A View of Model Paikea’s Role as Shown in The Movie Whale Rider

In Mythological superhero author William Indick writes the model that fits Paikea who is the hero in the film Whale Rider. In the model the hero is the child of the most distinguished parents. With Paikea, her grandfather was the leader of the tribe who was highly respected. The model shows connection in patterns of classical mythology hero such as Jesus, Syrus, Moses, Hercules, Oedipus, and many others who also had obstacles to overcome. There is a fortold prophecy in a form of dreams or threw oracles with heroe such as Jesus. Paikea's grandfather thought there would be a new whale leader and prayed for there to be one.

Heroic legends at times are born in difficult circumstances. With Paikea her mother and twin brother passed away during childbirth. Paikea's father was told by Paikea's mother before she passed away what her name should be and she said, "Paikea" whose name was a well known ancient ancestors. The father decides to move to Germany so Paikea was left behind and moved in with her grandfather who was very hard on her because he wished he was a boy. This fits the pattern of heroes being abandoned, give away, or set adrift into the water like the story of Moses. A significant aspect to many heroes is they people are raised from not knowing their biological parents(indick,para).

Paikea had the obstacles of being put down by her grandfather for being a female. And for that she was not able to attend a special school where her grandfather teaches the ancient rituals. Paikea was persistent in learning the techniques of her ancestors. Her grandfather was furious with her when he discovered her disobedience. At one point he demanded her to sit in the back of the row of the group of a chant ceremony because of her action. Paikea was constantly pushing to be better and get the acceptance she deserved from her grandfather. This is a constant theme in heroic stories where the hero has to prove their worthiness(indick,para).

As sited in Otto Rank that believes many key patterns in heroic characters are universal. However, there were a few differences in film Whale Rider and The Model with one being the gender in which most heroic stories are told by a male view point. Another theme that was not the same is the fact that Paikea does not leave her home land ever to return and avenge anyone and take the throne. Instead she stays in her home land to prove herself to her people. There was an instance in the film where Paikea father takes her to Germany and on the way she tells him to stop the car and she gets out and walks down to the ocean. She eventually tells her father to bring her back to her hometown and she refuses to leave with him to Germany. This showed a divinity moment between Paikea and her destiny to being the next whale leader.

Countless movies have surrogate parent themes such as Harry Potter, Superman, Spiderman, Matilda, and many others. It could be said that heroes have hurdles they must get over which allows them to push through their troubles and become the heroes that they are known for. In this movie Whale Rider Paikea saves the whales at the end of the movie, realizing it was her mistake when she called out for the whales the first time. She rides the whale to the ocean and looks back to her family who are watching, showing them it was something she had to do. Paikea survives the trial and was awarded with honor by her community and most of all her grandfather after all this time. The grandfather was shocked when he found out she was the chosen whale leader as well as when he found out she was the one who received the whale's tooth from the ocean. All this time and he just now realized that she was the whale rider although she was a female.

Rank's monograph is a good way of understanding heroic patterns that have been used for centuries and are still being used today. A famous film with lots of heroic patterns is the movie Superman who is born from noble parents who were aliens from the planet Kryptone. Superman's alien genes allowed him to be almost like a God here on Earth. This may masonic prophecy is universal and that one day, a divine being will come to Earth to stop all the evil. Like the character Superman, Paikea at first didn’t understand her purpose of life, but these dilemmas brought these characters to their heroic destiny.