A Tropical Misrepresentation

Rating: 6/10 (9 June 2016)

A tropical paradise surrounded by crystal clear blue water and small alien inhabitant best friends with a 5 year old native Hawaiian girl. Lilo & Stitch is a great film for all ages but is especially present in the lives of young, influential minds. This film presents common misconception of the Pacific Islands. Not everyone surfs or wears dresses with tropical flowers or short shorts and a tank top.
When we meet Lilo in the beginning of the movie, she is coming out of the ocean and is on her way to hula lessons. We also see her surfing with her older sister and friend and teaching Stitch how to play the guitar. It feels like a vacation advertisement to the Hawaiian Islands where women meet you at the plane wearing Leis and you can drive around the island to the different beautiful beaches with cool blue water and then head to a luau for dinner for some "traditional" Hawaiian entertainment and roasted pig. These tourist images are warping the image of Pacific Island culture into Indo- European views and don't represent the culture outside of what is presented to tourists on their yearly holiday or vacation.
The dark skin tone and unique facial features make clear to the audience that Lilo and her older sister and other characters are portraying people from Hawaii. The Pacific Island portrayal is rounded out nicely with a tropical background and a lot of common activities associated when visiting the Hawaiian Islands. The colonial fiction of a tropical paradise where all your worries wash away in the golden sand and indigo waters is built on misconceptions white people have about Hawaii and the tropical islands of the Pacific. Lilo & Stitch is an amazing film that portrays a little girl and her alien best friend on a beautiful, tropical island but also the colonial narrative of what sets America and Indo-European cultures above the rest.