Paka's Gender Roles In Whale Rider

During the film whale rider, we see the characters, Paka and Pai. Paka, growing up the way he did, follows every rule that their tradition has, whereas Pai, being born into the modern world, wants the maori people to think more progressively. At first, Paka is blind to Pai’s ability to be the chief, he is harsh and strict towards Pai. However his intentions are good and everything he does is out of respect and fear for his culture.
Paka’s outdated beliefs of his culture, place strict expectations on his granddaughter. Which causes him to be blind to her leadership skills and potential. Paka believes he knows best, he is constantly forcing his beliefs on others as he doesn’t want his traditions and culture to be lost. Paka has been brought
up surrounded by this culture so he doesn’t know any different, this causes him to be oblivious to Pai’s potential. Paka is trying to do what’s best for the tribe and succeed as a leader but he doesn’t realise that what’s best for the tribe is right in front of him, Pai. Paka gets really defensive when his traditions are challenged and says “Take her, go on, she’s no use to me!” When Paka says that Pai is no use to him, it proves that Paka genuinely believes that Pai has nothing to offer the tribe and that she can leave. Paka’s outdated beliefs on leadership cause a lot of conflict because many of the other characters, including his wife and Pai, are thinking more progressively. Paka’s obsolete views on leadership make it hard for him to see Pai’s expertise to be the chief. Pai has many great ideas that could really help the tribe stick together but Paka refuses to accept that.

Pai is never seen for her true potential and is restricted from becoming a leader by gender roles and culture.
Pai is born into a family that thinks strongly of leadership and has great respect for their culture. Born to be a leader, Pai tries really hard to prove to her grandfather that she can lead the tribe. Despite being confined by sexism and gender roles, Pai persists and shows great determination. This is a skill that would be exceedingly useful to lead a tribe yet Paka cannot see this. When Pai is born, her twin brother dies during birth, but Pai survives, she is a survivor. Consequently, this means Pai has many difficult expectations to fulfil, nevertheless she takes on this challenge with a positive attitude, working hard to win Paka’s approval. When Pai survives her birth, it symbolizes that she has always been a survivor thus proving that she clearly lived for a reason and it was to lead the tribe. Taking a different approach to leadership, Pai manages to make the whales stop beaching themselves. This strongly suggests that the maori people could undoubtedly benefit from Pai’s leadership skills, but this can only happen if Paka could recognise her true potential. Pai’s potential is clear to the rest of her family, but for some reason Paka is stuck in ways and will not acknowledge the effort Pai has put into becoming the Maori peoples next
leader.

Paka and Pai have different views on leadership so their personalities always collide. In the end Paka looks from a different perspective and sees Pai’s ingenuity. Paka is afraid of what could happen to his tribe if he changes the ways they have always known. Therefore he is too scared to give in to Pai’s talent, instead he begins a school, trying to teach the boys to be leaders. It may seem as though Paka is being harsh by not letting Pai indulge in the activities that the boys participate in, but he is just nervous that it could lead to Pai becoming the chief. Pai stays strong despite all the setbacks, although sometimes she starts to question her worth and significance. For instance, when Paka is screaming at Pai to “apologize for continually trying to be like the boys”. It is Pai that saves the whales and in doing so, she finally convinces her grandfather that she can be the chief. Furthermore, when Pai risks her life and ends up in hospital, they overcome their differences on leadership and Paka apologizes for his mistakes. This evidence suggests that even though Paka was being quite strict, he eventually changed his ways, after Pai showed a great act of courage. When Paka started the school, it proves that he had so little belief in Pai that he felt he needed to train someone else for the role. Due to the fact that Paka and Pai have many differences, they are always arguing and the tribe doesn’t work as well together when this is happening. As soon as they accept each other’s differences, the maori people benefit majorly. Paka and Pai do eventually overcome their differences though it takes a few collisions and fights for this to happen. Unfortunately, before Pai can get Paka to acknowledge her, she has to put her life in danger. Luckily she survived and Paka comprehends what he could’ve lost.

Throughout the film, we see Pai trying really hard to get Paka’s attention and approval.
Paka does not see this as he has strict leadership ideas, he tries his best to ignore her, motivating Pai to try harder. Pai has all the qualities to succeed as a chief, especially determination, the only thing stopping her from showing her true potential is Paka and his old traditional views. However, Paka starts thinking more progressively after Pai grabs his attention by risking her life for the tribe. He apologizes and they overcome their differences, Pai becomes the chief and they help the tribe work
together.