A Case of Mistaken Identity: Moana

The live-action Moana is currently in theaters. I'll reserve judgment until I see it myself--We all know that live-action adaptations are hit and miss. In this stage of life (two little kids and a pregnant wife) there's virtually no chance of me seeing this movie until it's on Disney Plus. So instead of writing about the new Moana, I have some thoughts about her journey in the animated feature film.

As I began re-watching Moana in preparation for this blog post, I commented to Russell that this movie could easily be a case study about mistaken identity: Moana, Maui, Te Ka. The theme of identity is strong throughout Moana’s journey (and to a lesser extent in its sequel). While I could write about Maui or Te Ka (which I may yet do) I wanted to start with Moana. 

This daughter of the chief spends the whole movie trying to figure out who she is and what her purpose is. She feels compelled to venture into the ocean, but also loves her island and wants to be a good chief someday.

At first, these two things are contradictory in her mind. Her heart calls her to the ocean but her father wants her to focus on Motonui. There’s nothing wrong with her father’s counsel to find her purpose “where you are”. In fact, it’s not unlike President Uchtdorf’s counsel to “lift where you stand”. There’s something powerful in being able to “find happiness right where you are.” Moana felt the call to do more, but also served where she was until a formal call came. (PS: I think it’s notable that the call came after she learned about her ancestors—perhaps a tie in to family history there)

In the meantime, she struggled to wait for the call (which eventually came from her Gramma Tala). She knew she felt the call to see “how far [she’d] go” but also recognized her weakness. Her weakness was further pointed out and ridiculed when Maui joined her. 

When Maui left, Moana felt the weight of her call and her inadequacies even stronger. She couldn’t fathom why the ocean would choose her to pursue this mission. For a moment she gave it because it was too heavy for her to bear. As Gramma Tala’s spirit came to her, Moana strength through her grandmother’s validation and her influence helped Moana to integrate all she had learned about herself from the journey. The Holy Spirit can do the same for us and not just in our low moments. 

“Who am I?

“I’m a fur who loves my island.

“I’m a girl who loves the sea; it calls me.

“I am the daughter of the village chief.

“We are descended from voyagers who found their way across the world; they call me!

“I’ve delivered us to where we are.

“I have journeyed farther.

“I am everything I’ve learned and more, still it calls me.

“And the call isn’t out there at all; it’s inside me.

“It’s like the tide, always falling and rising.

“I will carry you here in my heart.

“You’ll remind me, that come what may I know the way.

“I am Moana!”

I love this scene because Moana learned how her experiences and everything she’s discovered has shaped who she is. She doesn’t have to simply be the chief’s daughter. She’s that but she’s also a wayfinder. She’s brave, loyal, insightful, and adventurous. All of these things shape who she has become. And, like her grandmother said in the sequel, “we never stop choose who we are.”

We are our heritage, as children of God. 

We are our experiences in mortality (for better or worse). 

We are the things we’ve learned. 

And we choose who we want to be. 

Gettysburg Repentance

    Before deciding on becoming a Physical Therapist, I was seriously considering studying history and becoming a history teacher or professor or something like that. Then I realized I just like historical fiction as genre when it comes to reading and movies, so I moved away from history as a course of study, but I still enjoy historical fiction. The movie “Gettysburg” was released in 1993 and is based on the historical novel, The Killer Angels, which was published in 1974 and written by Michael Shaara. It won the pulitzer prize in 1975 and rose to #1 on the New York Times best sellers list in 1993. Given that we just passed the 163rd anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, I thought it appropriate to re-read (listen) the book and found that the days of the week coincided this year with when they occurred originally.

    I have found both the book and the movie to be excellent in their portrayal of historical figures on both sides of the American Civil War conflict. I particularly love the portrayal of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain by Jeff Daniels in the movie. He gives 2 stirring speeches, one to a group of dissenters about the decimation of his unit during a prior battle and another to the men under his command about being the “end of the line” of the union army and stating that retreat is not an option. I recognize and acknowledge that both the book and movie are pieces of historical fiction and not actual historical documents so some creative liberties have been taken.  I still want to use one scene from the book and movie to share a message about not giving up and repentance.

    From the Confederate side, General Robert E. Lee, played by Martin Sheen, has trouble knowing what the Union army is doing because his Calvary, led by J.E.B. Stuart is nowhere to be found and therefore unable to provide valuable information to the General. This sets up a tense meeting between General Lee and General Stuart wherein General Lee expresses his displeasure with General Stuart because of the latter’s absence and for not performing his responsibilities. After being chided by General Lee, General Stuart begins to take out his sword to surrender his commission as he has failed in his duties as a commander. General Lee hurriedly and emotionally tells General Stuart, “there is no time!” General Lee is not asking for the surrender of General Stuart’s command, but rather wants to reiterate how important he is to the Confederate army and then invites him to return to his duties and prepare for the final day of battle. This is the only significant screen or book time that General Stuart is given but I think there’s a lesson to be learned.

    Often, I feel like General Stuart when I make a mistake. I think to myself, “well, that’s it. I’ve messed up too badly. I need to turn over my command and give up.” I don’t think that is the purpose of repentance but rather, we need to repent, learn from the mistake, and get back to our figurative commands. In an April 2019 General Conference address, President Nelson said:

"Too many people consider repentance as punishment—something to be avoided except in the most serious circumstances. But this feeling of being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from looking to Jesus Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us."

    The Lord does not ask us to give up or surrender, but rather invites us to get back up, change, and try to do a little better. I am seeking to do a little better each day. I have plenty to work on and change and feel immensely blessed to know that I am not alone. So if the next time you find yourself struggling and feeling like General Stuart, instead think of the Savior.

    I’ll conclude with these words from the same address from President Nelson I referenced earlier, fitting as he makes reference to a military term: “The Lord needs men eager to repent—men with a zeal to serve and be part of the Lord’s battalion of worthy priesthood bearers.”

    Perhaps instead of the Lord being like General Lee and saying, “there is no time,” He instead is inviting us to ensure that we take the time we have to repent, learn, and grow and He promises that He will be working with us throughout the process.

Fifth Doctor Revisited: The Mawdryn Undead

Speeding our way through the Fifth Doctor era, TJ and I had to slow down until we finish our Fourth Doctor podcast episodes. That being said, I have thought (ramblings random musings) about the Peter Davison stories I’ve watched so far.

I’ll start out my ramblings with the return of the Brigadier. He starts out with the mysterious lack of memories concerning the Doctor. When he finally remembers, naturally he gets caught up in some timey-wimey shenanigans that simultaneously save the Doctor and cause the amnesia. Wibbly-wobbly.

The idea of the Doctor giving up his regenerations isn’t a foreign concept to modern Doctor Who fans. After all, he used regeneration energy to heal River Song. The interesting part is that, if we assume the Doctor is the Timeless Child, the Doctor has had unlimited regeneration energy available to him. If the Brigadier hadn’t interfered, perhaps the infinite regenerations would have been catastrophic.

This episode also marks the return of the Black Guardian. He tricks Turlough into a deal with the devil to destroy the Doctor. Despite the all-powerful-seeming nature of the Black Guardian to manipulate events, he doesn’t seem to be any more successful in destroying the Doctor than Doofenschmirtz is at defeating Perry the Platypus. After a whole season manipulating the Doctor and Romana into assembling the Key to Time, you would think he’d be better at this game.

It's interesting to me that Mawdryn and his people attempted to regenerate. It's an interesting idea. Kind of reminded me of the Sisterhood of Karn. In fact with how they're dressed I thought Mawdryn might've been part of that clan. Their attempted regenerations gave me some insights about the spiritual implications of immortality. Perpetual living (or perpetual regeneration in Mawdryn's case) isn't worth living. Stories like Tuck Everlasting and The Good Place have addressed this idea and its pitfalls. From a gospel perspective, we believe in immortality. But we also believe that we can progress and develop to become like our Heavenly Father. In the grand scheme of things, we know very little about what that entails. But that purpose gives meaning to living forever. 

LDS Geeks Podcast #69: Animorphs Re-Read (13)

As Doctor Strange said, "We're in the endgame now." It's taking all our self control to slow down our readings long enough to record about them. Hard to believe this is our third to last Animorphs reading episode.

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 69 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent blog posts: click here

Check out Russell's recent blog posts: click here

Show notes:

00:12 - Introductions
01:29 - Spencer's Recommendation: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
        "Why I Liked The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" by Spencer
04:23 - Russell's Recommendation: "Slow Down" by Sissel and the Tabernacle Choir
        Listen on YouTube
06:54 - #45 - The Revelation
16:41 - #46 - The Deception
24:48 - #47 - The Resistance
34:21 - #48 - The Return

Most Notable Canadian Super Heroes

Happy Canada Day! 

A little know fact about me is that I grew up in western Canada. This week was the first time since my mission in Toronto that I spent Canada Day (July 1) in Canada. And it was the first time my daughters visited Canada. In honor of this, I wanted to spotlight a few Canadian-born Marvel. Most are not well known, but they all have their reason to be iconic. 

Credit: UltimateSin78 (DevianArt)

Wolverine 

The most well known Canadian hero is probably Wolverine. Born in Alberta (about seven hours from where I grew up) as James Howlett, he’s the most prominent member of the X-Men. After all, he’s the only one who got multiple spin-off movies with Fox. Though part of the US military at times, he was a proud Canadian (at least before he lost his memories in Origins). I love his iconic response to Stryker calling James to do his patriotic duty: “I’m Canadian.”

Deadpool

Wade Wilson was born in Southern Saskatchewan. He has been known to make jokes and references to his Canadian heritage in comics and movies. Again, he’s well known because of his successful Fox (and now Marvel Studios) movies. Plenty of our readers probably haven’t watched his R-rated movies, but he still worth noting as a Canadian. 

Guardian

Though his powers are very different, Guardian is comparable in terms of a patriotic symbol to Captain America in the United States. He’s the leader of Alpha Flight (Canada’s main superhero team). Initially his “powers” were technology-based like Iron Man. Later alien technology fused with his body giving him cyborg-type superpowers. 

Major Mapleleaf

Louis Sadler is more of a one-to-one comparison with Captain America, when it comes to powers and backstory. In fact, he fought alongside Cap in World War II. He didn’t get the super soldier serum per se but he had super soldier powers from genetic experimentations. After decades of heroing, he retired to raise his family. 

Squirrel Girl’s appearance on Spidey and His Amazing Friends 

Squirrel Girl

While possibly one of the silliest super heroes, Doreen’s powers and squirrelly appearance came from a gene mutation different from the X-gene. She’s been known to use squirrel friends to defeat Doctor Doom. Her birthplace is unclear but maybe the Toronto metroplex (where I served my mission). Regardless, she has dual citizenship, American and Canadian (like me). 

If any Marvel fans in Canada can identify more heroes in the north, let me know. In the meantime, I’ll head to my first Canada Day parade in over fifteen years. 

Pokémon Head-Canon: Typing

Remember how back in the day, the dragon master Lance had three dragon-type Pokemon and two non-dragons? You know how people have always wondered how people have questioned how Goomy is a dragon-type but Charizard still isn’t? There are many examples throughout the 1000+ Pokemon roster whose thing doesn’t seem to make sense. Memes about them consistently spread across social media. 

I don’t remember when this head-canon started but a lightbulb went off when one of those Pokemon type memes came across my feed: Typing as little to do with appearance; it’s about the Pokemon’s characteristics and interactions with the elements. 

If that doesn’t make sense, let me break down what I mean. In the world of Pokemon, it’s not like each creature comes with a label of their type. And as we know, obviously not every Pokemon type is determined by appearance and/or real world animal comparisons. However, what we know objectively is that there have been many Pokemon researchers across various regions and over the course of AT LEAST 10-15 years (that’s just the main series games). We also know that old man Oak has been studying Pokemon his whole life. That’s decades of research. 

I’m postulating that before the first Pokédex was invented to assess Pokemon, researchers used a Pokémon’s environmental adaptations and reactions to categorize their types. If they discovered that a Pokemon was resistant to electricity but susceptible to water, ice, and grass moves, the Pokemon would be categorized as a ground-type.

Example A: Researchers observed that Charizard was weak to water and super weak against rock, that would indicate that it wasn’t a dragon-type but flying-type instead. 

Example B: Lucario is weak to psychic types, indicating fighting type characteristics. That much was obvious to researchers. However, it was not immediately clear why it was weak to fire-type moves and other fighting types. The conclusion: Steel type, even though there’s no prominent steel features on Lucario. 

Example C: Noctowl is known to have some extra sensory abilities. However, it’s not greatly affected by dark-type moves and it’s completely unaffected by ghost-types. Conclusion? Normal and flying. 

As technology improved and the first Pokedex was invented, I expect it was able to analyze new Pokemon and determine their type electronically. What do you think? Is this a plausible head-canon or can you disprove it? I doubt we’ll ever know for sure (which is what makes it head-canon instead of fan theory I suppose).

LDS Geeks Podcast #68: Fourth Doctor Companions (2)

This might be the shortest podcast episode that TJ and I have ever done. Most of the Fourth Doctor's companions in the second half of his tenure weren't in the TARDIS very long before his regeneration. It made for an easy podcast episode at least.

--Spencer

Best Dads of Power Rangers

Many times I've seen the commentary of how, back in the day of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the Rangers' parents appear oblivious and possibly negligent of what their teenagers with attitude are up to. As the years and generations of Power Rangers went on, we got more diverse portrayal of Ranger families. For Father's Day, I chose to highlight a few of the dads that stood out among the years of Power Rangers.

Kanoi Watanabe - Ninja Storm

Not necessarily the father of the year, but he is the ninja guinea pig of the year. In many ways, he was a father figure to the Wind Rangers more than his son Cam. After what happened in his past, he wanted to protect his son. It wasn't until Cam went back in time and retrieved the samurai powers from his mother that Sensei loosened up and supported him as the Green Ranger. If Sensei had any major faults, it was that he was overprotective of his son. Is there a good parent who hasn't been overprotective at times? (PS: The CGI for guinea pig Sensei is almost comical by today's standards--hard to look back at it)

William Mitchell - Lightspeed Rescue

Haunted by his past and what happened to Ryan, Captain Mitchell dedicated his life to Lightspeed. Unlike Sensei, Captain Mitchell wasn't overprotective of his daughter and invited her to become the Pink Ranger. He knew her capabilities and supported her. His past came back to haunt him when Ryan returned, but conversely Ryan's return was certainly healing, despite the regrets he likely still felt.

Doug Stewart - Turbo

Starting out as a widower and an absentee father, Justin’s dad wasn’t exactly a model father. However, his redeeming factor is that he chose to change and become more involved with Justin. As a father who overthinks every parenting mistake, I’ve been told what matters most is the reconciliation, not the mistakes. Justin’s dad realized he wanted to be better as a parent and he did it.

Ed Jones - Dino Fury

The man adopted a lonely (alien) baby and chose to become her Pop Pop. He wasn’t exactly a man of means, so I can’t imagine he was able to give her everything he wanted. But he was a hard worker and he cared for her. Biological or adoptive, every father matters.

Tommy Oliver - Zeo

Though the most legendary of Power Rangers (see also Wild Force, Dino Thunder, Megaforce, and Ninja Steel), we only got to see Tommy as a father and grandfather in a flash forward during the Christmas episode of Zeo. Despite that limited screen time, we know one thing in particular about his legacy as a father: he passed on the Ranger heritage to his son. Though he and Kat might’ve had more children, their son JJ Oliver was known to be an SPD Ranger in the comics. In addition, Tommy’s grandson (presumably JJ’s son) was established as a Ranger in that Christmas special. All I can say is that I’m grateful they kept that flash forward canon and, despite the passing of Jason David Frank, the legacy of Tommy (and JDF) lives on. 

“When You’re Not Looking”

Let me tell you a story about waiting for my mission call (twice). I’ve written about my missionary experience(s) previously but the short version is that, because of Asperger’s and anxiety, my mission call took a little extra consideration. I longed to serve a mission but had to come home three months in because my mental health struggles made me non-functional. After almost a year of more longing, I went back on my mission for a few months before the Spirit spoke to me about going home again. 

Those years were also the time that I got invested in The Chronicles of Narnia. Words from those books and movies spoke to me and my heart's desire. A few years ago, I wrote about how "The Horse and His Boy" spoke comfort as I waited to go back on my mission. In the "Prince Caspian" movie, Peter and Lucy both expressed longing to return to Narnia and the lessons learned upon their return. The one lesson that's been on my mind recently comes from the movie version of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe":

Lucy: Will we ever go back?

Professor Kirke: Oh, I expect so. But it'll probably happen when you're not looking for it. All the same... best to keep your eyes open.

Heavenly Father hears the longings of our hearts, but in my experience those prayers are rarely answered in the way we expect. Just like with my mission calls, we may have to wait and it might not be exactly what we hoped for. However, I'm learning (again) that acting anxious about these things hasn't helped me in the past and doesn't help me now.

Of course, letting go of that anxiety is easier said than done. It's been sixteen years since my first mission call and I can definitely handle my anxiety better today than it was at the time of that first missionary call (maybe I'd finally be able to handle the anxiety of full-time missionary service). However, there are still plenty of things in my life that I've had to wait for. Some are bigger, like anxiously waiting for a positive pregnancy test. Some are smaller, like waiting for a payday. Most things are somewhere in the middle.

As Professor Kirke said, these things often happen "when you're not looking for it". Like that saying about a watched pot. It's funny how things have changed for me when I've been able to let go of my worries, even partially. Once I've finally learned the lesson at hand, I guess I'm ready to receive the blessings for which I prayed.

The Lord spoke to early saints regarding their temporary dwellings: "And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good." (D&C 51:17) I heard that taught in YSA wards (very transient at BYU) and I learned that while waiting to go back on my mission. Live like you'll be there forever (or at least a long time) and do good wherever you are. 

Whatever blessing you're waiting for, "keep your eyes open" but remember to "take no thought for your life" (Matthew 6:25) as God has promised to care for us. It'll probably happen when you're not looking. Live your life as best you know how and "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." (D&C 123:17) He has worked miracles in my life. And He will work miracles in yours.

LDS Geeks Podcast #67: Animorphs Re-Read (12)

We're nearing the end of our Animorphs series! It's hard to stop reading long enough to record. There's no slowing down now!

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 67 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent blog posts: click here

Check out Russell's recent blog posts: click here

Show notes:

00:12 - Introductions
02:38 - Spencer's Recommendation: Ironheart
        Available for streaming on Disney Plus
04:37 - Russell's Recommendation: “Fear is not Welcome” by Brian Courtney Wilson and BYU Vocal Point
        Listen on YouTube
06:34 - Megamorphs 4: Back to Before
17:18 - #42 - The Journey
24:21 - #43 - The Test
        "Creature Feature - Mara" by Spencer
32:23 - #44 - The Unexpected