“ SI'OTO 'OFA: Fakatulou atu Maui-Tāvā-He-Akó, (DR. Tēvita O. Kaʻili), and Hufanga (DR. Māhina)...Excellent commentaries on our notorious Demigod Maui and the Disney depiction of one of our Polynesian legendary lores.
Since Polynesians shared a common thread to Maui - the bad boy of the gods and goddesses realms - isn't it true that various versions are alive in each Island Nation? Practically legendary tales that threaded its life through the ages with creative minds of the times?
I am, therefore, wondering when will someone exploits these tales as literary creations like Harry Potter, for example? Since these Maui tales were fabricated out of pure imaginations, why not keep it going with modern graphic literary tales in the Polynesian traditions. But let's not try and limit its boundaries; Maui's craftiness is what made him popular.
And since it will be literary fiction, why not take liberty and expanding the Maui legend to underground worlds and into space? Maui was daring, and always defying nature to satisfy the Polynesian mind on freeing themselves of the confines of their limited and enslaving conditions. Weren't his tales anti-religious and always defying the confines of traditions, cultures, and religion? If Maui was a servant of the Gods he would be a boring character.
No wonder the White Man (Papālangi) arrived with their tools, and the Polynesians wasted no time adapting and stealing them to become Mauis themselves: to defy the powers of nature, and free themselves from their bondage under their overbearing and powerful chiefs. ”