Therapist Reacts to MOANA

How do honor the perspective of others while honoring your own?

Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright are revisiting and reacting to Moana. They discuss perspective taking and self-actualization, especially as it relates to Moana and her father. Jonathan shares how parents—and anyone who delegates—can give others room to discover themselves and make decisions. And Alan shares why he thinks Moana will be a masterpiece for a long time.

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Cinema Therapy is:
Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, Alan Seawright, and Corinne Demyanovich
Edited by: Jenna Schaelling
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis

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Music ID: 34GKRMWXUMAJJMBP

[avalon]

The thing I adore about the scene at the end of the movie with Moana and her grandmother, is that the ADULT (even though she's dead) accepts responsibility. Fundamentally, Moana is still a child, and the responsible adult says, "If you need to be done, it's ok. It is not your responsibility to fix this. If you want to keep going, good. If not, go home and be loved because you did your best."

My partner and I are suckers for responsible adults taking care of the children

[douglashirschman]

My wife is a survivor of serial sexual assault. When we saw this in the theater, the key line was, "They have stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you. This is not who you are; you know who you are." It hit us both like a freight train, and I still cry like a baby at that scene.

I'm also a History teacher, so the scene where Moana sees the vision of her ancestors and the Polynesian migration is just the cherry on top.

[gillibean.]

I think my favorite part of this movie is after Moana and Maui face Taka for the first time and Maui left her, she's faced with the fact that, while the ocean chose her to help, that doesn't make her infallible. And then the grandma appears, and instead of giving a rousing speech of "you can do it, believe in yourself and it will work out." It was "We asked a lot of you. It's okay to go home and we will find someone else to do this. I will be here to support you whatever you choose. But ask yourself first, what do you want to do?" No pressure, just support and love. Letting Moana come to the conclusion she did on her own. Making that victory her own and not because she was told "you are the chosen one."

[daoletto]

Favourite part by far: her mom finds her packing and helps her without saying a word.

[madeleinereads]

I always thought that Moana's grandma and Mulan's grandma would be best friends.

[trinaq]

I found it refreshing that Moana doesn't have a love interest. The film is perfect without it, and it would take away from the exciting main adventure of Moana discovering her destiny. Plus, Moana and Maui have an amazing bond, and they help each other to grow platonically.

[gingeranne]

To highlight the genius of the music: in "How far I'll go" when she says "what is wrong with me" the "wrong" is in C major which normally doesn't occur in the harmony chosen for this song. However, when the final chorus starts on the higher note and she discovers how far she'll actually go - the C major becomes the driving note of the chorus and the final note as well - the actual sounds highlight her true destiny. I MEAN HOW COOL IS THAT!?

[wafflebyte]

I have seen it mentioned, but I love Gramma Tala giving Moana permission to quit. So often we l hear, “Failure is not an option, ” but failure shouldn’t be villainized since it will help us to grow. I also love that the main conflict is solved with compassion rather than fighting. It’s just such a beautiful ending.

[tigerlilykitty]

I hadn’t realized quite why “they have stolen the heart from inside you” always gives me chills until Jono explained it. Suddenly, it makes so much sense.

[kiya]

I happened to rewatch Moana around the time I was SA'd and didn't even realize how strongly the moment of Moana singing and giving the heart back would hit me. I felt incredibly seen and understood because It would have been so easy to completely lose myself in my feelings. The reminder that we can decide not to let the worst things define us was beautiful.

[faerydae]

I like how Taka isn’t actually evil so the story doesn’t have a bad guy. Taka transformed from a good person that was hurt into a misunderstood angry being. Maui has been bad, the parents have done things she didn’t like but nobody is a villain. Everyone is just misunderstood. That’s pretty amazing for disney, to have no actual villain to a story. It definitely makes it more relatable to today.

[infiniteideassquared]

Most impactful moment that makes me cry: the ancestors' boats joining Moana when she accepts her mission. As an Indigenous person (to Turtle Island, not the Pacific Islands, but even still) hearing and seeing the approval of her family means the world. Especially when I hear the song in te reo Maori on YouTube I weep.

[FrisbeeGorbeh]

My toddler LOVES this movie, and we've actually talked about Te Ka in a way to discuss feeling anger and hurt. I'm paraphrasing here, but the conversation usually goes:

"Te Fiti was hurt. She was sad and angry. And it's ok to feel that way. But it's important to feel the anger and the sadness and then let go of the feeling, otherwise you forget who you are. Moana saw that Te ka was Te Fiti, so she talked to her. What a good friend she is. Te Ka realized she had been angry for a long time and she was able to take a deep breath and calm, down. Then she became Te Fiti again."

I know the actually story has way more depth, but putting it at the level my toddler understands has helped her so much. She has been better about letting go of her sadness and anger, and she has even reached out to me when she sees me frustrated. "Mama you need to breathe with me. You can feel angry but then let go Mama. You can't be Te Ka." (omg y'all I love this kid so stinking much XD)

Also, kudos to the writers for showing a strong female leader of a group. My kid's two big takeaways from the movie are the big feelings with Te Ka and Moana being a leader.

[michelleno]

Alan mentioning that touching foreheads is so important in Polynesian culture reminded me of something in Encanto that made me tear up. Mirabel is explicitly 15 in Encanto. In Hispanic culture, it's the age where you transition from being a girl into being a woman. And Mirabel's journey is very much about not just being put into a place like a child is, but making her own place, like an adult does. I love the little cultural nods that are beautiful to people outside of the culture, and deeply meaningful to people from within the culture.

[sketchyskies]

Genuinely surprised you haven’t reacted to this until now

[chefbanjo]

I think the choice to have Te Fiti resemble Moana is symbolic. Taka was made out to be something that she truly isn’t. She was warped and hardened to be scary, but Moana saw through that eventually. Once she saw who Taka really was, Moana was faced with…herself. Moana was also made to be something she wasn’t until someone touched her heart. Te Fiti has Moana’s face because she’s her symbolic mirror.
It also stands in for the completion of Moana’s arc. She always knew she was meant for more, and at the end of the movie, she gets to see herself as a goddess.

[IMxDEFECTIVE]

Being Polynesian, just the music in the scene with grandma would make me tear up because the music is just so beautiful. My grandma did hula and she passed away in 2020, when I hear Moana's grandma say "you come so far" I think of how far I come since I lost her. 😢

[maxng]

My favorite part about the chicken is they got Alan Tudyk to actually voice every one of those "buk, buk buk" sounds.

[amandaladouceur]

a Moana video with a jewelry sponsor and no reference to the banger song "Shiny" missed opportunity

[ishkajules]

Moana makes such a good point about fishing beyond the reef and thought it was so unfair for her father to make it just about her. I get where he's coming from, it's a very human thing and the flashback to seeing his best friend drown is BRUTAL, but like....dude, your people are gonna die anyway, they're gonna starve and I don't see YOU coming up with any alternatives.