Whale Rider

The movie “Whale Rider” to me is both sad and happy. It is sad because we see throughout the movie how Paikea is being treated by her grandfather Paka. I think that Koro was trying to keep his old traditions but he did it strictly. Koro did not permit Paikea to train to become a whale rider. At the same time the story is happy because we see how there is change. For instance, at the end of the story we see how Paikea proves to her grandfather that she is the whale rider and that she was willing to take her tribe from darkness to light. Also, another good change that we see in the movie is that Rawiri, Paikea’s uncle changes his lifestyle. At the beginning we see how he didn’t really have a purpose in life, but after he teacher Paikea to use the taiahia, the stick, he changes dramatically. In contrast with the essay “Territorial Behavior” there are many things that we see the movie relates to. The essay talks about three forms of territory, tribe, family and personal. Both throughout the essay and the movie we see that the tribe territory is distinguished by its flags, banners, chants and dances. The family territory is differentiated by artwork, gardens or the breeding grounds. Finally, the personal territory is notable by how any one person handles their space.