Hawaii Five-No
Every day, media portray some kind of stereotype. Television shows portray characters based on what they think a person of that race or social group would be like. So when a person decides to travel out of country or state, they only know the bare minimum about the place they decided to visit.
Hawaii Five-0 is a popular action show on CBS. The current show is a remake of a show that ran in the ’70s. The plot focuses on a police task force that was assembled to fight crime in Hawaii. Although Hawaii Five-0 does bring awareness to people about the fact that even paradise has its fair share of crime, the show still presents a biased perspective on what it is like to live in Hawaii.
From the moment you watch the first episode, you can already tell that Hollywood struggled to find a Polynesian actor to play a major role. Or maybe Hollywood has gotten too comfortable with casting a white male as the lead. With no Polynesian to play the main character, the show created Steve McGarrett, a former Navy officer and head of the Five-0 task force. McGarrett was born and raised in Hawaii. He often uses Hawaiian words and phrases, but most of the time, they are untimely or inaccurate.
Then there’s Detective Danny Williams, a hot head from New Jersey who is only living in Hawaii to be close to his ex-wife and daughter. The two locals on the task force are Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua. Both are of Asian-American descent and are not from Hawaii. With a high population of Asian-Americans residing in Hawaii, the writers used that as their loophole. Kelly and Kalakaua also speak Pidgin English or Hawaiian to other characters in the show, but it comes across as unnecessary and unrealistic.
People think of Hawaii as paradise, but not much know about the actual history and culture that goes beyond the cheesy luaus that are put together for tourists. American history books don’t teach children that Hawaii’s queen was held at gunpoint and forced to sign over her kingdom to United States businessmen. Neither do these textbooks talk about how Hawaiians weren’t allowed to use their own language or practice dancing hula.
People who have seen an episode of Hawaii Five-0 may notice that every scene is vibrant. This is because the show always has a filter on it to make the scenery more appealing that it already is. Techniques like this are used to attract audiences aesthetically. The show also films a lot in nice neighborhoods, but rarely in low-income areas. This may mislead viewers and contribute to all of the “Your home is so pretty; there’s no way any crimes happen there” comments that Hawaii residents receive from mainland peers.
Local businesses also contribute to the Hawaii stereotypes. “Hawaii Magazine” and Hawaiian Airlines’ “Hana Hou!” magazine only show positive news about the state in attempts to lure in more tourists. More tourism means more money for the Hawaii economy, so businesses advertise Hawaii as much as possible.
Because of all of the previously stated factors, most outsiders of Hawaii know very little about the actual culture that the locals take pride in. Most of what the audiences see is the scenery that is put in media. There is more to the Kingdom of Hawaii than the beaches and maitais.
