The photo is a screenshot from Disney's forthcoming animated film "Moana." (Photo : YouTube/Walt Disney Animation Studios)
Disney has come under fire from critics for its upcoming animated movie, "Moana," which is scheduled for release in November. The teasers of the upcoming flick have generated negative response from critics as well as the public for representing a Polynesian "demi-god" character Maui as obese.
"Moana" is the story about two friends who overcome obstacles. The title character is a typical thin and beautiful Disney Princess, but of Polynesian descent. Her associate, Maui is a Polynesian man having a very large body. While there are numerous obese people across the globe now, depicting Muai as extremely obese has irked many, BBC reported.
A Tongan politician from New Zealand, Jenny Salesa, wrote on Facebook that Disney's depiction of Maui as obese is very objectionable. According to her, photographs of Polynesian men and women taken over the last two centuries show that all of them were not obese or overweight. Hence, such "negative stereotype" depiction of Maui is simply not acceptable.
The comments of the parliament member have led to an intense debate. Perhaps, this is the reason why Salesa removed her post from Facebook.
Dwayne Johnson is also of Polynesian descent. This popular actor is not only in great shape, but also far from being obese. Even Johnson feels that as far as the appearance is concerned, depiction of Maui as obsese is unwarranted and refelects a poor image for Polynesians.
Meanwhile, a Facebook post by a Samoan rugby player, Eliota Fuimanono Sapolu, also highlighted this issue. He wrote that three hottest men in Hollywood have Polynesian origin, byt neither of them are obese. Unfortunately, Disney has depicted Polynesian Maui as "half pig, half hippo."
However, not everyone seems to be in agreement with Salesa or Sapolu. Karla Ivankovich, an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, Springfield, told Yahoo that this is not the first time Disney has depicted such an obese character, especially one from a minority community.
Ivankovich added that people come in different sizes as well as shapes. In "Moana," Disney is just showing a different body type, which is common to some Polynesians. "Sorry it is not the stereotypical one you dream up ... not all of them can be that perfectly chiseled. Maui can be strong and bigger," he said.
Watch the first look teaser trailer of Disney's animated flick "Moana" below:
