“Act of War” is a documentary about the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. The documentary takes us way back in time, when Cook first saw the islands of Hawai’i, to how Hawai’i is today. It informs us about what happened, how things are today, and how things could have been different.
Personally, I liked this documentary. It was very helpful for me as a European to see and realize how much the Hawaiian’s have gone through when trying to prevent outsiders (The United States of America) to become rulers of their land. The movie gave me a better understanding of some of the “bitterness” some natives must still feel today. In the movie we see how the natives and Queen Liliuokalani were lied to and cheated for their land. Ultimately the Americans took over, and the Hawaiians lost power over their birthplace.
It was interesting to see all the pictures included in the movie that were from the time when the overthrow took place. There were pictures of American officials and important figures as well as important Hawaiian personalities from that time such as Liliuokalani. The only thing I did not like in the movie was the way they acted out these people’s voices and personalities. It seemed kind of unprofessional to me that they had men making the voices of some of the American figures involved to sound more “evil”, and the voices of the Hawaiians portrayed, softer and “nicer”. I think that in a documentary, you should be given both sides a story/event, and the viewer should be able to make up his or her mind themselves weather the act was wrong or right. Off course I am not saying that I believe that overthrowing a kingdom and a culture that does not want to be overthrown is the right think to do, but I do not believe that the American’s behind this were evil and did this out of pure fun. For them, at the time, it was a different story, and they viewed the whole situation in a different light. I do not think they understood the value of culture or how much harm this would cause.
I came to Hawai’i almost two years ago, as an international student, and my first impression was that Hawai’i was a lot more like the rest of mainland America than I would have thought. Today there is a Mc. Donald’s and a Starbucks on almost every street corner. The school system is like most of the rest of the U.S. and it pretty much looks like the rest of the U.S. I didn’t really think much about this in the beginning, but after I met some local people and I read and watched movies about the overthrow of the kingdom, my view changed. I think it’s sad to see such a rich culture almost gone, and that it has become so “Americanized”. In a way I can relate to what the natives might be going through, because I’m from a very small country in Europe (Norway) that has not been taken over by America, but in a way I would say that it has. My country has become so “Americanized” that the regular American wouldn’t miss a thing of his/hers home-comfort if they visited. In a way its great that we have all these things from the great country of America (and other countries around the world), and we love it, but I think many of the local people would like to see more of the traditional music, food…culture in general, to keep our country’s roots alive. That every country, every place, every city, has its own specific culture and feel….I think that’s what makes the world we live in such a great and interesting place.
Personally, I liked this documentary. It was very helpful for me as a European to see and realize how much the Hawaiian’s have gone through when trying to prevent outsiders (The United States of America) to become rulers of their land. The movie gave me a better understanding of some of the “bitterness” some natives must still feel today. In the movie we see how the natives and Queen Liliuokalani were lied to and cheated for their land. Ultimately the Americans took over, and the Hawaiians lost power over their birthplace.
It was interesting to see all the pictures included in the movie that were from the time when the overthrow took place. There were pictures of American officials and important figures as well as important Hawaiian personalities from that time such as Liliuokalani. The only thing I did not like in the movie was the way they acted out these people’s voices and personalities. It seemed kind of unprofessional to me that they had men making the voices of some of the American figures involved to sound more “evil”, and the voices of the Hawaiians portrayed, softer and “nicer”. I think that in a documentary, you should be given both sides a story/event, and the viewer should be able to make up his or her mind themselves weather the act was wrong or right. Off course I am not saying that I believe that overthrowing a kingdom and a culture that does not want to be overthrown is the right think to do, but I do not believe that the American’s behind this were evil and did this out of pure fun. For them, at the time, it was a different story, and they viewed the whole situation in a different light. I do not think they understood the value of culture or how much harm this would cause.
I came to Hawai’i almost two years ago, as an international student, and my first impression was that Hawai’i was a lot more like the rest of mainland America than I would have thought. Today there is a Mc. Donald’s and a Starbucks on almost every street corner. The school system is like most of the rest of the U.S. and it pretty much looks like the rest of the U.S. I didn’t really think much about this in the beginning, but after I met some local people and I read and watched movies about the overthrow of the kingdom, my view changed. I think it’s sad to see such a rich culture almost gone, and that it has become so “Americanized”. In a way I can relate to what the natives might be going through, because I’m from a very small country in Europe (Norway) that has not been taken over by America, but in a way I would say that it has. My country has become so “Americanized” that the regular American wouldn’t miss a thing of his/hers home-comfort if they visited. In a way its great that we have all these things from the great country of America (and other countries around the world), and we love it, but I think many of the local people would like to see more of the traditional music, food…culture in general, to keep our country’s roots alive. That every country, every place, every city, has its own specific culture and feel….I think that’s what makes the world we live in such a great and interesting place.
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