Adichie's Single Story and Whale Rider: Stereotypes Compared

Introduction: Message Versus Medium

The message in a story is what is immediately apparent to the person reading or watching it. The medium, on the other hand, is more subtle — it is what the reader, audience, and indeed society takes away from a work. Chimamanda Adichie demonstrates this distinction in her "The Danger of a Single Story" TED Talk, as does Witi Ihimaera in his book, which later became the film Whale Rider.

Chimamanda Adichie and the Danger of a Single Story

Many intertwining stories make up the cultures we come from and the lives we lead as peoples and societies. Chimamanda Adichie, a novelist, is grateful that she was able to discover her true individuality. She cautions, however, against drawing our understanding of a culture from a single story about it (NPR, 2015), as doing so is prone to creating a stereotyped understanding of an entire culture.

Using one story to form our understanding is unwise because the angle presented will construct in our minds a picture that may not be true or complete. When we accept a singular understanding, it becomes the basis of a stereotype. As Adichie explains, a single story opens the door to stereotypes, and the danger in these is that they are half-truths — they do not give the full picture. Stereotypes allow one story to represent everything that makes up a culture (Hoop, 2014).

In her TED Talk, Adichie argues that there should be freedom for the expression of original, independent views, and that these can emerge through authors writing about their own cultures. Writing about one's own culture implies a deeper understanding, since one has interacted and engaged intimately with it. She contrasts this with her personal experience of writing as a child about things she had never encountered — snow, children with blue eyes — because those were the only subjects available in the books given to her. She illustrates the point further by recounting her experience in college, when her roommate expressed bewilderment at Adichie's fluency in English. Through these examples, she brings her argument into focus: stories are potent, and especially so when many of them are gathered together. While stories have historically been used to diminish and misrepresent peoples, they can equally be used to dignify and portray them in their true light (Hoop, 2014).

When a story about a society is repeated many times, it becomes accepted as the sole representation of that people. Sadly, this has long been the case for Africa. The African continent has been labeled a single impoverished country with little development, a place where natives live in fear of wild animals. This stereotype has been reinforced over time and has, in many minds, negated the perception that Africa comprises distinct countries, each with its own languages and cultures. Instead, to many who read only one point of view, Africa is a single nation with one language and one culture (The Borgen Project, 2015). The medium — the change that can reshape society — lies in each culture's stories being written by its own authors and in society's willingness to accept these diverse views in order to form a more complete and truthful picture.

Whale Rider: Gender and Cultural Stereotypes in Maori Society

Witi Ihimaera, a Māori writer, expands on the issue of stereotypes in his book, which forms the basis of the film Whale Rider (Film Education, 2003). This is one of the ways in which his views and those expressed by Chimamanda Adichie are similar. He illuminates the lives of women who have been assigned a fixed place in society and who seek to break free of it. Thus, while the surface narrative concerns the need for a successor to the Chief, the medium conveys the deeper message that women must find a way to escape the stereotypes that hold them back. The main character, Pai, is portrayed as someone seeking her own place in a society and culture dominated by men (Film Education, 3003). Her persistence and determination to break the so-called glass ceiling — where women face discrimination and are expected to play only certain roles — is powerfully demonstrated. She must struggle to earn the respect she deserves and to make the men around her acknowledge her capacity to lead. She clearly loves her grandfather, but she must prove herself while seeking the opportunity to succeed him as Chief (Film Education, 2003).

The Māori culture depicted in the film encompasses a distinct way of life, religion, and language. Religion, which is of central importance, regards nature as the essence of life. The Māori are a farming community, and their meeting places are sacred. This rich culture provides the setting for Whale Rider (Pearson Schools and FE Colleges, n.d.).

Conclusion

The medium of the message emerges clearly on reflection on both the talk and the film. Chimamanda Adichie confronts stereotypes and offers the world a path to fight them. The explicit message may be an awareness of existing stereotypes illustrated through examples, but the medium is the method of combating them. Witi Ihimaera portrays a stereotype and depicts one woman's resistance to it. The message is how a woman challenges a cultural stereotype in her society, but the unforeseen dimension of the medium is the risk of stereotyping the culture itself.

References

Dodd, K.V. "Whale Rider: The Re-enactment of Myth and the Empowerment of Women." Journal of Religion & Film 16.2 (2012).

Film Education. Whale Rider. 2003.

Hoop, H. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on The Danger of a Single Story: TED Talks for Writers. July 2014.

NPR. What Are The Dangers Of A Single Story? September 2015.

Pearson Schools and FE Colleges. Whale Rider. n.d.

The Borgen Project. Review: Chimamanda Adichie's "Danger of a Single Story." February 2015.