want her to feel so beautiful because she is, and her curls are so special,” Kapela said.
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