Category: Moana

GRAMMA TALA, NULL

She’s a troublemaker, lol. A rebel. She opens the movie by terrorizing the toddlers with the story of Maui. When Moana is grown, Gramma basically gaslights her by pretending she doesn’t care what Moana does. “I’m the village crazy lady,” she says. “That’s my job.” She’s a fairy godmother with a manta ray tattooed on her back.

Her only individual, character-specific moment is when she stands on the shore and admires her spirit animal. Otherwise, she’s the quest-giver, the heroic mentor, and the beloved elder. She’s a trickster. (Did they miss one of the archetypes, lol?) The showrunners pack a lot onto her shoulders. Can an Enneagram rise above all this weight?

Wow, no. In a previous review I held Gramma up as a great, well-written cameo character. I think I may have been bamboozled. Sorry about that. She’s layered with so many archetypes that she dazzles. However . . . she’s just a Null. Bummer.

MAUI, TWO

He’s immediately hilarious and wonderful, nailing the best song in the show. At first all we see is his confidence and his callousness. (He leaves Moana locked in a cave FOR LIFE, or at least as far as he knows.) If this weren’t a Disney movie (and Moana weren’t highly athletic) it would be a much different tone.

Instead, it’s basically a road movie with these two.

Because Maui’s a shapeshifter, I want to say he’s a Body Type. He’s impulsive and socially clueless at times, which leads me to Eight. I mean, he is a superhero, of a sort. Eight is pretty go-to.

But what if he isn’t? He’s powerful because of his fish hook. Without it, he’s just a marooned dude. Oh, hahaha! Are his tattoos a Two’s collection? Underneath his jerk impulses he’s a lonely guy who wants to be appreciated. He did everything, all of his heroic feats, to help humans (or, so he claims in “You’re Welcome”). If we are to believe him, he didn’t defeat the monsters because of the physical challenge, to pit himself against the toughest bosses. He did it out of a sense of service. At the climax, when his hook is half-broken and he wants to quit, he returns because Moana won’t stop. Aw, how sad that someone who seeks human connection and love has been isolated for so long. (No wonder he talks to his ink, lol.)

MOANA, NINE

One part of Moana genuinely believes she will perform her duty, stay on the island, and lead her people as her father has done. The other part of her is desperate for adventure on the sea. Also, as a good chief she knows that the village is unsustainable. Rot ruins their plants and the lagoon has been fished out. When she finds the boats in the sea cave, she sees a solution and an escape rolled into one.

It’s in the nature of the genre that our heroine will be athletic, but I think we’re looking at something extra. Moana sails with no previous experience, shows physical daring and confidence, and is an excellent acrobat, which all suggest a Body Type. (Otherwise I would peg her as a Three. She has that indomitable will and lucky touch.) 

She’s a Nine. It’s her misplaced dutifulness. A Nine will slide to Six in weakness. She meets her obligation to the village without passion. Only after she pursues her own way, sailing to return the heart and adventuring to find Maui, can she succeed. Even then, she needs to express herself physically: sailing among her people. I like it! She’s an enjoyable character who feels fresh, yet she hits all the appropriate beats and stays true to her Enneagram. Well done.