Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Talking Stories: An Analysis Of Haolewood's Attempts To Tell Hawai'i'S Stories Through Movie Trailers, Pono R. Suganuma

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This study investigated how Native Hawaiians and Hawai'i are represented by the media, specifically in movies and their accompanying trailers. Thirty movie trailers from movies released between 1939 and 2016 were analyzed. These movies represented the various movie genres of romantic comedy, thriller, war, animation, drama, historical, and more. The aim of the study was to compile evidence of various themes such as stereotyping, white-washing and language pronunciation within movie trailers in order to validate or extend conceptually the theoretical framework or theory about the lack of accurate representation of Native Hawaiians. This is a feasibility study that could help …