Lilo and Stitch Live Action Cast Stirs Colorism Accusations

DISNEY HAS BEEN FACING COLORISM ACCUSATIONS SINCE RELEASING THEIR CASTING DECISIONS FOR THE LIVE ACTION LILO AND STITCH REMAKE. THE FILM IS SET TO BE RELEASED IN 2024.

A LARGE PART OF THE CRITICISM HAS REVOLVED AROUND THE DECISION TO CAST SYDNEY AGUDONG TO PLAY NANI PELEKAI, LILO’S OLDER SISTER. THE ACTRESS IS OF CAUCASIAN AND FILIPINO DESCENT. HER FAMILY HAS ALSO STATED THAT THEY HAVE POLYNESIAN HERITAGE. MANY FANS POINTED OUT THAT ALTHOUGH AGUDONG WAS BORN AND RAISED IN HAWAI’I, SHE IS MUCH LIGHTER IN COMPLEXION THAN NANI IN THE ORIGINAL MOVIE. THIS SPARKED A LARGER DEBATE ABOUT DISNEY’S PERPETUATION OF COLORISM THROUGH THIS CASTING AND ONES PREVIOUS. 

I SPOKE WITH TIKTOK CREATORS LILY HI’ILANI OKIMURA AND KEELY MA’ILO ABOUT THE CONTROVERSY. HAWAIIAN NATIVE HI’ILANI OKIMURA HAS ACCUMULATED OVER 107 K FOLLOWERS ON TIK TOK AND CONTRIBUTED MULTIPLE VIRAL VIDEOS TO THE DISCUSSION. MA’ILO’S VIDEO ON THE TOPIC GAINED OVER 142 K LIKES.

FIRST, I ASKED THEM HOW THEY FELT ABOUT THE ORIGINAL LILO AND STITCH MOVIE:

[LH]: So the original film, I grew up watching it—it’s a very beloved film here. I mean, I felt like it could have been a little better because it’s a Disney film. 

[K]: I am not Hawaiian myself, I’m Samoan, but I’m still Polynesian—we still come from the same group in Oceania, and that was the first mainstream representation that we as Polynesians ever got. 

[LH]: I think they only have like . . . two, maybe, native Hawaiian actors as like, kind of speaking roles. And then they have like one girl, an Asian girl born and raised here, but not native Hawaiian. Despite that, I always thought that Nani was beautiful. I thought that the characters looked like people from here, that it was very personable, like I could, you know, relate to it.

WHAT SEEMS TO SET “LILO AND STITCH” APART IS ITS ATTENTION TO PORTRAYING THE CULTURE AND STRUGGLES OF INDIGENOUS HAWAIIANS THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES OF PROTAGONIST LILO AND HER OLDER SISTER NANI. BOTH GIRLS ARE NATIVES TO THE ISLAND AND SUGGESTED TO BE OF INDIGENOUS HERITAGE. ACCORDING TO HI’ILANI OKIMURA AND MA’ILO, THIS SENSITIVITY IS WHAT DIFFERENTIATES THE MOVIE FROM MOST OTHER MAINSTREAM REPRESENTATIONS OF NATIVE HAWAIIANS. 

[LH]: Other like films and media that represent native Hawaiian people, most often, you know, has people, not native Hawaiian, people not from here, playing us and it’s also very inaccurate, exotifies our culture, our place, have heavy focus on like the tourism industry and like tourists and not actual Hawai’i and not like our community and our lifestyle and also like, the struggles that we face.

[K]: That’s the thing when there are movies taking place in Hawaii, it’s surrounded by or it’s from the perspective of a white person, they have white characters. 

IN ASKING HOW THEY FELT ABOUT DISNEY’S CASTING DECISION FOR NANI IN THE LIVE ACTION REMAKE, THIS IS WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY:

[LH]: She was born and raised on Hawai’i,  people thought that she was Hawaiian because her family has been telling people that they’re part Polynesian, which Hawai’i is part of Polynesia. And so when I found out that she was cast, of course I thought well, she doesn’t look like Nani but at least they cast someone who’s native Hawaiian. Would have been nice to have like an opportunity for like darker skinned native Hawaiian women, more like curvier native Hawaiian women. Like someone who looked like Nani to represent those of us you know growing up with brown skin and wide noses and like curvier features thinking oh my god, we’re so ugly, and then Nani—she was like our first Disney Princess even though she’s not like an official Disney princess, we consider her a Disney princess here.

[K]: I think that people have a right to be upset about this, especially those who are a part of this community, those who grew up living the indigenous Polynesian lifestyle, those who are native Hawaiians, specifically with brown skin. I think they have every right to be upset. Like what does that say to us—to like the young girls, the young, indigenous girls, the brown skinned girls, the girls with ethnic features? It’s almost like a slap in the face.

[IP]: Does the casting affect the truth of the story in any way?

[LH]: She doesn’t know what it’s like, being a dark, you know, brown skin girl who has faced discrimination, who has been like, overly sexualized in like the tourism industry, because I’ve also worked with tourists as well and like, there’s that scene where Nani’s like, you know, working at that fakie Luau and a lot of us go through that. 

[K]: You know, Nani, her being dark skinned in the movie—it’s a commonality among dark skinned indigenous people to have difficulty finding jobs in the tourism industry. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that Nani has difficulty finding a job, which then leads to difficulty being able to prove herself as an apt guardian for Lilo. Which, you know, that’s like the main point of the plotline. It’s integral.

[LH]: And also just the idea of Lilo having to be separated from her sister and Nani. Just that thing that I feel like a lot of indigenous communities have to deal with is just the separation of children from their families because they think it’s like, not a good fit, or whatever, but it’s like you’re separating them from their family or separating them from their community, their culture. And this happens a lot, especially here in Hawai’i, and also, you know, on the continental US.

[IP]: And if it were up to you to find a solution, how would you want this problem to be addressed?

[LH]: Again, this is Disney. So I think we just need to stop relying on them on portraying our culture, portraying our people accurately. And we should be supporting and uplifting native Hawaiian directors and writers and creators and actors in our own work instead of just like Disney, because they’re gonna do what they want.

[K]: Take into consideration recasting the character because there is an entire community who feels like they’re not being represented properly. There is an entire community that you’re disregarding their feelings, their entire history, their lived experiences today by doing this.

FOR WNUR NEWS, THIS IS IZZY PAREJA.