LA Progressive - May 14, 2009
British writer/director Marc Forby’s movie Princess Kaiulani, about the last heiress apparent of the Hawaiian kingdom, has generated controversy in Hawaii and raises a number of complex issues.
What are filmmakers’ responsibilities to historical accuracy, especially when portraying actual historical personages? How obligated are non-indigenous artists to the people they are depicting? What say does an ethnic group have in how it’s portrayed – especially by others from the dominant majority culture?
Even before its release the reportedly $9 million indie co-starring Barry Pepper and Will Patton stirred outrage in the Aloha State, and an outcry from Native Hawaiians forced Forby, who reportedly married a non-Native who grew up in Hawai`i, to change the original title of the film, from Barbarian Princess to Princess Kaiulani....
...Some Hawaiians expressed concern that their beloved royal highness would be depicted by a non-Hawaiian, Q’orianka Kilcher, an actress of Peruvian, Alaskan, Swiss, and other mixed European heritage, who partially grew up in O`ahu. Kilcher portrayed Pocahontas in Terrence Malick’s 2005 The New World, and has participated in Native and environmental protests at South America....
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