Leadership In The Whale Rider

The film The Whale Rider, directed by Niki Caro, follows the story of a young Maori girl called Pai, to fulfil her destiny of one day becoming the leader of her tribe. One of the most important characters to the story, is the main character, Paikea ‘Pai’ Apirana, She helps the audience appreciate and better understand the themes of leadership, and sexism. Caro uses many techniques to convey these themes, such as symbolism, different camera shots and angles, dialogue and lighting.

Throughout The Whale Rider, the theme of leadership plays a large role in Pai’s character. A lot of this is conveyed through symbolism, one example of this is the rope that Koro tell Pai, represents the tribe and their ancestors, and when he breaks it, Pai is the one to tie it back together and uses it to start back up the boat. This

symbolises how Pai will fix what Koro has broken by being stubborn and not realising that it is in fact Pai who should be the new leader of their tribe, even if it does go against the tradition. There are also many scenes that show close up shots of Pai holding the whale tooth, something that should only be obtained by the rightful leader, and yet none of the boys of the tribe that Koro was training, were able to obtain it, but Pai was able to.
Another way that the theme of leadership is portrayed in the film, is in the very last scene, where you can see many shots of the tribe finally thriving. Pai’s father has finally finished constructing the waka that had gone unfinished for almost the entirety of the film. There are wide shots of the tribe singing Maori songs, and wearing traditional Maori garments to show how after all this time, the culture of the tribe is finally being revived again, thanks to the leadership of Pai. The waka is rowed out by both men and women alike, while they are led by Pai.
Another scene that strongly focuses on Pai’s leadership quality is during her speech. She is shown to be standing in front of her peers, symbolising how she will stand to protect her tribe, but there are also several shots showing the audience listening to her, which represents how people listen to her, and what she has to say. No music plays in the background, and the spotlight is literally, on her, which keeps all the focus on her and how she will make a great leader.
Sexism is a strong theme from the very beginning of the film, at Pai’s birth.

When she is born, Koro immediately tells Nanny Flowers to “Take her away,” as because of her gender, she has no used to him, as he wished her to be a leader, yet could not let go of the tradition of a male leader. When Pohorangi tells him that her name is Paikea, Koro says "No, not that name." as Paikea was the name of a male leader of their tribe. There are many close-ups of Pai with whale tooth, which Koro states will only be obtained by the new rightful leader of their tribe, yet he still refuses to accept Pai being their leader, even though it has been made clear that she is destined to become their new leader. This helps the viewers to appreciate how hard Pai has worked throughout the film, yet Koro still refuses to accept the part that she must play as the tribe leader.

To conclude, the film, The Whale Rider leaves a strong impression on the viewer, as the combination of the techniques used to convey the themes helps us to understand the importance of Pai’s character to the story. Caro uses these techniques to help convey the important themes of both leadership and

sexism.