The Comment Section with Drew Afualo - THIS ONE IS FOR THE 808 Ft. Auli'i Cravalho ｜ Drew Afualo ｜ THE COMMENT SECTION EP 72

00:00:00.000 The rock just existing was representation in and of itself, but even then, like...

00:00:05.100 I read a statistic that he makes up something like 80% of all Pacific Island roles.

00:00:10.940 Like him. Just like him.

00:00:12.580 But I would also like to say that he owns the production company and...

00:00:15.960 Because there's eight and he gets all of them.

00:00:18.040 That's awesome.

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00:01:22.700 Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Comment Section Show starring me, your favorite.

00:01:28.520 Everybody knows me, and again, nobody cares about me anymore.

00:01:31.700 Today, I have an extremely special guest, my fellow island yell, the one and only Ali'i Cravalho.

00:01:38.820 Woo! 0.99

00:01:40.000 I care. I like you a lot.

00:01:41.940 Oh, thank you so much.

00:01:43.640 It doesn't matter anymore. Nobody cares about me anymore.

00:01:46.240 Ever since I became Spotify exclusive, they're like, okay, who's on the show?

00:01:50.140 And now I'm so honored to have you.

00:01:51.820 Well, thanks. I watch your episodes. I think you're really funny.

00:01:54.100 I think of you kind of like a big sister from the internet.

00:01:56.720 I'm like, period. 1.00

00:01:57.860 What kind of shit are we talking today? 0.99

00:01:59.920 I get really excited. 1.00

00:02:00.760 I love that for us. I love that I can be that for everyone else.

00:02:03.780 Everyone's like, you're where I go when I want to be really mean.

00:02:07.440 Period.

00:02:08.220 Yeah.

00:02:08.740 Works for me.

00:02:09.520 I agree.

00:02:10.500 Representation matters.

00:02:11.520 I mean, I can't say that.

00:02:12.640 The mouse is like breathing over my shoulder.

00:02:14.800 So, yeah.

00:02:15.520 I look at you for that as well.

00:02:17.300 You're like my tether.

00:02:18.960 Ali's like my good twin.

00:02:21.760 Oh, I wouldn't go that far.

00:02:22.580 Like if we got split in half.

00:02:25.020 Sure.

00:02:25.640 Yeah, sure.

00:02:26.520 You're like all the nice parts.

00:02:28.320 Yes.

00:02:28.920 Outwardly presenting like, I have my talking points down pat and I do not stray from them.

00:02:34.080 Yeah.

00:02:34.500 Yeah.

00:02:34.900 I love that.

00:02:35.500 What's your sign?

00:02:36.540 I'm a Sagittarius though.

00:02:37.680 Oh, love.

00:02:38.060 Yeah.

00:02:38.380 Don't worry.

00:02:39.120 I'm surrounded by Sagittarius women. 1.00

00:02:40.940 My mom and sister are Sagittarius.

00:02:43.560 They flock to me.

00:02:45.980 I love that for us.

00:02:47.080 I'm a Virgo.

00:02:48.020 Oh, my mom's a Virgo. 0.94

00:02:49.460 Look at us.

00:02:50.160 Wow.

00:02:50.480 I'm your mom.

00:02:52.460 Turns out I'm your mom.

00:02:53.540 Listen, if we hang out outside of this podcast, we're going to fight, but we're going to love

00:02:56.860 each other forever.

00:02:57.280 I love that.

00:02:57.940 Yeah.

00:02:58.140 I love that.

00:02:58.860 That is very true.

00:02:59.920 Yeah.

00:03:00.840 That's very true.

00:03:01.640 Just ask my family.

00:03:02.860 I'm so happy to have you here.

00:03:04.360 Thanks.

00:03:04.800 You're a legend in the making.

00:03:06.480 Please.

00:03:07.260 Icon living.

00:03:08.280 Thank you.

00:03:08.680 The one and only Moana.

00:03:09.960 Do you ever get tired of talking about Moana?

00:03:12.240 No.

00:03:12.820 Not ever.

00:03:13.580 No.

00:03:13.960 And now that there's a live action coming out.

00:03:15.980 I was a little careful because Disney's watching.

00:03:18.440 I'm just kidding.

00:03:19.120 I will simply never stop talking about it.

00:03:21.420 I love that.

00:03:22.260 I love that for us.

00:03:23.480 I saw, I think I saw Moana.

00:03:25.860 Oh, I saw it in theaters.

00:03:26.780 Yeah.

00:03:26.980 When I was in college.

00:03:28.180 You went to the theater for that?

00:03:29.600 Yeah.

00:03:29.800 You were a wee baby.

00:03:30.860 I was living in Hawaii at the time too.

00:03:32.660 AAUH grad.

00:03:34.300 Love that.

00:03:35.700 Local kind girls.

00:03:37.420 Rise up.

00:03:38.720 Local baddies are only going to get that joke. 1.00

00:03:40.500 They're the only ones who get those jokes.

00:03:41.700 If you're not from the 808, you're just not going to get it.

00:03:43.580 You just don't get it.

00:03:44.140 And that's okay.

00:03:45.520 I made a joke on my other podcast with my sister about dating local Polynesian boys in Hawaii.

00:03:53.000 And I was like, where they take you on a date to the Rainbow Drive-In.

00:03:57.360 If you're lucky.

00:03:59.620 What do you mean? 0.99

00:04:01.520 Everyone was like, my sister kind of laughed and I was like, the local bitches are going 1.00

00:04:05.100 to eat that joke up. 0.99

00:04:05.880 They're going to get it.

00:04:06.620 They're going to get it.

00:04:07.400 They're going to totally get that joke.

00:04:09.160 The 808 girls are going to eat that up. 1.00

00:04:12.040 Yeah.

00:04:12.280 And you know your wifey when like, Waihole Poi Factory? 1.00

00:04:14.640 Waihole Poi Factory? 1.00

00:04:15.920 Mm-hmm.

00:04:16.240 No.

00:04:17.240 When he takes you to Yankee.

00:04:18.520 Mm-hmm.

00:04:19.200 Oh my gosh.

00:04:20.620 Now they have them on the trays.

00:04:22.460 I know.

00:04:22.960 Instead of just like easy finger food, everybody used to grab the tray and then put it back.

00:04:28.640 Yeah.

00:04:29.000 Oh, I'm so glad they upgraded that.

00:04:31.740 Someone's talking about it.

00:04:32.780 I really appreciate it.

00:04:34.240 Thank you so much, Yankee.

00:04:35.600 It's sponsored by Yankee.

00:04:37.280 Nobody's ever heard of that.

00:04:38.300 That's why I'm like, this is going to be such a specific episode.

00:04:42.340 Yankee sushi.

00:04:45.640 Listen, the local girls who get it, get it. 1.00

00:04:48.060 And that's simply that on that.

00:04:49.760 Were you living in Hawaii when you did Moana?

00:04:51.380 Or no, you had to come here, huh?

00:04:52.720 I would fly out here.

00:04:54.580 I was still at CMMS schools, so I would like fly out once a month or so and just like do

00:05:00.140 hours and hours, like six hours of voiceover work.

00:05:03.160 But yeah, I still live there.

00:05:04.500 It was in open casting, right?

00:05:06.080 When you applied.

00:05:07.280 That's so awesome.

00:05:08.080 Yeah.

00:05:08.240 Open casting.

00:05:09.300 I didn't apply because I didn't, like my friends were auditioning.

00:05:12.940 I was like, eh, I enjoy singing, but I'm not going to make a career out of it.

00:05:15.800 And then seemingly on the last day of casting, I got like an email because my friends and

00:05:21.660 I put together an audition to become the entertainment of a non-profit event because we also got extra

00:05:26.180 credit for school, like for a school project.

00:05:28.660 Nice.

00:05:30.040 And the casting director was from Hawaii Five-0 and she was also doing casting on the islands.

00:05:34.380 And I did my first slate and it worked out and they flew me up and changed my life.

00:05:40.800 That's crazy.

00:05:41.760 Yeah.

00:05:42.000 Like just by pure coincidence.

00:05:44.100 Yeah.

00:05:44.600 Yeah.

00:05:44.800 That's so cool.

00:05:45.780 So I'm hoping to extend.

00:05:47.260 What was that experience like when you like first, because you're like, you said you weren't

00:05:50.960 even planning on.

00:05:52.240 Yes.

00:05:52.740 Making, singing a career.

00:05:54.360 So like, how was that transition from like that to being the first ever Polynesian princess

00:05:59.780 in cartoon?

00:06:01.340 Yeah, it was, it was overwhelming.

00:06:03.020 I also, like I said, like I went to an all Hawaiian school and like born and raised on the island.

00:06:07.440 And so I knew how important it would be to my community, to my family.

00:06:12.020 Like my cousins go to Punanaleo or like Hawaiian immersion schools.

00:06:16.440 They were like, someone who looks like me, who like actually is going to be played by someone

00:06:21.140 of Pacific Island descent.

00:06:23.000 Like, but I was also cast when I was 14 and I was like, oh no, I have to create like a public

00:06:28.500 social media account.

00:06:29.820 I have to, I would send all of my posts through Disney first to make sure that it got approved.

00:06:34.380 Like, it was, it was a whole thing.

00:06:37.760 Like a big 180.

00:06:38.900 A whole thing.

00:06:39.720 That's crazy.

00:06:40.680 Yeah.

00:06:40.860 My mom's like, you can't turn out like Miley Cyrus or like Britney Spears. 0.59

00:06:43.900 And I was like, I don't, I'm scared.

00:06:46.620 Just trying my best.

00:06:49.260 Yeah.

00:06:49.800 I mean, you only know what you know at the time, but it worked out.

00:06:53.460 I think you're killing it.

00:06:54.640 It's, we're still going.

00:06:55.900 Yeah, absolutely.

00:06:57.080 I make mistakes all the time.

00:06:58.040 Just, I try to stay off the internet about it.

00:07:00.040 Well, and also like, I think growing up in the public eye is never easy.

00:07:03.360 Yeah.

00:07:03.960 Especially when you get cast so young.

00:07:05.340 Yeah.

00:07:05.580 I can't even imagine.

00:07:06.380 I got cast when I was an old cast.

00:07:08.420 I got, I got into this world when I was an old man.

00:07:11.580 So it didn't matter anymore.

00:07:12.660 But like the beauty of that is that you have such a specific and vibrant personality.

00:07:16.760 Whereas I feel like I'm trying to find it in the eye of the public. 1.00

00:07:23.280 Like you like have a voice and you're like, fuck it. 1.00

00:07:26.700 If you don't like it, leave. 1.00

00:07:28.260 You know, whereas I'm like, still moving through it.

00:07:31.780 Please don't leave.

00:07:32.660 It's all right.

00:07:32.860 It's right on the other side.

00:07:34.140 I promise.

00:07:35.180 You know, when that came out too, when the movie actually came out, very exciting time

00:07:40.200 for Pacific Islanders, obviously.

00:07:41.880 Yeah.

00:07:42.080 Um, we were all very stoked, but I remember one of my friends sent me, um, the, to audition

00:07:50.100 for, to play her in the parks, right?

00:07:53.040 Like in Disneyland parks.

00:07:54.040 Oh.

00:07:54.440 Right.

00:07:54.740 And I was like, well, she sent it to me.

00:07:56.580 She's like, you should do this.

00:07:57.580 When I looked at it, it said like, you couldn't be taller than five, four.

00:08:00.980 And I said, Hey girl, didn't read that first line.

00:08:03.120 Um, I'm out.

00:08:04.120 No, not immediately.

00:08:06.280 Okay.

00:08:06.580 But let's, let's talk because did you see the videos of Moana's in the park?

00:08:10.800 Trying to do it in the very beginning.

00:08:12.140 What is our, what is our specific dance move?

00:08:14.760 Okay.

00:08:15.100 Yeah.

00:08:15.560 And if you, in Hawaiian, uh, in hula.

00:08:17.460 Yeah.

00:08:17.840 And, and, and hula dancing.

00:08:19.240 Yeah.

00:08:21.560 Well, they gave her moccasins. 1.00

00:08:23.460 That's true.

00:08:24.160 That's not culturally accurate either, is it?

00:08:26.220 You gave her some ABC.

00:08:27.040 Do it barefoot.

00:08:27.700 You gave her some ABC store slippers.

00:08:30.120 Oh, that's accurate.

00:08:31.280 That I believe I'm into it.

00:08:33.480 I'm into it immediately.

00:08:34.540 If you don't have the, the, the tan lines of the slippers, the Scots. 1.00

00:08:38.020 Yeah.

00:08:41.220 Yeah.

00:08:41.580 Like, have you heard of, you know, Iam Tongi.

00:08:43.840 Yeah.

00:08:44.420 He won American Idol.

00:08:45.280 Yeah.

00:08:45.860 Congrats, Iam.

00:08:46.500 We're big fans of you here on the show.

00:08:48.180 Congratulations, everyone.

00:08:49.380 Thank you to the Island of Oahu exclusively for making sure he won.

00:08:54.460 Um, when he auditioned, I knew, well, I just knew he was Polynesian, but like when

00:08:59.140 I saw the slippers, I knew he was from.

00:09:00.880 I know.

00:09:02.020 I knew he was from the North Shore specifically.

00:09:04.860 I knew.

00:09:05.260 No, it warmed my heart because I was like, those are the new khaki shorts with the new

00:09:09.380 slippers and the clean black shirt.

00:09:11.800 And he looked good.

00:09:12.900 Yeah, he did.

00:09:13.760 And he sang his heart out.

00:09:15.160 808 proud.

00:09:16.240 Oh, I love it.

00:09:17.960 Look at us.

00:09:18.400 We're rising all over the place.

00:09:20.080 You can't get rid of it.

00:09:22.400 Our time is now.

00:09:23.580 They can't stop all of us.

00:09:25.240 Let's rise together.

00:09:26.880 Me just conditioning everyone to rise up.

00:09:28.760 Good.

00:09:29.440 AAPI month passed, but we're keeping up the tension. 1.00

00:09:32.500 Well, it's about time, I'd say.

00:09:34.760 I agree.

00:09:35.540 Well, I'm really glad, too, with Moana as a whole, like, that they had someone like you.

00:09:40.940 And obviously, you know, The Rock is like a classic figure in the Pacific Islander community.

00:09:46.100 So I'm really happy that in the world, yeah, I always make that joke.

00:09:50.860 I'm like, if you aren't familiar with someone, people like really as a whole, and then you

00:09:56.920 mentioned The Rock, they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, because they conflate.

00:10:01.820 They're like, oh, like Jason Momoa.

00:10:03.540 No, he's not someone.

00:10:05.060 He is Pacific Islander, but he's not someone. 0.93

00:10:06.960 Is he not?

00:10:07.580 No, he's Hawaiian.

00:10:08.740 Really?

00:10:09.380 Mm hmm.

00:10:10.080 He's Kanaka.

00:10:11.200 I did not know that.

00:10:12.160 Yeah.

00:10:12.740 I mean, I feel like I can tell based off, like, facial features.

00:10:16.360 Yeah.

00:10:16.840 I feel like I always can tell, like, which Pacific Islander you are.

00:10:20.160 We all look very different.

00:10:21.480 I agree with that.

00:10:22.080 See, like, me and Ali are both Pacific Islander, but we do not look the same.

00:10:25.220 No.

00:10:25.860 So that's what it ranges.

00:10:27.540 But my dad is also, like, Puerto Rican and Portuguese.

00:10:30.280 Yeah.

00:10:30.860 So I'm about as white passing of a Hawaiian as you can get.

00:10:34.860 It's just right there.

00:10:37.740 Well, I think it's important that, like, you're also a local girl, but that you

00:10:41.880 got so much, like, I guess, like, so much protection around you in launching a new

00:10:48.520 movie like that, because that's scary to do a whole new movie, especially one that's

00:10:52.400 supposed to be representative of so many different cultures.

00:10:54.920 Yeah.

00:10:55.080 No, I was really grateful that it was only just voiceover.

00:10:58.380 Like, I also did a lot of press for it because Dwayne was, I think, doing, like, Baywatch and

00:11:03.240 Lin-Manuel Miranda was doing Hamilton.

00:11:06.020 So I did the majority of the press tour, which.

00:11:07.920 Oh, dang, alone.

00:11:08.720 Yes, which is where, like, thankfully, my career, like, kind of started because otherwise

00:11:13.280 if I only did the voiceover portion without any press, that would know who I am.

00:11:17.040 But that meant that I could still go to, like, KTA and buy beans, you know, like, no one

00:11:22.140 was recognizing me in the aisles.

00:11:24.240 Yeah.

00:11:24.740 It's just really nice.

00:11:25.760 I, you know, I'm not, I don't know if it's the same experience for you.

00:11:28.700 I'm sure it is.

00:11:29.420 But, like, I feel like when I'm in Hawaii now, like, nobody cares about me and I'm

00:11:34.260 cool with that.

00:11:36.680 They'll say hi to me.

00:11:37.780 Everyone comes up and says hi.

00:11:38.980 And they're so nice, but they don't, like, treat me any differently, which I do like.

00:11:42.360 No, Drew, I got humbled.

00:11:43.700 So I cut my hair, right?

00:11:45.180 And I have bangs.

00:11:46.440 It looks cute.

00:11:47.360 Thanks.

00:11:47.820 I love it.

00:11:48.440 Thanks.

00:11:48.800 I was expecting, like, a little star treatment.

00:11:52.160 Nothing.

00:11:53.460 Nothing.

00:11:54.720 Nothing.

00:11:55.480 Girl, I saw, you know, Tony had them on, like, welcoming him with a sign on the runway.

00:11:59.820 I said, where's mine?

00:12:00.960 When I pulled up to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

00:12:04.840 Nothing.

00:12:05.440 Where's mine, girl?

00:12:06.540 Nowhere.

00:12:07.720 Walked off sweating just like everybody else.

00:12:09.840 Yeah.

00:12:10.400 As it should be.

00:12:11.240 I'm cool with that.

00:12:11.900 Humidity hits you straight in the face.

00:12:13.440 I love it.

00:12:14.160 Oh, I live for the humidity.

00:12:15.220 I came back to this wack-ass weather. 0.79

00:12:19.180 Randomly cold and rainy. 0.90

00:12:21.320 I know.

00:12:21.680 Oh, it's so gross.

00:12:22.720 I agree. 0.94

00:12:23.180 Over there, I thrive over there.

00:12:25.160 I know.

00:12:25.360 Your skin looks good.

00:12:25.920 Because that's where my ancestors were.

00:12:26.740 Your hair looks good.

00:12:27.740 And I'm tan, girl.

00:12:28.940 Yeah.

00:12:29.400 Period.

00:12:32.060 But I know.

00:12:33.420 I feel like when I go there, they don't care about me, and I'm cool with that.

00:12:36.080 Yeah.

00:12:36.640 I feel like they come up, and they say hi, and they're so nice.

00:12:39.660 But they just don't treat me any differently, which I love.

00:12:42.880 No, I...

00:12:43.700 Because they just don't care.

00:12:44.460 Yeah.

00:12:45.260 Yeah.

00:12:45.760 I need someone who is going to be real with me.

00:12:48.100 I know, right?

00:12:48.600 My God, my kid loved that movie.

00:12:49.940 You keep going.

00:12:50.740 And I was like, thank you, Uncle.

00:12:52.180 Bye.

00:12:52.880 They're like, line starts back there.

00:12:54.860 We'll see you in a little bit.

00:12:55.960 That's how I feel about New York, too.

00:12:57.220 Like, someone will see you on the subway, and you're like...

00:13:00.020 Yeah, New York.

00:13:02.980 New York.

00:13:03.600 I know.

00:13:03.820 I go there all the time now for work, and everybody there...

00:13:07.440 I used to hate New York.

00:13:08.920 Really?

00:13:09.720 Yeah.

00:13:10.320 I just...

00:13:11.980 Landlocked is not for me.

00:13:13.360 Like, that.

00:13:14.360 Like, super closed in my buildings and pavement is not my vibes.

00:13:17.380 Yeah.

00:13:17.400 No, I feel that.

00:13:18.040 But I also felt like New York was very similar to Hawaii in that it's a melting pot.

00:13:21.700 Like, you're going to meet...

00:13:22.300 That's true.

00:13:22.680 ...people from all over the place.

00:13:24.240 Food is so good in New York, too, because you can get anything at any time, always.

00:13:29.340 Yeah.

00:13:29.620 I'm a DoorDash connoisseur, personally.

00:13:32.340 And so, like, New York...

00:13:34.520 I like it now.

00:13:35.740 It's growing on me.

00:13:36.600 I'll say that.

00:13:37.320 I used to really hate it, but now, like, that I go a lot, it's growing on me a little bit.

00:13:41.480 Okay.

00:13:42.120 Not quite the same, though, as Hawaii.

00:13:44.560 A little different.

00:13:45.520 A little different.

00:13:46.460 Yeah.

00:13:46.580 As far as my affinity to go there, like, on my own free time...

00:13:51.060 Oh, no.

00:13:51.720 I'll only ever do that.

00:13:53.700 It's a boy.

00:13:54.560 Everything else is required of me if I have to go to New York.

00:13:57.700 We go if they pay us.

00:13:58.940 Like, that's fine.

00:13:59.740 I mean, yeah, you'll see me there if there's money involved.

00:14:02.100 I love New York.

00:14:03.300 Yeah.

00:14:03.640 You'll see me there.

00:14:05.520 Okay.

00:14:05.960 So, we were talking about representation earlier.

00:14:07.960 So, today on the show, I want to talk about Polynesian representation in media.

00:14:12.360 Obviously, Ali is somewhat of an expert, if I do say so myself.

00:14:16.200 Just by existing, I am the representation.

00:14:19.600 It starts and ends with, like, you and me when it comes to women. 0.93

00:14:24.520 Like, it's just, that's it.

00:14:26.360 Yeah.

00:14:26.740 You know what I mean?

00:14:27.220 It's a short list.

00:14:28.680 Yeah, it truly is, which is why it's so important that we have people like Ali starring in all

00:14:34.760 kinds of different films, not just animated ones.

00:14:37.400 But, I want to talk about today, for those of you who don't know, what we do here on the

00:14:42.520 comment section, is we bring videos that I was tagged in, that are applicable to our

00:14:45.920 topic for today, and then we're going to laugh, kiki, talk about them, dissect them, whatever

00:14:49.660 it may be.

00:14:50.420 So, this first video, I just give quick summaries of them.

00:14:54.500 This one is, in this video, the filmmaker, oh, it's Taika Waititi, is speaking at an event,

00:14:59.700 and he talks about how instead of studios making projects where they just add in token

00:15:04.180 Polynesian characters or token POC characters, when it doesn't make sense to the story and

00:15:08.740 calling it diversity, he would rather see shows and films made by Polynesian directors and

00:15:13.140 showrunners that center around Polynesian characters and stories, right?

00:15:18.000 Which is tea.

00:15:19.500 That's fair.

00:15:20.340 Yeah.

00:15:20.720 It makes sense to me.

00:15:21.740 I also, I sometimes find that when I watch shows that, for some reason, indigenous characters 0.99

00:15:30.980 are sometimes the punchline or, like, the butt of the joke or, like, the dumb character. 0.99

00:15:35.240 Mm-hmm. 0.98

00:15:35.720 And if that's the representation we get, we don't want it.

00:15:38.860 Yeah, literally.

00:15:40.260 It's okay.

00:15:40.920 You can leave me out.

00:15:41.740 Yeah.

00:15:42.420 Don't include me.

00:15:43.280 That's not the story that I'm hoping to tell.

00:15:45.780 No, literally.

00:15:46.540 And it's also not accurate either, is it?

00:15:48.380 Yeah.

00:15:48.600 But it's also, I saw, I think I know, like, the clips of where he's talking about this

00:15:54.780 because I've been seeing it a lot lately on my social media.

00:15:57.680 But he's also talking about how, like, if you have, like, a story that centers Polynesian

00:16:02.500 characters and you cast, like, all Polynesian roles, okay, great.

00:16:07.180 But then it should go beyond that and you should have Polynesian showrunners and, like, diversity

00:16:11.660 inclusion and directors and producers.

00:16:13.940 And, like, if you're going to do it, do it.

00:16:15.960 No, that's so massive because otherwise you also get, how do I say this?

00:16:22.600 Like, you just, you kind of, you get boxed in of how much you can actually talk about

00:16:30.000 of your own culture.

00:16:31.040 And it's like, well, then what's the point?

00:16:32.740 Yeah.

00:16:33.220 You know, if you're going to tell me that I can, like, wear a hula skirt but it can only

00:16:39.320 be made out of, like, raffia, which is, like, it's, like, plastic.

00:16:43.160 Like, you know, one of those hula dolls and stuff, it's like, mm, this is the whitewashed

00:16:46.560 version of my culture.

00:16:49.040 Yeah, absolutely.

00:16:49.900 And it's for too long we've already had that.

00:16:52.200 So I completely agree with him.

00:16:53.540 Yeah.

00:16:53.620 He also makes such unique films.

00:16:55.940 Like, his tone and his directorial style, his writing is so unique.

00:17:00.320 And, and, um, I think even, what's his name?

00:17:04.500 Ian, yeah?

00:17:05.500 Hmm.

00:17:05.860 From, um, just one.

00:17:09.140 American Idol.

00:17:09.780 American Idol.

00:17:10.280 Oh, Ian.

00:17:10.940 Ian.

00:17:11.460 Yeah.

00:17:11.880 He has, like, such a unique voice and, and we're hoping to see more of that on screen and

00:17:17.560 behind the screen as well.

00:17:18.660 Like, if you don't, if you don't allow this space, you're never going to get these rich,

00:17:23.160 beautiful stories.

00:17:24.140 Yeah, absolutely.

00:17:25.300 And I saw him say, too, like, the reason why it's important is because, like, you

00:17:29.660 have, you have these Polynesian people who want to tell this Polynesian story, but then

00:17:34.520 if you have a white showrunner, like, they're telling you how they acted in that story, which,

00:17:40.180 again, negates it.

00:17:41.240 It's like, what's the point?

00:17:42.420 Exactly.

00:17:42.660 Like, if we're going to do it, let's do it.

00:17:44.140 If not, you can leave me out.

00:17:45.780 That's cool.

00:17:46.240 Cut me out of it instead.

00:17:47.300 Exactly.

00:17:47.320 Because they're not going to get the jokes about the Scots.

00:17:49.420 Yeah.

00:17:50.140 You know?

00:17:50.700 They're not going to get the rainbow drive-in joke.

00:17:52.620 I'm sorry.

00:17:52.880 You're not going to understand that the best chicken comes from Foodland and that the

00:17:56.640 best poke comes from Safeway.

00:17:57.860 You're never going to understand it.

00:17:59.500 You just don't get it.

00:18:01.200 That's why those girls. 1.00

00:18:02.820 That's why you need the girls. 1.00

00:18:04.420 Yeah.

00:18:04.900 The Polynesian girls. 0.67

00:18:06.540 So, some of the comments on this video, this one says,

00:18:09.640 In a world that's run by white people and where media is 80% white, no one will watch 0.97

00:18:14.460 a 100% Polynesian show.

00:18:16.480 It will get canceled.

00:18:18.340 Okay.

00:18:18.660 Well, things are getting canceled left and right.

00:18:21.240 So, tell that to your favorite streaming service.

00:18:23.720 Take it up with them.

00:18:24.680 Yeah.

00:18:25.000 Literally.

00:18:25.860 There's a lot of factors that go into stuff like that.

00:18:28.440 It's not exclusive to, like...

00:18:30.400 Well, they act like they're being cut out.

00:18:32.040 Like, for example, I can watch the movie Encanto.

00:18:37.140 Oh.

00:18:37.420 That's not my culture.

00:18:39.380 But did I play it on a loop every day all of January last year?

00:18:42.500 Yeah, I did.

00:18:43.360 Yeah.

00:18:43.540 Yeah, I did.

00:18:44.320 Because I love the story.

00:18:46.380 Like, it's one of those things where it's like, well, if it doesn't include me, I can't

00:18:49.560 relate to it.

00:18:50.380 Well, that's not true. 1.00

00:18:51.960 That just means you're fucking boring. 0.99

00:18:53.600 That's what I'm saying. 1.00

00:18:54.600 Yeah.

00:18:55.440 You only watch films and movies that you personally feel represented in?

00:19:00.500 What's that like?

00:19:01.500 I can't relate to that.

00:19:02.760 We can't relate to that.

00:19:03.620 We've been doing it our whole lives.

00:19:04.840 How come you can't do it? 1.00

00:19:05.680 Like, I've been doing it my whole life, bitch. 1.00

00:19:08.200 I'm sure you can do it. 0.99

00:19:09.220 Making something specific that, like, a community feels seen about.

00:19:13.220 Like, there will always be an audience for it.

00:19:15.840 And that's...

00:19:16.140 Absolutely.

00:19:17.400 Like, Polynesia's also bigger than you think.

00:19:19.480 Yeah.

00:19:20.000 So much bigger.

00:19:20.740 There's Micronesia.

00:19:21.960 There's Samoan Islands.

00:19:23.180 There's Tonga. 0.66

00:19:23.980 There's Tahiti.

00:19:25.200 There is Aotearoa, aka New Zealand, which they're still fighting to bring back their native 1.00

00:19:29.720 name, Aotearoa.

00:19:31.140 Hawaii, like Solomon Islands.

00:19:32.800 Yep.

00:19:34.540 New Caledonia.

00:19:36.020 All of Melanesia.

00:19:37.020 You know what?

00:19:37.400 Shout out to New Caledonia.

00:19:38.480 Period.

00:19:38.920 You're so right.

00:19:39.640 Yep.

00:19:40.100 Fiji.

00:19:40.200 I forgot about...

00:19:40.920 Yep.

00:19:41.300 There's all kinds.

00:19:42.720 Eastern Island.

00:19:43.700 There's all kinds.

00:19:44.460 And none of us look alike.

00:19:46.260 Yeah.

00:19:46.780 It's just like their exposure to it doesn't go past, like, they watched Lilo and Stitch

00:19:54.020 in the dentist's office one time and they're like, I've seen it all.

00:19:56.940 I don't need to see any more.

00:19:58.160 Yeah.

00:19:58.480 I've seen it all.

00:19:59.300 Yeah.

00:19:59.700 Like, okay, that movie was about native Hawaiian people who inherit an alien.

00:20:04.000 And you guys, you ate that up, didn't you?

00:20:06.360 Can you relate to owning an alien?

00:20:07.920 I can't.

00:20:08.880 No crime.

00:20:09.400 But I watched it and I was like, this movie's hilarious.

00:20:11.400 I love it.

00:20:12.120 Yeah.

00:20:12.460 And that was our representation on screen.

00:20:14.500 That was ours for...

00:20:15.920 Can we have just a little more?

00:20:18.480 Please, sir.

00:20:19.340 Just a little more.

00:20:20.840 Please.

00:20:21.660 That's literally me begging for representation.

00:20:23.740 Yeah.

00:20:24.340 Then when Moana came out, that was our next move.

00:20:27.220 Yeah.

00:20:27.640 The rock just existing was representation in and of itself.

00:20:31.160 But even then, like...

00:20:32.700 I read a statistic that he's like, he makes up something like 80% of all Pacific Island

00:20:37.740 roles.

00:20:38.600 Like him.

00:20:39.320 Just like him.

00:20:39.920 But I would also like to say that he owns the production company.

00:20:43.360 Because there's eight and he gets all of them.

00:20:47.280 There's 10, he gets eight of them.

00:20:48.560 We need to make the production companies and cast ourselves is what I'm hearing.

00:20:52.600 That's the only way to do it now.

00:20:53.700 Now we got to force our way in the door.

00:20:55.400 Oh my gosh.

00:20:56.560 80% of all the roles.

00:20:58.280 I'm not joking.

00:20:59.500 That's so funny.

00:21:00.520 That's hilarious.

00:21:01.580 I'm not joking.

00:21:02.380 And makes sense.

00:21:03.200 Get your uncle.

00:21:03.700 And not his fault.

00:21:04.540 Get your uncle.

00:21:05.840 Cast me instead.

00:21:07.760 I can do it.

00:21:08.860 Cast me as the rock.

00:21:09.700 We're built the same.

00:21:10.560 So we have the same body type.

00:21:12.840 I'm sure it'll be fine.

00:21:13.840 Oh my God.

00:21:14.520 People won't know the difference.

00:21:15.500 Imagine like you in like Tooth Fairy or in Baywatch.

00:21:18.240 In Baywatch?

00:21:19.480 In Tooth Fairy.

00:21:21.820 Cast me in Hobbs and Shaw.

00:21:23.460 I'm going to be Hobbs.

00:21:24.660 He's Hobbs, right?

00:21:26.100 I wish I knew.

00:21:27.480 Yeah, I think his name's like...

00:21:28.340 I almost said Calvin and Hobbs.

00:21:30.140 That's different.

00:21:31.060 Hey, that's different. 0.99

00:21:32.240 What the fuck am I saying? 0.99

00:21:33.380 Never mind. 1.00

00:21:34.820 Hobbs and Shaw.

00:21:35.540 I could have played his brother easily.

00:21:38.260 Same here.

00:21:39.040 His brother.

00:21:39.580 He only had brothers.

00:21:40.860 Unless I want to play his mom.

00:21:41.980 But then that means I look older than The Rock and that's mean.

00:21:44.780 That's antagonistic.

00:21:45.740 You really know the plot.

00:21:47.720 Oh, of Hobbs and Shaw.

00:21:48.560 Hobbs and Shaw.

00:21:48.720 Girl, get into it. 0.75

00:21:50.520 There's a whole...

00:21:51.680 Me...

00:21:52.040 I'm always doing PR for Hobbs and Shaw.

00:21:54.720 I'm always promoting that movie.

00:21:57.180 Hello?

00:21:57.800 I'm just trying to keep up with the Fast and Furious.

00:22:00.660 Yeah, it's a spinoff of Fast and Furious to my knowledge.

00:22:03.660 Don't come for me, Fast fans.

00:22:05.040 I don't know your culture very well.

00:22:07.480 But I know Cars Go Vroom.

00:22:09.660 That's all I know.

00:22:10.660 But he is in a spinoff of it and then he goes back to Samoa.

00:22:15.480 And you know when they say they're in...

00:22:17.460 Oh, no.

00:22:17.480 I did watch that.

00:22:18.500 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:22:19.060 The shirt came off, the shirt came back on, where it came from, where it went, we don't know.

00:22:24.080 Yeah, when his mom was like, I replaced all the guns with spears.

00:22:27.840 Sure.

00:22:28.980 Sure!

00:22:29.800 Hey, listen.

00:22:31.740 That's 80% of the roles right there.

00:22:33.260 We're all taken up in that movie.

00:22:34.200 And that is the representation in film.

00:22:35.300 And Roman Reigns was in that movie, too.

00:22:39.200 I remember when I watched it, they're like, who else can we think of?

00:22:41.940 Who else can we think of?

00:22:43.160 They forgot about Rikishi.

00:22:44.320 They could have cast him.

00:22:45.220 Troy Polamalu.

00:22:46.420 Yeah, they forgot about him, too.

00:22:47.900 Yeah. 0.99

00:22:48.220 All fucking three famous ones. 0.99

00:22:52.120 Just put them all in there. 1.00

00:22:53.280 Fuck it. 1.00

00:22:53.800 They don't need to look alike or be the same age. 1.00

00:22:55.960 Who cares?

00:22:57.320 Yeah, there's a whole scene where he goes back to Samoa when really it's in Hawaii, I think.

00:23:02.720 Yeah.

00:23:03.160 They filmed it.

00:23:03.660 Yeah.

00:23:04.080 Which is typically what they do.

00:23:05.180 We love you, Uncle Dwayne.

00:23:06.260 Yeah.

00:23:06.560 And I've met him twice so far.

00:23:09.920 That's about the same amount of times that I've met him.

00:23:13.080 You're in a whole movie with him?

00:23:14.340 So that chick's out. 1.00

00:23:15.600 Because we record everything separately.

00:23:17.200 That's true.

00:23:17.500 So I only met him for a press day and then at the premiere.

00:23:20.200 Yeah.

00:23:20.800 Yeah.

00:23:21.000 Nice.

00:23:21.780 Look at that.

00:23:22.360 He's great.

00:23:22.800 He smelled really good.

00:23:23.520 And he is, in fact, covered in baby oil.

00:23:25.660 He is always.

00:23:26.660 He does smell nice.

00:23:27.760 He does.

00:23:28.140 I've told people that.

00:23:29.220 Sometimes when I, in my interactions with him that I've posted pictures and videos and

00:23:35.420 stuff, people are like, oh, I know you said you were big, but now I feel like you really

00:23:39.560 are because they saw me standing next to him and he looks normal size.

00:23:43.180 And I was like, well, that's, well, that's kind of mean, but it's okay.

00:23:47.160 It's all right.

00:23:47.740 I told you guys we have the same build.

00:23:49.040 So.

00:23:49.680 That's, that's a someone, someone's jeans.

00:23:52.200 I'm telling you, people don't believe me.

00:23:54.340 Listen, you watch your favorite sports, your, your, your football, watch rugby.

00:24:00.380 Yeah. 1.00

00:24:01.140 That's a good shit. 1.00

00:24:02.280 Yeah. 1.00

00:24:02.720 Girl.

00:24:03.300 And then you'll see that every one of us is enormous and that's okay.

00:24:07.140 It's just the jeans.

00:24:08.320 I think there's a new movie coming out.

00:24:10.600 Taika Waititi is directing a movie based off a Samoan soccer team, which is extra representative

00:24:16.280 for me because I did play soccer my whole life.

00:24:18.580 Wow.

00:24:19.180 Yeah.

00:24:19.420 Cause everyone's like volleyball, basketball.

00:24:21.300 No.

00:24:21.820 Wrong.

00:24:22.840 The white man's sport.

00:24:24.240 Wow.

00:24:26.080 Soccer.

00:24:27.740 Interesting.

00:24:28.300 I know.

00:24:28.660 So I played that my whole life.

00:24:30.180 So that movie is based off them.

00:24:31.700 And I'm like, that's the most represented, representative, wait, represented I've ever felt looking at

00:24:37.800 it.

00:24:38.320 Commercial.

00:24:39.020 So really cool.

00:24:39.900 But you really are like representation for a lot of women. 0.55

00:24:44.360 But it's, it's true.

00:24:45.900 We have, you're just not used to seeing us.

00:24:48.040 I know.

00:24:48.760 Yeah.

00:24:49.180 I know.

00:24:49.540 Did people try to guess what you were when they, when you first came onto the scene?

00:24:52.780 Cause they've guessed about me and I'm like, you're so wrong.

00:24:55.140 It's crazy.

00:24:55.740 I just get racially ambiguous, which sends me into like a spiral.

00:25:00.460 Yeah.

00:25:01.460 Just a dark hole really.

00:25:04.060 Um, because I am, so I'm like a mixed plate, right?

00:25:06.600 Like I'm Hawaiian, um, Irish, Chinese, Puerto Rican and Portuguese, which comes from the sugarcane

00:25:15.100 plantations and how a lot of people went to Hawaii and found cheap labor.

00:25:19.120 Um, but yeah, I, I really do feel like representation is so incredibly important.

00:25:25.600 Like I think that it changes lives and saves lives.

00:25:29.020 Um, so I, I just have to like recognize that my identity is Hawaiian. 0.98

00:25:35.720 Um, but I will almost have to convince people that I, I know my shit for forever. 0.96

00:25:43.340 I know. 0.92

00:25:44.300 I, I feel like it's such a, it's such a weirdly invasive thing to have to like validate your

00:25:51.920 own, um, ethnicity to other people.

00:25:54.560 Yeah.

00:25:55.140 It's such a, such a strange and uncomfortable feeling.

00:25:58.680 It's something that I feel like people shouldn't have to do.

00:26:01.260 Does, do people just constantly tell you about their trips to Hawaii?

00:26:04.760 Oh yeah, girl. 0.86

00:26:05.360 All the time.

00:26:06.060 Girl, when Juana came out, look, this is me collecting my, my reparations.

00:26:10.260 When Juana came out, that's all I heard.

00:26:12.480 Yeah.

00:26:13.060 Have you ever seen Juana?

00:26:14.300 Yeah, probably.

00:26:16.160 What do you think?

00:26:17.280 Look at me.

00:26:18.120 Yeah.

00:26:19.340 When, when they see us too, like, cause my family is very like clearly someone, I think,

00:26:25.060 I think my sister and my mom are a little more, a little more ambiguous, but like they

00:26:30.340 still look like ethnic to some extent.

00:26:33.020 Um, my mom's got tattoos now though. 0.83

00:26:35.080 So that's a lot easier to diagnose.

00:26:37.240 Gorgeous.

00:26:37.560 But even now I feel like my dad looks extremely someone like super.

00:26:43.480 Um, I feel like mine's like that kind of, my brother's super.

00:26:47.040 Yeah.

00:26:47.240 So when they see us as a family, they're like, Oh, look at you guys.

00:26:50.640 Have you guys seen Juana?

00:26:52.620 It's like the next question they ask.

00:26:54.400 My boyfriend too.

00:26:55.240 Cause my boyfriend has long hair.

00:26:56.460 And I've said on the show before that how like Polynesian people love long hair on men,

00:27:00.480 especially long hair on everyone, but especially men.

00:27:03.120 And, uh, my, my boyfriend has really long hair.

00:27:05.320 So it's the same thing.

00:27:06.360 They used to say like, Oh, you look like Maui.

00:27:08.060 He doesn't.

00:27:09.200 Not at all.

00:27:10.640 Not even close actually.

00:27:11.940 Yeah.

00:27:12.480 Okay.

00:27:13.100 The hair is there.

00:27:14.080 Yeah.

00:27:14.600 But I guess like brown.

00:27:16.380 Listen, we're lucky to have full full heads of hair.

00:27:19.000 Yeah, girl. 0.99

00:27:19.720 Great hair genetics.

00:27:21.040 Great. 0.97

00:27:21.340 That's why when I make fun of shitty men's hairlines, the thinning, I'm allowed to. 0.97

00:27:26.420 Can't relate. 0.97

00:27:28.580 My genetics don't know anything about that.

00:27:30.620 Unfortunately for you.

00:27:32.980 Okay.

00:27:33.560 Let me get back to these comments.

00:27:34.920 Okay.

00:27:35.100 So this one says they don't use white systems.

00:27:39.820 Make your own.

00:27:41.180 Sure.

00:27:41.960 Yeah.

00:27:42.720 Sure.

00:27:43.740 I should oppression doesn't exist.

00:27:45.320 I mean, we say that again.

00:27:47.980 They don't use white systems.

00:27:50.320 Make your own.

00:27:51.340 I'm assuming they're talking about like.

00:27:53.600 Like make our own system.

00:27:55.240 Don't use their system.

00:27:56.560 Make my own version of oppression, I guess.

00:27:58.220 Well.

00:27:58.740 And oppress somebody else.

00:28:00.720 Okay.

00:28:01.020 Okay.

00:28:02.580 If you say so.

00:28:04.600 Careful what you wish for.

00:28:06.980 Okay.

00:28:07.580 And this last one says it wasn't your reality.

00:28:10.160 So only unless you want to make movies catered to yourself, which would make very little money.

00:28:15.720 I'd keep it broad.

00:28:17.420 Tell it's a fight club.

00:28:19.740 What?

00:28:20.180 Like, why am I watching two men beat each other up?

00:28:23.860 Yeah.

00:28:24.100 Like, that is not my reality.

00:28:25.600 That's not the world that I want to live in.

00:28:27.140 Yeah.

00:28:27.660 What?

00:28:28.180 Like.

00:28:29.500 Girl.

00:28:30.180 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

00:28:31.820 Yeah.

00:28:33.140 Let's dissect that.

00:28:34.440 What part?

00:28:35.140 What?

00:28:35.600 That's why I said like the Hunger Games.

00:28:38.100 Like, I can't relate to that.

00:28:40.080 No.

00:28:40.400 Not even a little bit.

00:28:41.300 Not even a little bit.

00:28:42.180 And yes, entertaining.

00:28:43.500 Yeah.

00:28:43.740 So I think we can always find something that's entertaining and informative that, I don't know, we see brown people in more than one, preferably.

00:28:53.240 Yeah.

00:28:53.520 Just like, I just think it's crazy when you, when people are like, you know what?

00:28:57.780 Like, we would love more representation.

00:29:00.300 And there's been thousands of white examples.

00:29:03.260 Like, let's just do one that's not white. 0.93

00:29:05.800 And everyone's like, what about the rest of us?

00:29:08.700 What about you?

00:29:10.020 You have thousands of examples.

00:29:12.560 Go pick another one.

00:29:13.960 Yeah.

00:29:14.120 Close your eyes and go through a Rolodex and you'll find one of someone who looks like you.

00:29:19.040 I remember when I worked with Ron and John, who, Ron Clements and John Musker, who made Little Mermaid. 0.98

00:29:25.920 And they got shit for making her a redhead. 1.00

00:29:28.720 Like, from branding, they were like, we're never going to be able to sell enough redhead dolls because people aren't going to see themselves. 0.99

00:29:34.660 And it's like, we have come so far.

00:29:37.600 It has taken us so long to see, like, these baby steps.

00:29:43.740 But this is also the good thing about us being part of, like, a younger generation.

00:29:48.120 Yeah, absolutely.

00:29:48.780 We're pushing for it.

00:29:49.740 We're not going to let anyone slide.

00:29:52.380 And, like, it's true that AAPI month just passed, but it's also keeping up that energy throughout the rest of the year.

00:29:58.460 And, yes, creating our own production companies like Dwayne does to make sure that we stay in the forefront.

00:30:04.880 Otherwise, we are trying to, I think, change people's minds.

00:30:09.620 Like, no, I could play this character that you perceive to be white, like, in your head.

00:30:14.080 Because you will pretty consistently casting will see themselves in these roles.

00:30:19.220 And a lot of people are still.

00:30:21.960 Well, absolutely.

00:30:22.480 And that's also, T, about the part about the redhead because they just never say the quiet part out loud, which is that white people aren't going to like this. 0.93

00:30:30.780 Because white people don't see themselves. 0.63

00:30:31.980 And white people move units. 0.98

00:30:33.880 White people buy tickets. 0.54

00:30:35.380 They deem what's popular because they control what's popular.

00:30:38.420 And so they just don't say the quiet part out loud, which is why now when you see so much representation, or at least, like, a sliver more than you ever have in the last, like, 20 years, people are like, oh, it's just everywhere.

00:30:53.100 It's just everywhere now.

00:30:54.580 And it's, like, it's not even scratching the surface of how much media comes out every single year.

00:30:59.820 And it doesn't include POC representation whatsoever.

00:31:02.800 But it's true that they just, like, like, argh.

00:31:05.020 Yeah.

00:31:05.540 It's everywhere.

00:31:06.840 I'm being haunted.

00:31:07.700 I'm being haunted.

00:31:08.540 And it's, like, your entire worldview, if you only ever see white people all the time, cis, straight, white people all the time, everywhere you go, that's a problem.

00:31:18.460 That's not a flex.

00:31:19.760 That's not a good thing, that you have no idea what life looks like outside of a white lens.

00:31:25.660 That's a problem.

00:31:26.900 Especially in 2023.

00:31:27.860 And as an adult, there's no way that you shouldn't be consuming media from different cultures, to some extent, at this point.

00:31:35.000 Especially with access to social media.

00:31:37.320 Like, there's just no excuse for it anymore.

00:31:39.220 With access to podcasts.

00:31:40.620 Yeah.

00:31:41.080 Like, literally any form of media at your fingertips.

00:31:44.160 Yeah.

00:31:44.660 It's a conscious choice you're making if you're actively choosing to only watch things that represent white people.

00:31:50.260 Like, that's weird. 0.64

00:31:52.560 That's weirdo behavior.

00:31:53.940 I think I should make it my mission so that you can't.

00:31:56.680 Like, you're going to see me everywhere from now on.

00:32:01.720 That's what I did.

00:32:02.700 I promised terrible men that.

00:32:04.260 I was like, I'm going to go to... 1.00

00:32:05.900 Surprise, bitch. 1.00

00:32:06.560 I'm going to spread to every single platform so you never, ever, ever escape me. 0.99

00:32:12.280 And so far, it's working. 0.99

00:32:13.800 I'm haunting these bitches, as it should be. 1.00

00:32:16.640 And I think, too, like, even when you talk about Iyamtongi, like, a lot of people, that was like their first exposure ever that Polynesian people can sing. 0.97

00:32:25.780 Yeah.

00:32:26.000 Which is crazy because Ali's been in the game for a minute. 0.98

00:32:28.460 And she can sing, but a lot of you bitches don't know. 1.00

00:32:31.460 Okay, scratch that. 0.98

00:32:32.780 Literally go to any high school in any of the Polynesian islands and you will hear the most incredible voices.

00:32:39.180 Truly.

00:32:39.940 Actually, though.

00:32:41.000 Oh, my gosh.

00:32:42.180 Oh, my gosh.

00:32:42.940 So talented.

00:32:43.960 Truly.

00:32:44.280 Like, in the arts, like, as a whole, dance, singing, all of that.

00:32:48.420 And it comes easy.

00:32:49.180 And I didn't get the singing gene, unfortunately.

00:32:52.620 But you did get the soccer gene.

00:32:54.420 I got the athleticism.

00:32:56.740 We really are.

00:32:57.300 And I got the laugh.

00:32:58.240 So there you go.

00:32:58.780 We're on the opposite sides of the coin, huh?

00:33:00.520 Yeah.

00:33:00.860 We really are.

00:33:02.100 That's why I said, we're each other's tethers.

00:33:04.200 I'm your evil twin.

00:33:06.040 You know what?

00:33:06.380 I really accept that now.

00:33:08.700 Yeah.

00:33:09.160 See, two sides of the same coin.

00:33:10.460 That's the version everybody likes to see.

00:33:12.460 And that's the, I'm the version they're forced to see.

00:33:15.400 There you go.

00:33:16.480 Happens to the best of us.

00:33:18.240 Big sister vibes only. 0.98

00:33:21.000 Okay.

00:33:21.520 Let's move on to this next video.

00:33:23.900 In this video, a man is commenting on, oh, look, American Idol Polynesian contestant

00:33:29.520 E.M.

00:33:29.800 Tongi, my guy, the one and only.

00:33:32.660 Okay.

00:33:32.880 This was posted before he won.

00:33:35.900 Basically saying that he thinks E.M.'s voice isn't that strong and that he'll most likely

00:33:40.020 just win because of his story. 0.94

00:33:42.180 Rude and racist. 0.93

00:33:43.000 Out the gate, I'm calling it. 0.98

00:33:44.260 Rude and racist.

00:33:44.780 True. 0.99

00:33:45.040 And fat phobic.

00:33:45.660 Out the gate, I'm calling it.

00:33:46.760 True.

00:33:47.800 Anyways.

00:33:48.900 And clearly he was talented enough to win the entire thing. 1.00

00:33:51.060 I was like, it's so stupid. 1.00

00:33:53.640 It's so stupid. 1.00

00:33:54.400 I'm so tired of having to convince people that talent exists and that it doesn't matter 1.00

00:34:02.500 what your view is. 1.00

00:34:04.860 Shut up. 0.99

00:34:05.800 Well, just because you personally don't like it doesn't mean that that person isn't talented 0.99

00:34:09.860 or gifted.

00:34:10.760 It just means it's not your preference, which is like a different thing.

00:34:14.360 Correct.

00:34:14.780 But I also, this is another thing too.

00:34:18.120 One thing that E.M. did was like in just an incredible way is he played songs that are

00:34:25.560 close to our culture, playing like Kolohe Kai, like Island Reggae. 0.92

00:34:30.120 When he played Cool Down, like that song we grew up with, a lot of you bitches have never 1.00

00:34:35.500 heard of Kolohe Kai, have you? 0.94

00:34:37.420 That's true.

00:34:38.100 Talk about another local legend.

00:34:40.420 But you think about songs like that and when he sang a Spawn Breezy song, those are just

00:34:46.280 songs that are so close to us that to see that on the big screen on a national television

00:34:52.300 show is just incredible.

00:34:54.200 And he killed it.

00:34:55.760 He sang so beautifully.

00:34:57.000 Yeah.

00:34:57.280 But he chose songs that represent him, that represent his culture.

00:35:02.360 And I feel like that's important.

00:35:05.220 And when I see like people talk about singing, like I see sometimes they describe some voices

00:35:10.000 as like storyteller voices.

00:35:12.100 So they're voices that, although technically may not be like the craziest voice you've ever

00:35:18.240 heard, like they're not like whistle notes.

00:35:19.200 The riffs.

00:35:19.960 Yeah.

00:35:20.200 But they tell a story, they move you, they make you feel something, which is the whole

00:35:25.360 point of music.

00:35:26.280 That is well said.

00:35:27.320 Yeah.

00:35:27.600 So they're saying storyteller voices are just as important as ones that are like one of

00:35:32.040 a kind voices, which I think his is too.

00:35:34.660 Yeah.

00:35:34.920 But like, you know, whenever they think about someone who can sing crazy, crazy talented,

00:35:39.380 they reference people like Mariah Carey or like Michael Jackson or something like that,

00:35:43.820 which obviously those people are talented.

00:35:45.380 I just think it's just like apples and oranges.

00:35:46.920 You can't really compare them because they're different lanes.

00:35:49.520 Yeah.

00:35:50.440 What do I know?

00:35:51.220 I'm just a lung head who can't sing.

00:35:54.280 I agree with everything that you said.

00:35:57.220 Yeah.

00:35:57.560 I have such a hard time convincing people that to just watch things that are out of their

00:36:03.960 usual range.

00:36:05.800 Mm hmm.

00:36:07.160 Well, it's also like it feels telling when they look a certain way, because here's the real

00:36:16.720 tea.

00:36:17.000 There are many artists who are their voices are OK.

00:36:21.920 They're good.

00:36:22.620 They're they're solid, but they're much more marketable.

00:36:27.160 What that means is they're palatable like people.

00:36:29.620 They have nice to look at thin.

00:36:31.260 Right.

00:36:31.640 A lot of times white.

00:36:32.940 There are plenty of people like that who have careers.

00:36:35.960 But then you see someone like I am and you're like, well, who am I going to market that

00:36:40.380 guy to?

00:36:41.500 Hmm.

00:36:43.280 That's racism, babe. 0.98

00:36:44.960 And whatever else, whatever other kind of internalized biases you got going on in here.

00:36:49.380 That is so right.

00:36:50.880 You're not being honest with yourself when you judge him so harshly like that instead

00:36:54.600 of holding everyone to the same standards.

00:36:57.020 Yeah.

00:36:57.300 I mean, yes.

00:36:58.240 There's plenty of examples of people who are mediocre and still have singing careers.

00:37:03.060 You know who I'm talking about.

00:37:05.020 I don't even know who I'm talking about, but I'm sure you thought of a name.

00:37:08.040 I thought of a few.

00:37:09.180 And some of these comments prove that because like this one says, bro, you're exactly right.

00:37:15.820 He's not marketable unless he becomes like a Jimmy Buffett 2.0.

00:37:20.900 He has one sound.

00:37:22.220 That's it.

00:37:22.800 Jimmy Buffett.

00:37:24.800 80s?

00:37:25.840 Is Jimmy Buffett a singer?

00:37:29.860 60s.

00:37:30.540 Sorry, mom.

00:37:32.040 60s.

00:37:32.760 60s.

00:37:33.360 Jimmy Buffett like the restaurant?

00:37:36.220 Okay.

00:37:36.780 He's a white guy who plays on the beach.

00:37:39.180 Hmm.

00:37:40.280 It's like, I wonder why you like Jimmy Buffett and not Ian.

00:37:44.320 Hmm.

00:37:45.520 I'm only going to scratch my head about that one.

00:37:48.420 Jimmy Buffett of all the people you could compare him to?

00:37:50.480 I know.

00:37:51.180 Jimmy Buffett 2.0.

00:37:52.840 What?

00:37:53.760 Bring him back.

00:37:54.880 I didn't even know he was a singer.

00:37:55.960 I miss Margaritaville.

00:37:57.120 Yeah, we've been a Margaritaville 2.0.

00:37:58.320 Do you remember the Jimmy Buffetts that used to be in Waikiki?

00:38:01.940 No.

00:38:02.500 You don't remember that?

00:38:03.500 No.

00:38:04.180 Girl.

00:38:04.960 They had some fire-ass nachos.

00:38:06.760 My friend used to serve there and she used to give us nachos for free, even though she

00:38:10.540 wasn't supposed to.

00:38:12.120 I love her.

00:38:12.760 Say her name.

00:38:13.400 Say her name.

00:38:13.900 I can't.

00:38:15.880 I can't say her name, but you know who you are, girl.

00:38:19.000 Love you, girl.

00:38:19.840 And they tore it down, built something else.

00:38:23.920 Don't even know what's there now.

00:38:25.640 But I used to go there when I was in college.

00:38:28.280 I think it's just like, I think that sometimes people aren't, they just aren't being honest

00:38:34.700 with why they don't like certain people.

00:38:37.140 Because if, I have this like theory that like, if everyone was truly honest about why they

00:38:43.620 don't like certain people in the public sphere, so like whether they're actors, singers, whatever

00:38:47.640 it may be, if you were actually 100% honest with yourself, a lot of times you would find

00:38:53.040 out that you're just a hater.

00:38:54.680 Yeah.

00:38:55.180 And that's tea.

00:38:56.060 It's okay.

00:38:57.060 We've all been a hater at some point.

00:38:58.640 Some of us are still struggling with it.

00:39:00.460 But sometimes when you think, I really don't like that guy, I can't think of why.

00:39:04.380 Maybe you're a hater.

00:39:05.720 Yeah.

00:39:06.540 Maybe you're jealous.

00:39:07.500 You have some type of internal bias.

00:39:09.600 Biases, something.

00:39:10.340 Yeah.

00:39:11.220 Something's in there, babe.

00:39:12.660 And I know because it's happened to me too.

00:39:14.160 I'm like, why do I not like this person?

00:39:15.760 I'm a hater.

00:39:17.820 Wait, I kind of went full circle though.

00:39:20.660 Because I love her content because I feel like you give voice to like my inner demons,

00:39:26.420 right?

00:39:26.620 But you've actually like gone through the whole thing of the thought process.

00:39:31.900 Oh gosh.

00:39:32.520 Well, I think self-reflection is important, especially as an adult, as like a contributing

00:39:37.360 member to society.

00:39:38.580 It's important that you stay in tune in here and be honest with yourself.

00:39:42.640 So sometimes, especially when you talk about internalized misogyny.

00:39:47.820 So like naturally, if you're someone who identifies as a woman and you're raised in a patriarchal

00:39:52.760 society, your natural inclination is to demonize women. 0.97

00:39:55.840 Like is to compete with them, is to feel like, you know, this kind of nagging, almost

00:40:03.600 irritation or annoyance with them, depending on who it is, especially if it's someone that

00:40:07.380 you feel like is of equal or higher value than you.

00:40:10.940 But that's like a patriarchal, that's internalized misogyny.

00:40:14.080 Like you comparing yourself to other women and being judgmental of other women.

00:40:17.000 Right.

00:40:17.440 Because we don't have that same scale for men, which is true because they don't, you know, 1.00

00:40:22.840 theirs is like fostered as like a, oh, that's a great thing.

00:40:25.740 Like teamwork, let's all work together.

00:40:27.340 For women, it's like there can only be one of us. 1.00

00:40:30.320 So when I've unlearned and undid a lot of my own internalized misogyny, like sometimes

00:40:36.200 if I felt like I was having like private beef with another girl, if I sat with myself, I'm

00:40:42.220 like, maybe I'm just being a hater.

00:40:44.420 Yeah.

00:40:45.160 Maybe I'm being annoying and I need to relax.

00:40:48.140 Yeah.

00:40:48.680 And it helps.

00:40:49.560 It helps you.

00:40:50.380 Makes you a better person, I think.

00:40:51.480 Yeah, I've also had that crabs in a barrel mentality.

00:40:55.340 Yep.

00:40:55.860 Where like, which I've had specifically coming from like the islands as well, where like

00:41:01.700 you're going to, you're making it, you're trying so hard and someone's going to pull

00:41:04.760 you down.

00:41:05.600 And if I, if I do that to other women, I'm not surprised that other people would do that 1.00

00:41:12.540 to us.

00:41:13.060 Like even in a, like a Polynesian representation kind of way of like, oh, you already have like

00:41:18.700 your representation.

00:41:19.600 Like you're fine.

00:41:20.540 Absolutely.

00:41:20.940 And that's, that's another thing too, that you have to tie it back to representation

00:41:25.300 is like, I think where we kind of eat our, we, we kind of eat ourselves up like that.

00:41:32.120 If we're like, oh, like for example, if you hear like the rock gets 80% of Polynesian

00:41:37.280 rolls, which again is because there's like two and he gets one of them, you know what I'm

00:41:41.360 saying?

00:41:41.940 And there's nobody else who can, who can fill in the other slot, um, which is not his fault.

00:41:47.920 That's just like a system problem.

00:41:49.340 So maybe sometimes Polynesian people would be like, I'm sick of seeing him. 0.89

00:41:53.180 I'm sick of seeing him play every Polynesian role.

00:41:55.640 Well, there's nobody else.

00:41:56.820 Right.

00:41:57.220 But it's also like, it turns us against each other.

00:41:59.860 Yeah.

00:42:00.280 Instead of focusing on the real problem, which is why is there nobody else?

00:42:03.600 And why are there only two roles every three, four or five, six years?

00:42:08.020 You know what I mean?

00:42:08.520 Yeah.

00:42:09.180 And I, I took it back on that comment that was saying like, we should make our own system.

00:42:13.060 Like this is the system.

00:42:14.340 We are in it.

00:42:15.420 Yeah.

00:42:15.680 We're like currently existing.

00:42:16.940 As much as I would love to make our own like BET channel, but like call it P-E-T. 0.95

00:42:23.680 Entertainment channel.

00:42:24.400 Yeah.

00:42:25.100 It's just, it's not going to happen.

00:42:26.760 So instead we have to make podcasts.

00:42:29.260 Yeah.

00:42:29.520 We have to infiltrate in other ways.

00:42:31.100 Yeah.

00:42:31.460 Which we're doing now.

00:42:32.560 Yes.

00:42:32.980 I did that with this.

00:42:34.100 Ali did it with Juana. 0.97

00:42:35.820 EM's doing it with American Idol. 0.98

00:42:37.060 Yeah.

00:42:37.320 Like we're just bleeding into all different forms and.

00:42:40.160 Slow but steady.

00:42:40.980 Yeah.

00:42:41.300 Truly.

00:42:41.760 Until we can all make our own seven bucks productions and cast ourselves into our own stuff.

00:42:45.380 And then you guys never hear the end of us.

00:42:47.940 No.

00:42:48.280 Okay, this next comment says, be honest, I heard him sing and said that's below average.

00:42:55.640 I hear better every time.

00:42:59.180 I'm at a, I don't know what that word is supposed to say.

00:43:01.400 It says like M-A-R-A-E.

00:43:03.400 Marae.

00:43:04.180 Marae.

00:43:05.140 It's like a Samoan like, like a community house. 0.99

00:43:08.440 Again, there are so many fucking talented people coming out of Polynesia. 0.98

00:43:12.280 Like it's not our fault that you haven't. 0.98

00:43:15.880 Let's see you do it then.

00:43:17.140 I know.

00:43:18.840 That's why I'm like, I was like, oh, my eye.

00:43:21.140 I don't.

00:43:22.500 Yeah.

00:43:23.240 Strange word.

00:43:23.820 I don't think I've ever heard that word for.

00:43:25.860 But we have like so many beautiful like choirs.

00:43:28.580 And I think it comes from also a lot of our storytelling and our history is through, is, is only verbal.

00:43:36.740 Like we don't have a written, we didn't have a written language.

00:43:40.060 At least I can speak from Hawaiian culture.

00:43:42.080 Like, so we would sing our mo'oku oh ho.

00:43:45.980 Mo'oku oh ho is like our genealogy from generations back. 0.98

00:43:49.360 Like we're used to, we're used to it.

00:43:51.780 And it's a beautiful language.

00:43:53.180 Yeah, absolutely.

00:43:54.280 Yeah.

00:43:54.580 And it was one of the only ways we kept culture alive while being colonized.

00:43:59.400 Correct.

00:43:59.900 It was through song.

00:44:01.040 It was through song and dance.

00:44:02.600 Yes.

00:44:02.900 Right.

00:44:03.040 And any other kind of cultural practice like in Samoan culture.

00:44:06.360 It's like the, like the tribal tattoo is another way that we preserve cultural practice.

00:44:12.580 I remember when I first started like growing a platform and people were like curious what I was.

00:44:19.480 And I told them I'm Samoan.

00:44:21.560 I would always get questions about tattoos.

00:44:24.700 And specifically they would say like, I'm not Samoan, but is it cool if I get a tribal?

00:44:32.300 No.

00:44:34.180 Hey.

00:44:35.140 No.

00:44:35.360 There's, well, there's meaning behind every inch of it.

00:44:37.760 I actually just got mine.

00:44:40.560 Beautiful.

00:44:42.080 Did you get the tapping?

00:44:43.540 No.

00:44:43.820 Or just the gun?

00:44:44.520 Yeah.

00:44:44.720 Mine is just the gun, but I'm looking forward to getting, we call it cacao where, yeah,

00:44:50.240 it's the, it's the.

00:44:51.400 The tapping.

00:44:52.580 Mm-hmm.

00:44:53.260 But the, the artist that I, I want to see, like you also can't control where it goes on

00:44:57.480 your body.

00:44:58.020 That's right.

00:44:58.660 And that's, and that's the story.

00:45:00.240 Like you, you taught in the process of getting a tattoo is also completely different from like a,

00:45:05.100 a different, a Western mentality where you describe what you've been through.

00:45:09.320 You describe your life.

00:45:10.160 You describe your family name, where you come from and where you're going.

00:45:13.300 Like I have a lot of, um, like seafaring birds because I always want to find my way back

00:45:18.780 home.

00:45:19.260 Yeah.

00:45:19.660 And then I have the kukia imauna symbol, which is, uh, we're like still fighting to have like

00:45:26.000 our, our sacred land back.

00:45:27.760 Like, and, and so I have that symbol embedded in it.

00:45:30.380 I have like stars.

00:45:31.320 I have like, I, I understand every inch of it and it also fits like the, the placement

00:45:36.840 of it is important.

00:45:38.120 And, and like the little, you used to have little manu, little teeth.

00:45:41.160 Like, I know I have like, I've, I've talked about this before cause some people are like

00:45:46.140 really racist about my tattoo, but this is like Samoan tribal.

00:45:49.600 This is, um, malu on the hand, which is typically given on the, the thighs for women. 0.94

00:45:56.220 Um, but it's for chiefly women of chiefly bloodlines and my mom's bloodline is chiefly. 0.85

00:46:03.780 I believe my dad might have chief in his bloodline too, but I know for a fact, my mom's maiden

00:46:08.300 name is Maunga.

00:46:09.660 So it's like holds a lot of power and last names are really important in our cultures, 1.00

00:46:13.220 which is why when people botch my last name, that's you being racist, bitch. 1.00

00:46:16.760 And I've said it before and I'll say it again. 0.98

00:46:18.540 So our last names hold a lot of power, which is why I'm really proud of my last name and

00:46:24.760 yours too.

00:46:25.600 And your first name, your first name is also Hawaiian, which I love.

00:46:29.060 I thought for a while of just going by Auli'i or taking my mom's, mom's maiden name of Ke'ana'aina.

00:46:36.000 But I also like, there's also something to be said about representation for like mixed kids.

00:46:42.120 Yeah, absolutely.

00:46:43.120 That's the, it's the world that we're living in.

00:46:44.580 You're represented of multiple cultures.

00:46:46.160 Yeah.

00:46:46.520 Yeah.

00:46:46.760 Yeah.

00:46:47.120 Um, but my mom's, mom's name is Ke'ana'aina.

00:46:51.080 And like, it's true that it, they just have so much more meaning, you know, like, like

00:46:56.340 person of the land.

00:46:57.400 Yeah.

00:46:57.680 And like, I also have chiefly blood in me.

00:46:59.400 And it's like, it's fun that we also know that, like we know our history.

00:47:03.300 Yeah.

00:47:03.560 We've learned it from when we were really young.

00:47:05.060 I know.

00:47:05.560 So that's why.

00:47:06.080 Yeah, absolutely.

00:47:07.300 And it's passed down through like stories and everything too, which is why I always tell

00:47:13.560 people, if you have to ask me, the answer is no.

00:47:18.300 Should I get that?

00:47:19.480 Can I?

00:47:20.240 No.

00:47:21.020 And that's okay. 1.00

00:47:22.160 You can tattoo a literal dick on your arm if you want it. 1.00

00:47:25.140 Like you could tattoo any, you could write shit on your arm if you really wanted to. 1.00

00:47:28.740 You can get anything in the entire world. 0.99

00:47:31.100 You don't have to get something that belongs to us.

00:47:33.640 Like.

00:47:33.840 That's a good point.

00:47:34.340 If you have to ask, the answer is probably no.

00:47:36.260 The answer is probably no.

00:47:36.960 If you have to, if you have to gut check with me, the answer is probably no.

00:47:40.600 And I've already said that.

00:47:41.600 I've said it many, many times, which is so funny.

00:47:44.400 Um, I, back to the, the colonization part of like passing down culture.

00:47:47.960 Um, one of my cousins was telling me recently, um, and obviously he's someone too, that,

00:47:52.660 uh, there are a lot of someone that are Mormon, right?

00:47:55.600 Um, which is obviously colonization.

00:47:57.340 But, um, they said a lot of them were Mormon because Mormon was one of the few religions

00:48:02.460 that let them keep their cultural practice.

00:48:04.860 So they let them keep their last names.

00:48:06.720 They let them still dance.

00:48:08.300 They let them still make food the way they wanted and speak in their language.

00:48:12.700 Whereas, cause someone's a dying language, just like I think Hawaiian's a dying language

00:48:16.260 too.

00:48:17.260 Most indigenous languages are.

00:48:18.920 Um, so Mormonism was one of the only religions that let them keep that. 0.86

00:48:23.720 Wow.

00:48:24.160 So there's many more Mormons than anything, but like, yeah, there are some Christians and

00:48:29.120 Catholics too, but.

00:48:30.640 Yeah.

00:48:31.340 That's so true.

00:48:32.180 Like translating our hymns into our native language.

00:48:35.280 Absolutely.

00:48:36.440 Which is crazy to think about because even then they were like, well, can I still do my

00:48:42.640 own thing?

00:48:43.600 Right.

00:48:43.960 Can we still wear that?

00:48:44.540 Like the lava lava?

00:48:45.340 Yeah.

00:48:45.880 Yeah.

00:48:46.360 Yeah.

00:48:46.720 They let us still dress the way we wanted and stuff like that, which is crazy to think

00:48:49.780 about.

00:48:50.380 But that's another reason.

00:48:51.580 Like that's another thing that we had to like endure and overcome and are still dealing

00:48:56.540 with the repercussions of that today.

00:48:58.300 Yeah.

00:48:59.020 Right.

00:48:59.240 Because with colonization comes white supremacy.

00:49:01.040 And that's another reason why a lot of biases have been passed down in generations

00:49:04.820 within our culture.

00:49:05.620 Because like I've told people before, gender is not real. 0.99

00:49:09.300 It doesn't exist.

00:49:10.020 It was a man-made construction.

00:49:11.380 But especially if you look at indigenous cultures like ours, we never had a gender binary.

00:49:15.840 Get into it.

00:49:16.720 We never did.

00:49:17.380 And that's why I said when some people want to have this conversation with me, I'm like, 0.99

00:49:19.720 some of you bitches are not smart enough to have this conversation with me. 1.00

00:49:22.280 Yeah. 1.00

00:49:22.600 Because it's true.

00:49:23.640 I was like, that's what my culture, my culture did not adhere to a strict gender binary.

00:49:27.460 There were no genders before being colonized.

00:49:30.160 Yeah.

00:49:30.420 Everything all goes back to the same center point.

00:49:32.700 So when you ask me a superficial question, like, can I get tribal on me?

00:49:36.640 And I say, no, you can't get mad.

00:49:39.160 There's a whole list of reasons why.

00:49:41.880 It's like a whole list of why that's so harmful and problematic.

00:49:46.980 Yes.

00:49:47.480 And unnecessary.

00:49:48.440 You don't have to do it.

00:49:49.340 Tattoos aren't necessary for you.

00:49:50.960 But they are for us.

00:49:52.020 It's cultural practice.

00:49:53.120 Yeah.

00:49:53.240 When I tell you that when I got this, like after an hour long consultation and the pain

00:49:58.080 of getting it, I was like, oh, I feel like a little more complete.

00:50:01.620 Like, no matter, even if I live in Los Angeles, which is not too far away from Hawaii, but

00:50:06.660 also leagues away culturally, I'm like, oh, at least like I know who I am.

00:50:12.020 And if it's not outwardly presenting, like I still feel, I still like feel the, the importance

00:50:19.040 of it.

00:50:19.680 Yeah.

00:50:19.940 Like that is how important these tatau, kakao are for us.

00:50:23.780 All of it.

00:50:24.260 It's, it's so, it plays such a, it's plays such a strong and vibrant role in our lives

00:50:29.880 and in our culture.

00:50:31.240 So when someone's just like, well, that looks cool.

00:50:34.300 Yeah.

00:50:34.780 It's offensive.

00:50:35.800 Right.

00:50:36.640 You don't, okay.

00:50:37.440 Well, a lot of things look cool and you don't see me getting it.

00:50:40.260 You know what I mean?

00:50:40.720 Because it does, it's not for me.

00:50:42.860 Yeah.

00:50:43.160 So, and that's okay.

00:50:43.860 Not everything in this life is for everyone, but that's why I think that's just an entitlement

00:50:48.100 that some people have.

00:50:49.120 They're like, well, I feel entitled to literally everything.

00:50:50.900 Cause everything's always been for me.

00:50:52.840 We can't say the same.

00:50:54.540 So how do we tackle everyone telling us about their vacations to Hawaii?

00:50:59.860 How do you have any recommendations?

00:51:01.620 Yeah.

00:51:02.180 Yeah.

00:51:02.480 Like people have gotten married.

00:51:04.120 Someone owns a timeshare.

00:51:06.360 Great.

00:51:07.200 Thanks for telling me that.

00:51:08.760 Like, I'm just going to start saying that's offensive.

00:51:12.460 Yeah.

00:51:12.760 I know that is offensive.

00:51:14.200 It's very annoying.

00:51:15.340 Yeah.

00:51:15.540 It's very microaggressive too.

00:51:17.180 I, I've dealt with that before where they're like, where are you guys from?

00:51:21.780 I know what you really want to know.

00:51:23.300 Yeah.

00:51:24.180 Yeah.

00:51:24.420 The answer's no.

00:51:25.280 Yeah.

00:51:25.520 So I'm always like, not far from here, honestly.

00:51:28.640 It's probably like an hour from here.

00:51:30.520 And they're like, where are your people from?

00:51:35.000 Who cares?

00:51:36.180 What do you get from that information?

00:51:39.300 Like, what's your tribe?

00:51:41.200 Wrong native. 1.00

00:51:42.280 I was saying that I went on a road trip from Tennessee here to LA with my dad.

00:51:48.000 Yeah.

00:51:48.580 But my dad grew up, born and raised on Big Island.

00:51:51.520 So like, he has a thick accent that he has to work really hard to not put on.

00:51:57.080 So I was like, dad, oh my God.

00:51:58.780 Like, you know, like fully talking in like pigeon to him.

00:52:02.600 And like the looks that we get of like, oh.

00:52:05.640 They're so confused.

00:52:06.900 I know.

00:52:07.360 It's so funny.

00:52:08.660 They're like, where is that?

00:52:10.040 Yeah.

00:52:10.320 That's such a cute accent.

00:52:11.700 Where is that from?

00:52:12.500 I got that a couple of times.

00:52:13.700 Yeah.

00:52:14.280 And you're like, well.

00:52:15.260 Which in that case, like, I don't mind.

00:52:16.820 Like, it's a different, it's a different sound.

00:52:19.920 And I'll do that when someone passes me and I go, oh, what language is that?

00:52:22.720 That's so interesting.

00:52:23.800 Yeah.

00:52:24.440 But asking if you can get something tattooed on your body is a little different.

00:52:28.260 It's a different conversation.

00:52:29.080 Yeah.

00:52:29.600 It's a different.

00:52:30.360 It's a shorter conversation.

00:52:31.560 No.

00:52:31.980 No.

00:52:32.440 That's the answer to that is no.

00:52:34.640 Okay.

00:52:34.920 This last comment on this video of EM is, it's for the views.

00:52:40.000 The story grabs the views.

00:52:41.640 Textbook tactics.

00:52:42.880 Whatever.

00:52:44.620 Hater, hater, hater. 0.86

00:52:45.340 I'm a hater. 0.99

00:52:45.760 I kiss my mom in the mouth.

00:52:46.600 Um, I would say for stuff like that, I mean, well, first of all, everyone loves a good

00:52:52.900 story, obviously.

00:52:53.940 I was going to say the same thing.

00:52:55.700 Um, but that's not what got him through the competition.

00:52:58.660 And that's also like specifically produced by the show.

00:53:01.580 You realize that, right?

00:53:02.540 Yeah, exactly.

00:53:02.900 You write a whole background.

00:53:04.640 You, and that has nothing to do with his talent.

00:53:08.140 No.

00:53:08.580 That won't take you to the very end.

00:53:10.240 No, it really won't.

00:53:11.000 Won't win you the show.

00:53:12.140 Yeah.

00:53:12.520 Well, especially if the show is like, once you get to a certain point in it, like it's

00:53:18.960 voted for by fans.

00:53:21.060 Right.

00:53:21.440 So you're not telling the story over and over again.

00:53:23.720 You're just like, you know the story.

00:53:25.420 Yeah.

00:53:25.720 And you just watch me every week, like sing and perform.

00:53:29.140 And then they're like, I like him.

00:53:30.880 I don't like him.

00:53:31.960 You know what I mean?

00:53:32.540 Like, it's okay.

00:53:33.600 That's totally fine.

00:53:34.420 If you're, if he's not your cup of tea, that's fine.

00:53:37.080 Like, uh, Islander, you know, voices and songs and stories, I guess if they're not 1.00

00:53:43.640 for you, go fuck yourself. 1.00

00:53:45.620 But at the same time, I feel like, who are you to judge how someone else sings? 1.00

00:53:53.020 Like, I know for a fact, like when I watch the Great British Baking Show, not my culture,

00:53:58.400 do I know how to bake? 1.00

00:53:59.640 Fuck no. 1.00

00:54:00.140 I don't know how to do anything in the oven, but I watch it and I'm like, wow, she made 0.99

00:54:05.000 a huge mistake and I keep it in here because I know I have no right to judge how someone

00:54:11.780 else does something that I physically cannot do.

00:54:14.780 So I just watch in awe and admiration.

00:54:17.600 I judge a lot for singing.

00:54:19.880 I'm constantly judging America's Got Talent, American Idol, all of them.

00:54:24.360 As you should.

00:54:25.000 I should be on the panel.

00:54:26.500 I'd be like, stop.

00:54:26.720 She absolutely should.

00:54:28.380 At least you have qualifications.

00:54:29.680 I tell people like, I want to be on The Voice so bad, but I cannot sing.

00:54:32.820 I can't sing.

00:54:33.640 I can't give you advice.

00:54:34.360 I can be so funny, though.

00:54:35.840 I'd be quippy.

00:54:37.120 I'd be hilarious.

00:54:38.640 Give me Carson Daly's job.

00:54:39.980 I'll take his.

00:54:40.640 Oh my God.

00:54:41.240 You can't.

00:54:41.400 Where I introduce people.

00:54:42.600 I like run a bunch of bits.

00:54:43.840 Nobody's approved.

00:54:45.560 I just think I'm entertainment.

00:54:47.020 I'm there for vibes and vibes only.

00:54:48.960 I think that'd be fun.

00:54:50.760 That's why I said you can judge the singing.

00:54:53.200 Okay.

00:54:53.600 And I'll just be funny.

00:54:55.120 Okay. 0.94

00:54:55.540 I'll just be a dancing clown next to you. 0.78

00:54:57.180 You have the qualifications to judge singing. 0.97

00:54:58.800 I don't.

00:55:00.120 I don't know that I have the qualifications, but.

00:55:02.140 I mean, you can sing.

00:55:03.420 Well.

00:55:03.620 That's more than enough.

00:55:04.680 Oh, okay. 1.00

00:55:05.820 Shit. 1.00

00:55:06.420 As far as I know. 1.00

00:55:07.040 I like your qualifications.

00:55:08.880 I mean, you can sing and you know, technically, I'm sure.

00:55:12.780 You know, technically.

00:55:14.260 You know, like technical terms for all singing and all that.

00:55:17.960 Yes.

00:55:18.320 I don't know.

00:55:19.900 Arpeggio.

00:55:21.020 Legato.

00:55:23.420 Are you impressed?

00:55:24.600 Nothing.

00:55:25.300 I don't know what that means at all, but it sounds legit to me.

00:55:29.120 Teach me a soccer term.

00:55:30.340 A soccer term?

00:55:31.960 A corner kick.

00:55:33.040 Whoa.

00:55:34.100 Where do you kick it?

00:55:35.040 In the corner.

00:55:36.140 I didn't know that.

00:55:37.080 From the corner.

00:55:37.960 Bro.

00:55:38.440 Really?

00:55:38.980 Yeah.

00:55:39.360 Corner do corner?

00:55:40.460 No, no.

00:55:41.020 You just kick it in like towards the goal.

00:55:43.040 The point is to try and score a goal.

00:55:45.100 Hey.

00:55:45.860 Thank you for that.

00:55:46.520 You're welcome.

00:55:47.000 You learn something every day.

00:55:48.380 That's new information that just trickled into my brain.

00:55:50.980 What does yours mean?

00:55:52.560 The singing terms that you gave me.

00:55:53.760 Legato is like.

00:55:57.920 Instead of staccato.

00:56:00.280 Oh, I see.

00:56:01.500 Yeah.

00:56:02.460 Look at me.

00:56:03.100 Now the voice can hire me legally.

00:56:05.120 Yeah.

00:56:05.560 Legally, you guys can hire me now.

00:56:06.820 You have the requirements.

00:56:07.600 More than enough certification, I think.

00:56:10.800 Yeah, I'll sign whatever you want me to.

00:56:11.880 I had Moana herself tell me, there you go.

00:56:14.540 Moana.

00:56:14.940 Moana.

00:56:15.560 I just signed a Moana.

00:56:17.440 Moana. 1.00

00:56:19.240 I guess at the end of the day, all these people are racist and you can eat shit in this second 1.00

00:56:24.300 video for sure. 0.99

00:56:26.300 I just think if I can't do it and I have a problem with someone who can, I'm probably

00:56:33.240 a hater.

00:56:34.500 Yeah.

00:56:35.000 Yeah.

00:56:35.540 Point bank.

00:56:36.020 Period.

00:56:36.640 Yeah.

00:56:37.240 Yeah.

00:56:37.500 I think there's power to an admitting that you're being a hater.

00:56:41.260 I've done it. 0.98

00:56:42.020 I'm like, am I just like the biggest fucking hater or is this person annoying? 0.98

00:56:45.640 I'm going to have to do that on my own time. 1.00

00:56:48.040 I hate men. 1.00

00:56:48.880 I hate people. 0.99

00:56:49.520 I highly encourage everyone to do it of all ethnicities, ages, gender identities. 0.99

00:56:55.500 Just to ask yourself, am I the biggest fucking hater in the world or is this person actually 0.97

00:57:00.420 irritating? 0.98

00:57:01.340 No, Drew, because you have to realize I am like in this industry day in, day out. 0.99

00:57:05.020 I know who like, who gets like a few steps ahead of me and I'm like, fuck, you know, 0.99

00:57:10.100 like I'm just hating. 0.99

00:57:11.680 Sometimes it's warranted.

00:57:13.040 And it's internalized misogyny.

00:57:15.020 Yeah.

00:57:15.440 Yeah.

00:57:15.720 When against women a lot of times, yeah.

00:57:17.360 When it's women pitting women against each other. 1.00

00:57:19.060 Damn it. 0.99

00:57:19.520 The beautiful part about that though is diagnosing it and then understanding it. 0.99

00:57:24.740 It gives you a lot more peace.

00:57:25.920 I know you have a whole episode on this.

00:57:27.300 I do.

00:57:28.020 Yeah.

00:57:28.460 I do.

00:57:29.120 There you go.

00:57:29.700 I tell a joke, but I never tell a lie.

00:57:32.360 Unless I lie, then I'm lying.

00:57:34.660 That's a good rule to live by.

00:57:36.180 Yeah.

00:57:36.720 If you're going to do it, do it well.

00:57:39.100 Okay.

00:57:39.660 So we're at the end of the show now, but what would you, what kind of like words of

00:57:45.500 wisdom or advice would you want to give to maybe Polynesian people who want to break 1.00

00:57:50.320 into this industry, whether it's like an actor or a singer or an artist in some fashion,

00:57:54.920 like what would you say is like your best piece of advice for them if they're feeling a little

00:57:59.520 bit on the outs like you and I did?

00:58:01.540 Oh gosh.

00:58:03.260 Um, I think that there are so many ways that you can get into this industry if this industry

00:58:09.700 is what you want to get into.

00:58:11.820 Otherwise, like you could continue putting videos up on, on the YouTube, on the social

00:58:18.500 medias.

00:58:18.880 That is really increasing traction and allowing our voices to be heard.

00:58:22.680 Yeah.

00:58:23.380 But also not, um, don't let other people tell you what your representation should look

00:58:30.500 like.

00:58:31.000 Yeah.

00:58:31.540 Period.

00:58:32.380 We look very different, but we're, we're making waves and changing the industry from

00:58:37.040 the inside out.

00:58:37.720 And speaking of that, I want to see Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

00:58:41.980 And yes, I will group us together because honestly, if I see two people of color as leads, 0.99

00:58:47.120 it's a win, you know, like a win is a win.

00:58:48.900 So they're grouping us together in a, in a, in a month.

00:58:52.120 Fine.

00:58:52.680 Uh, I want to see more Asian American and Pacific Islanders like behind the cameras, 1.00

00:58:57.380 like as the show runners in the writers rooms, you know, producer, director, like gaffer

00:59:04.160 working on podcasts, like working on in sound, like figuring it all out because it's truly

00:59:10.520 about community.

00:59:11.420 Like people are playing golf on the weekends, talking about how they can get their son's

00:59:16.500 brother, like son's brother.

00:59:19.380 Anyway, like, like random people into the industry and we don't have that kind of community

00:59:24.660 yet.

00:59:25.260 Yeah.

00:59:26.020 So it's, it's a slow, but steady process.

00:59:28.900 And then, and then it's just telling your story as uniquely and authentically as possible.

00:59:35.580 Period.

00:59:36.660 Yeah.

00:59:36.960 I think too, like just being proud of being Pacific Islander in any fashion, it's a good

00:59:44.980 thing, babe.

00:59:45.560 It's coming back in style.

00:59:46.660 If you haven't noticed, I think, uh, sticking to it and being proud of it and talking about

00:59:52.840 it a lot is another way that we get each other in the door because we stick together and we

00:59:57.860 uplift each other and we put each, put each other in the rooms where necessary and where

01:00:03.120 possible and where we can, which is what I always try to do.

01:00:07.140 That's why I've always like tried to platform Pacific Islanders.

01:00:09.920 Some people are like, I've had, I've had two someone people already on the show, but some

01:00:13.860 people are like, we need more Pacific Islanders. 0.96

01:00:16.140 I was like, girl, I'm looking, let me know if you find any, let me know if you find any.

01:00:21.260 Ali's obviously added now too, thankfully, but like, I, I need more.

01:00:26.520 I'm looking, I'm constantly looking.

01:00:28.340 So, um, yeah, I'm just, I'm really grateful that you got to come on the show. 0.90

01:00:32.840 I'm grateful we got to talk about representation, but mostly bitch, I'm grateful for your presence 1.00

01:00:37.900 in the industry. 0.91

01:00:39.340 I think you opened the door.

01:00:40.820 You should audition for Moana.

01:00:42.100 Period.

01:00:42.860 I mean, let me know.

01:00:44.200 I'll play an inanimate object if that's what it takes.

01:00:47.080 Oh, and I mean this, by the way, I am, I am not playing Moana.

01:00:50.660 I have, I have no, um, ego about it.

01:00:57.680 I love Moana for the fact that she is a dark skinned Polynesian girl with brinky hair, down 1.00

01:01:03.540 to her butt and like an athletic body type. 1.00

01:01:06.240 And I'm very happy to see that role in a live action sense, go to someone who looks like 0.64

01:01:10.200 that.

01:01:10.480 So if you like, the casting is open right now.

01:01:12.940 Period.

01:01:14.060 Please do.

01:01:14.860 Please.

01:01:15.180 I highly, highly encourage all my Pacific Islander brothers and sisters to apply for

01:01:22.200 the, for the role.

01:01:23.860 Like go for the role.

01:01:24.640 Like you never know.

01:01:25.320 And other roles.

01:01:26.260 Like play Moana's dad.

01:01:28.040 Every role.

01:01:29.740 But you saw like Ali, you talked about how like hers came on a coincidence, like a random

01:01:34.540 coincidence.

01:01:34.940 That could very easily be all.

01:01:37.360 And some people, someone I tweeted about, uh, when you had announced that you're, you're

01:01:41.600 stepping into a producer role more.

01:01:43.440 So everyone was really happy about that, which is so sick.

01:01:46.560 I'm so happy that you, um, said that publicly, which is so strong and powerful.

01:01:51.960 But when I was, uh, I retweeted it and I was like basically saying like, I'll play literally 0.98

01:01:57.220 anything like, I'll play a canoe, bitch. 1.00

01:02:00.380 I don't care. 1.00

01:02:01.560 Give me any role. 1.00

01:02:02.740 I'll be a background bitch. 1.00

01:02:03.620 I don't care. 1.00

01:02:04.080 I don't care.

01:02:04.580 I'll collect coconuts. 1.00

01:02:05.440 I don't give a shit. 0.99

01:02:05.960 I love that. 0.99

01:02:06.900 Yeah.

01:02:07.180 I don't have Twitter anymore.

01:02:08.360 I didn't know that.

01:02:09.080 I didn't know.

01:02:09.700 Yeah.

01:02:09.980 So I, I talked about that.

01:02:11.100 Some people were like, oh, you should play Moana. 0.98

01:02:12.780 Girl.

01:02:13.640 I'm like six years older than Ali.

01:02:15.500 What do you mean?

01:02:16.280 I can play a teenage girl.

01:02:17.480 I can't play a teenage girl. 0.87

01:02:18.740 I look more like her dad than I do her.

01:02:20.940 And that's okay.

01:02:23.080 I'll play the dad too.

01:02:24.140 Listen, I don't care.

01:02:25.140 But I did say that I really want to see that role go to someone else.

01:02:31.320 I really want to see it go to someone like I, again, I, I can't even sing either on top

01:02:36.300 of that.

01:02:36.560 So I'm, I'm not qualified, but I'm so excited to see who it goes to and who comes up next.

01:02:44.500 It's going to be a big, wide open door for all of us to run through, which is like, this

01:02:48.900 is how it starts.

01:02:49.520 We start in these little batches and we'll work our way up to bigger stuff.

01:02:53.760 And then I step on the mouse's toes and I go, no, representation, mean it when you

01:02:59.500 say it.

01:03:00.260 Well, and that's another thing that we just talked about.

01:03:02.560 You being in a, in a producer role is just as important.

01:03:05.800 It's in inclusivity in all aspects on all sides of the camera is important.

01:03:10.660 So yeah, I'm so happy you got to come today.

01:03:12.880 I adore you.

01:03:13.620 Oh, you're the best.

01:03:15.100 I had a great time.

01:03:16.060 My local kind girl.

01:03:17.660 Thank you all so much for joining us on this episode of the comment section show.

01:03:23.140 Thank you so much to Ali for being amazing, wonderful icon, living legend.

01:03:27.400 Where can everybody find you?

01:03:29.160 Uh, my name, which is hard to spell.

01:03:30.700 A U L I I last name C R A V A L H O. 1.00

01:03:34.100 I think I only have Instagram right now and TikTok.

01:03:39.080 Yes.

01:03:39.360 And TikTok.

01:03:40.000 Yes.

01:03:40.520 Period.

01:03:41.200 Yeah.

01:03:41.520 I'm so happy to have had you.

01:03:43.260 You're amazing.

01:03:43.840 Thank you.

01:03:44.240 Adore you forever.

01:03:45.140 Do you have any projects you want to announce?

01:03:47.020 Sure.

01:03:47.540 Um, Mean Girls, the musical, the movie is coming out soon.

01:03:52.040 And then, uh, Haley's On It is a Disney channel show that is also available on Disney plus.

01:03:58.940 And it's, it's really fun.

01:04:01.000 Booked in blast.

01:04:02.040 Grateful. 1.00

01:04:02.600 Period, bitch. 1.00

01:04:03.620 And make sure y'all support Ali in everything she does because she is so incredibly talented, 0.99

01:04:08.460 but also very important for representation, which is huge and the main point of our episode today.

01:04:13.540 Thank you so much to you all for watching.

01:04:15.380 Remember, new episodes of the comment section show drop every Wednesday and make sure you stream it exclusively on Spotify.

01:04:22.340 I'll see you next week.

01:04:23.280 Bye.

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01:04:45.660 For a destination or a stopover, Fiji is where you want to be.

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The Comment Section with Drew Afualo - June 28, 2023

THIS ONE IS FOR THE 808 Ft. Auli'i Cravalho ｜ Drew Afualo ｜ THE COMMENT SECTION EP 72

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