I took my pyro to watch the live action Moana movie on Friday.

I took my pyro to watch the live action Moana movie on Friday. Loved it. We loved it. I felt like I cried. And then I get on TikTok and all I see is people criticizing it and being like, what's the point? Like this was so bad. There was no point in doing this movie. And you know, all of these people were not Polynesian. So I get it. Honestly, I get it. If you're not Polynesian, I can see why you're missing the point. Because the point of it was not to retell the story of Moana. The point was to bring it to life through real Polynesian people. Colonization has immensely impacted so many Polynesian communities, more than people probably even realize. The use of our language, our cultural practices, our identity were completely discouraged up until recently. And so over time, that has led to so many parts of our culture, of our identity being diluted or even lost altogether. So no, this is not just another Disney remake for us. It's seeing our cultures, our languages, our values, our people embraced and truly celebrated on one of the biggest platforms in the world. I've also seen a lot of people criticizing the casting and questioning like why certain people were cast in certain roles as opposed to other bigger Hollywood names. But that's kind of the whole point. So many of these actors are actors that people in Polynesian communities have grown up watching. They're active in our communities, they represented us for years and they're genuinely people we admire and respect. John Tui, Frankie Adams, Rena Owens. So they might not mean much to everyone else, but they mean a whole lot to the people that this story represents. No, this movie is not going to resonate with everyone. And man, that's okay. But for so many Polynesian people, this was not just another Disney remake. It was a celebration of our culture, of who we are. And so if that's all this movie accomplished, then I don't think it was pointless at all.