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The twelvemonth 2011 figure the release of the critically herald filmThe descendant . It earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture , and author - managing director Alexander Payne pull ahead for Best Adapted Screenplay . The plastic film even took household Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture and Best Actor with George Clooney . The chronicle orb around Clooney ’s eccentric , Matt King , the regent of a massive heritage of land who is also get by with the close at hand death of his married woman .
free-base on the Kaui Hart Hemmings novel , the cinema take place in Hawaii . Compared to much of the line drawing of the islands shown by mainstream film and television , The Descendantsprovides a refreshing and almost unquestionable perspective of life in Hawaii . However , it still has a phone number of flaws that made it empty the author have n’t pass a plenty of time on the islands .
White Actors As Native Hawaiians
While the familiar cast doubtless played a braggart part in generate the film ’s Oscar buzz , with Clooney snagging aLeading Actornomination , it was also the casting that made the " Hawaiian " family completely unrecognisable . The King family are descendants of Hawaiian royal line , making them native Hawaiian — but every actor play a principal character is white .
This is reasonably vulgar exercise for depicting Hawaiian type in mainstream films , proportionally more common than the whitewashing of other races , at least within the 21st 100 . However , it is just as important that aboriginal Hawaiians areaccurately representedin the metier as it is for any other non - white group .
Ancestral Story
Through a narration , when he name how he came to be the legal guardian of a section of land on Kauai , Matt tells the taradiddle of his ancestor : Princess of the Hawaiian monarchy Margaret Keʻalohilani , who was primitively suppose to marry her cousin but instead chose to marry a banker who was the son of missionaries .
While the tale sound as if it could be unfeigned , neither of these figures exist in reality . Some sources state , though , that the fictional duet create in the novelThe Descendantsis generally based on Princess Bernice Pauahi Pākī and American man of affairs Charles Reed Bishop , who married in the mid-1800s .
Kauai Land
Among the challenges Matt faces bracing for his wife ’s eventual death and learning how to raise his daughter , the story seems to culminate in his decision as a trustee of the King family property on the island of Kauai . He must opt whether to keep the land or deal it to a secret developer before the trustfulness expires , as most of his category has agreed upon .
The illegal upset of Hawaii ’s Queen Liliʻuokalani by extraneous violence in 1893 , followed by the appropriation of the islands by the U.S. in 1898 , left practically no power or resources to the Hawaiian monarchy . rather , the U.S. convey control of the land , selling some of it to developers and using some for military examination . Realistically , there would have been no estate for the Kings to inherit , certainly not 25,000 acres as the moving picture states .
Wealthy Lifestyle
Matt explains that rather of blowing through his share of the household luck , he spends modestly using only what he makes with his law practice , to the breaker point where his daughters call him stingy . Despite this description of himself , he seems to be put up for his category to an extent thatnot even a lawyershould be able to meet .
Honolulu is among the country ’s top five most expensive cities to live in . Matt ’s small family of four seems to be living in a two - story , multi - family house , not to mention the pool in the backyard . He is also position both his daughters through secret shoal ; the firstborn pop off to a boarding school off - island and the vernal run to Punahou , a notoriously expensive and elitist schoolhouse on Oahu .
Outer Islands
The King crime syndicate lives on the island of Oahu , butthey often travelto the outer island . When Matt introduces himself and his family , he mention that he travels to Maui often for business , which is where he was when his married woman had her chance event . His girl Alex look a embarkment school on the island of Hawaii , or the Big Island .
In world , it ’s more often the other way around . Oahu is by far the most populous island in the nation , home to about a million of the state ’s total 1.4 million residents . As a result , most businesses , like law of nature practices and schools , are free-base on Oahu .
Constant Island-Hopping
On a related note , the cinema makes it seem like inter - island travel is much more unwashed than it really is . During the grade of what seems to be only a few week , Matt takes his girl from their home on Oahu to the Big Island and to Kauai .
While it happens more often among locals than inter - state or international trips do , travel between the islands need planning , specially with a young fry like Scottie . It ’s not equivalent to a drive into the next township , as you would in a mainland state .
Leaving The Door Open
In one scene , after his daughter say him that his wife had been seeing another man , Matt fly the coop out of his sign and down the street to see Kai , the tittle-tattle of their friend grouping . As he leaves his house , he opens a slip threshold and does n’t close it .
This present moment would make anyone ’s hand pinch , but it would be especially hard to watch for someone from Hawaii who had always been told to shut the doorway so as not to let the microbe within . Even worse , the following shots of Matt running down the street make it clear that he populate in Mānoa , which is an infamously rainy part of the island , making it prone to hordes of mosquitoes .
Tropical Flower Decorations Everywhere
Another stereotype about life in Hawaii seems to be the locals ' pick of décor . All the sign of the zodiac shown in the film , and the Mitchell ’s house in particular , are decked with brightly - patterned curtains , furniture , and wall nontextual matter .
Not only do most of the point pictured lack any element of traditional Hawaiiana , but this style does not reflect what most Hawaiian homes look like at all . Foreigners whose only photo to what Hawaii is what they see on television may be surprised to larn that most homes in Hawaii in reality look very interchangeable to those on the mainland , with an exception being check your shoes at the door .
Pet Goat
The Mitchell ’s house is limn as having a caprine animal on a leash in the front yard . This may strike anyone in the U.S. as an odd pet to keep . While receive a goat as a ducky is n’t explicitly illegal in the state of Hawaii , it is widely against homeowner affiliation rules , especially in relatively wealthy areas , where their planetary house seems to be .
In fact , because of its unique ecosystem and because Hawaii has no madness , the state has much stricter forbidding on the kinds of pet and animal that may be imported . uncouth ducky like gerbille , ferret , and sure types of lizards are illegal .
“Haole”
As they are in many films that take place in Hawaii , character are all too comfortable throwing around well - known - to - tourists Hawaiian phrases and no other acknowledgment of the oral communication . This celluloid in special works in a number of " mahalos , " " ballet skirt " to touch to the daughter ' nan , and even a " holoholo . "
One word that came up a couple of time was " haole . " The word literally mean outsider but is colloquially used to refer to white multitude , especially those who are out of touch with the local culture . One utilization of the Good Book that seemed out of place is when Matt admits that he and his wealthy phratry , in spite of their Hawaiian blood , are " haole as sh*t , " which is a affirmation that contradicts itself .
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