Imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery

Courtesy: Disney

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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The latest Disney film hasn't even hit theaters yet and its merchandising wings have already been clipped. If you haven't heard by now, the company has pulled Halloween costumes, pajamas and shirts that feature the character Maui in the film Moana (due out in November). The full Associated Press article can be found here. When I first saw the article I thought it was something put out by the satrical site The Onion, but it's legit.

Quick history lesson: Maui is a revered figure in Polynesian history. Some Pacific Islanders view him as an ancestor. In the film, he's voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Wrestling fans know of The Rock's Samoan and African American heritage. So far Johnson hasn't said anything about this issue.

 

Some people are offended by the costume and the appearance of the character in the movie. One woman, Chelsie Haunani Fairchild said it's offputting to have a child wear the skin of another race.

"Polyface is Disney's new version of blackface. Let's call it like it is, people," Fairchild said in a video she posted on Facebook.

Disney was quick to respond. As I mentioned, not only did they pull the costumes and clothing, they added this statement. 

"The team behind Moana has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the Maui costume has offended some. We sincerely apologize and are pulling the costume from our website and stores."

Fairchild says she accepts the apology, but is still offended and it doesn't change what Disney did. I'm obviously not Polynesian so what I have to say really doesn't matter. But I don't see how this costume is making fun of anyone. Some say the tattoos on the arms, legs and torso have a very significant meaning in the culture and that's what crossed the line. I respect that, maybe Disney should have used generic tattoos to illustrate that. But Fairchild clearly thinks it's because the skin color of Maui shouldn't be worn by people who don't match his.

WWE once sold a similar costume of its popular Superstar Rey Mysterio. Even if you're not a wrestling fan you can probably gather that Rey is Latino. I don't recall hearing any outrage over that costume from the Latino community, and it's still being sold online today. 

Disney has done a great job diversifying the ethnicity of its characters over the last couple of decades. We've seen a Middle Eastern princess, an African American princess, a Native American princess, an Asian princess, etc. All of these princesses were marketed to children and Halloween costumes and other accessories followed. 

Is it because Disney didn't include skin tone in those dresses? Would it have been better if the Maui costume was just a leaf skirt and shark tooth necklace? Or what if Disney was donating a portion of the profits from the costumes to cause that supports the Polynesian culture? The cynic in me suspects there would be less offended people if they were profiting off the film and its merchandise too. 

Long story short, if you're offended by the costume, don't buy it. Don't go see the film. You have every right to be upset. I respectfully disagree with your point. Today's society spends more time looking for reasons to be offended than finding things to be grateful for. 

Venting

By Chad Smart

@ChadSmart on Twitter

Those of you reading this who follow my123cents on Facebook and Twitter probably read all my negative postings about Monday night’s episode of Raw. For a go home episode before a major Pay Per View the show actually made me less interested in SummerSlam.  This will be the third consecutive SummerSlam to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the third consecutive SummerSlam that I will choose to watch on TV instead of attending in person. That slightly angers me as I have not attended a SummerSlam and would like to eventually attend all four of the major PPVs.

Part of my anger towards Raw was the way Triple H appears to be setting himself up as a major player in the feud between CM Punk and John Cena. Trips naming himself as guest referee when there has been no reason given for the need of a special referee, along with how he made himself seem like the most important person in WWE, turned the spotlight from Punk/Cena onto the already stale beyond belief authority figure. At the end of the show when Cena and Punk got into a scuffle, Triple H got involved.  This set off alarms as I don’t see the match at SummerSlam ending without either a Survivor Series ’98 or Montreal ’97 type screw job taking place. Both scenarios make for lazy and nonsensical storytelling in this situation.

In addition to Triple H inserting himself into the title vs. title match on Sunday, there was also another video from Dwayne insulting John Cena during the contract signing. Yes Cena and The Rock are fighting at Wrestlemania. Yes, it’s the biggest match at Wrestlemania in several years. It doesn’t need to be referenced every week. When tickets for Wrestlemania are about to go on sale, having Rock show up to hype the match is a good idea. When he has nothing to do with the match at hand it is not necessary to have him repeat childish insults. By the way the contract signing was handled, for the first 90% of the segment, CM Punk was the 4^th important person in the mix. The guy who was the hottest commodity in wrestling 4 weeks ago is now regulated to playing sidekick to two guys who barely wrestle anymore.

Take all that and mix in no matches being added to round out SummerSlam, and a couple matches happening on Raw that would have been logical inclusions on Sunday and you have one frustrating show. But the more I thought about the show there were a few things happening, or not happening is more accurate, in WWE-land that make me wonder what the writers are thinking. Vince McMahon has often said over the last decade WWE is not a wrestling company they’re an entertainment company. They make movies. Well, he needs to examine all the plot holes in his script. Here are a couple of the issues I spent too much time thinking about.

Ever since CM Punk said he was leaving WWE there has been no interaction between him and the New Nexus. If you were part of a group and you’d spent months getting your butt kicked trying to help your leader win matches, when the leader says he leaving would you not confront him? How about when the leader leaves for a week then comes back? Would you not ask what was going on? So why have David Otunga and Michael McGillicuty been MIA for the past 6 weeks?  One of my biggest pet peeves in wrestling is how storylines get dropped with no mention of them ever existing.

Speaking of never existing, is the RAW General Manager on vacation? Ever since Vince McMahon got involved in the CM Punk angle there have been no emails from the GM.  Not only have there been on emails, there has been no mention of the GM. Yet his podium is still ringside. I understand Triple H is the new COO so he is the focus of being in charge. Why can’t he simply say he got rid of the GM or until he leaves, the GM is on hiatus? Again, a prominent weekly fixture seemingly disappeared into thin air.

In the grand scheme of things, these are probably minor complaints. Guess I’m just really frustrated because the CM Punk storyline had such great potential and it appears to have a shelf life of 7 weeks.  Hopefully I’m wrong and the match at SummerSlam will lead to something exciting.

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