Not Hollywood
Sep 04, 2019
4 minutes
TEXT - LANA LOPESI
When a Hollywood production of Pania of the Reef comes to Aroha Bridge, millennial Māori and aspiring musician Monty Hook protests. “We should tell our own stories, not Hollywood,” he argues. “Our cultural stories are not for sale.”
This is until Monty’s own accidental acting career picks up. He starts to land roles such as “hooded youth number 5”, “suspicious dude number 8” and “thug number 2” for the all-too-common pay rate of “exposure”. But before long, his continual portrayal of the stereotypical “Māori and/or Pacific Island man” starts to have a negative impact on his community,
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