The Cultural Inspirations in Raya and the Last Dragon

[@leahgeorge1656]

IT WAS THE LESBIAN SUBTEXT FOR ME DAMM I CRIED 4 TIMES LOVE THIS MOVIE SM

[@douglasgraham9549]

Same this comment DESERVES to be in bold

[@whatcanisayexcept2829]

yes

[@leahgeorge1656]

@@douglasgraham9549 HAHAHA AWWWW

[@saigakale]

IKRRRR

[@saigakale]

@@Raya-fb8df woah thats so cool!!

[@stephaniejade2083]

Poor people in Asia: I’ve had nothing but plain rice with a pinch of salt for days Poor people in Raya: I’ve only had stew with veg and meat for days

[@BuizelCream]

The Fangs not having rice, but have the most aesthetic and beautiful features of architecture and clothing, and literally SURROUNDED by water, is just the most inconsistent part of its worldbuilding there 😅 Unless if Namaari meant she didn't had rice for . . . a few months I guess.

[@iammaberandom]

@@BuizelCream I think they became "bountyful" after they acquired the biggest part of the stone (placebo effect) but yeah, they can't be that poor to not have rice!

[@janibii_608]

Like Rejean said, they probably got richer after they got the biggest part of the gem. Also Namaari says that although the outside looks pretty its not pretty on the inside, so maybe they spend alot on how they look to the other clans to remain powerful, while inside theyre not as powerful as they pretend they are

[@honoluluw]

It made no sense to me because they literally had this "terracing" system (idk how to describe it lmao but it's this field that's usually used to plant rice, the shape resembles stairs) at fang

[@janibii_608]

Wait i just thought: what if she was lying? Like what if it was all calculated? Even if it was true, i dont rly think it would be Namaaris fault, since it seemed her mother was the mastermind the whole time

[@shiromarcelo]

for me as a southeast asian living in southeast asia, i think the biggest miss for raya besides the casting was how generic and western the story felt and a lot southeast asian countries don’t even get disney+

[@parkchimmin7913]

Also, it feels like an “Africa is a country” situation. It just feels like they took bits of everything from South East Asia and called it a day. There’s no distinctions or anything. It’s all blended together. I think Avatar did a better job because, even though they took inspiration from various Asian/Inuit cultures, they made a clear distinction on who was who.

[@seauqis]

I feel like it would've been better for raya to go to the differrent countries to gather new allies and defeat the big bad monster, maybe each of her allies comes from a specific country that is based off of a country from SEA? Maybe her allies have unique powers that tie in with their culture and these powers are used to defeat the bad guy and find sisu? Idk maybe its still too western/ a ripoff of ATLA but thats just my opinion

[@lssmble]

@@seauqis that would've been a better plot idea omg

[@alex.profi27]

But the story it s not for you. Its for american audiences. Americans of Southeast asian descent. I m not from America,i m from Eastern Europe and the European stories from Disney have nothing in common with my culture,but you don t see us complaining 🙃

[@parkchimmin7913]

@@alex.profi27 Dude, not all SEA Americans like it either. I’m one of them. Edit: Also, there’s barely any Disney movies based off of Eastern Europe. The only one I can name at the top of my head is Frozen and that does NOT mix up all Eastern European culture, it specifically based on Scandinavian culture. Mainly Norway. Anyways, I don’t find that to be a fair comparison because Western media has always been European-centric. White people have always been represented in the media.

[@miche8868]

1:43 "raya's dad who adheres to the beloved trope of..." me: DILF? "wise leader/father" me: oh

[@gremlita]

HAHA facts

[@taliasonline]

AH SAME WHEN I SAW HIM I WAS LIKE 😳

[@NT-fq8sk]

Omg I thought me and my friend were the only ones who felt that...

[@pineapplejester7191]

I literally did the exact same thing wtf

[@joshuatutanes4191]

He's voiced by Daniel Dae Kim...

[@lara_xy]

I was so sad about the dragon designs! It literally has the facial design of the girls from frozen.... Give me cool dragons! Not these baby-eyed looking ones.

[@gremlita]

Yes!!! I think it was purposeful and part of the marketing scheme 🥴

[@shireenqasimm]

imo they made her that way to simply sell plushies..

[@melowlw8638]

@@shireenqasimm its always the plushies,, at least one per disney movie

[@hiitsaria]

@@shireenqasimm 100%, but how cool would it be for them to have a cool ass looking dragon plushie instead of whatever this character design is. Missed opportunity in my opinion

[@fairy_floss]

Marketable plushies✨

[@nocchi.9589]

imagine making a southeast asian disney princess but not providing disney plus to southeast asia

[@omu6740]

wait, is there no disney plus where you are? i'm from indonesia and we have it, it's just under a different name for some reason (disney hotstar).

[@MsContralto]

@@omu6740 There's no Disney+ in the Philippines :(

[@OReily08080]

@@MsContralto what the heck

[@animeberniesanders]

The sad truth. By the time raya came out in March, Disney plus has yet to reach Malaysia (idk about other SEA countries tho) which is ironic because of how SEA is the inspiration of this movie yet we're not able to watch it.

[@atheistechoes9594]

I bet thats annoying for south east asians

[@katetomilson2336]

i kinda feel it was a lost opportunity to have a mixing pot of cultures they could have just given one southeast asian culture to each part of kumaandra

[@cessily6325]

Yeah I agree

[@dani802ella]

@@Soulcrash3 In atla they kind of had certain cultures attributed to each nation. They were able to do that without demonizing the culture related to the “bad guys”.

[@thedorkettereads6052]

@@dani802ella Atla also used the real history of Japan's colonization of other nations as a storytelling and stylistic backdrop (but they were able to avoid painting Japanese people as bad guys because the fire nation also had SE Asian influences).

[@dreamsicle3113]

@@Soulcrash3 Yeah, they could've accidently created another huns from Mulan situation. It could've been done well where no culture was painted as the villain, but it's Disney and I wouldn't trust them with that lol

[@danglinhnguyen8376]

All the nations in ATLA also mix different East Asian cultures, Fire Nation is more influenced by China, NOT Japan, and when you have both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom as representatives of one single nation (China), there's ofc no complaints about that. Besides this is the first time SEA is officially portrayed and the producer is Disney now, they're gonna avoid all of that

[@lexidmalone]

As a SE Asian girl it was disappointing to me to not see a complete representation of my culture being displayed. I watched this movie with my mom and we both got very confused about why they would mix such different elements. I as an Indonesian girl would have liked to see garments from my country in a complete outfit rather than bits and pieces with that of completely different meaning. I think giving each land in Kumandra an association with clothing like they did with architecture would have been more satisfying.

[@gremlita]

super fair! i think they probably shied away from that idea due to the regional politics in the movie. heart was doing much better than all the other regions, and fang was considered to be "the villain," so basing that region on one country might be offensive.

[@lexidmalone]

@@gremlita they tend to do that. I think it would have been stronger making complete outfits based on cultures. As religious and social associations mixing between separate cultures can create a generalization of SE Asian culture. In generalizing the true meaning of certain elements can become appropriated.

[@xueyuki9082]

@@gremlita understandable, people began stereotyping hyenas as evil animals because of the Lion King although they are intelligent magnificent creatures...

[@vira7054]

That's right! In Indonesia we have so many culture with different kind of clothes like kebaya, batik etc, why they don't put it as the each nation's clothes in the movie despite using "a random mix matching look a like asian" clothes and imagine to collab it with clothes from other country in SEA, it's gonna be so beautiful and rich!

[@xueyuki9082]

@@vira7054 honestly, and this is my PERSONAL opinion, i feel like indonesia should have it's own representation as a movie and not combined, considering when you said "many", you actually mean THOUSANDS OF ISLANDS with each diversities in food, language, flora n faunas, surroundings, cultures, myths..

[@myettechase]

“I stan Jesus” sounds like something a youth pastor trying to be hip would say

[@wendys9500]

They would unironically tweet #SatanIsOverParty

[@katelynspitler7724]

So true😂

[@harmonetheanimationaddict4419]

Pastor: Hello fellow Christians.

[@Eclipsingg]

I laughed hearing this, honestly.

[@thefriqueisin]

exactly

[@makeilaha6155]

A lot of Pacific Islanders felt the same way when Moana came out. Instead of choosing one culture, Disney tried to make a new amalgamation of Pacific Island cultures which made it hard for some Islanders to relate to Moana and her culture. I'm not surprised Disney made the same choice here.

[@acupcake90]

They wanna pumping money out of it. Just one country in SEA or one one Island country are not enough buying power for an “Investment”. So they think just mixing everything together will draw more attention from every cultures included. And of course more money. And Mulan, on the other hand, China is a massive market. Plus lots of Chinese immigrants in other countries. I’m surprise why they still don’t do South Korea or Japan princess yet. These two are huge markets.

[@anni1348]

Nope, that claim about Moana is just wrong. Moana is inspired by Polynesian culture, Disney made that pretty clear, multiple times.

[@Ransom1941]

@@anni1348 Except Polynesia is a region not a country. Polynesia stretches across the Pacific.

[@parkchimmin7913]

@@anni1348 Uhhh, I don’t think you realize how vast and diverse Polynesia is.

[@brick7515]

@@anni1348 Moana.....like the person.... Is from the island chain known as "Hawaii"... Oceania isn't copy paste of islands

[@wendys9500]

That photo of someone wearing áo dài with no pants is the most cursed thing I’ve ever seen 💀💀

[@dntcarrot]

Omg saaaame. I cringed so hard

[@hannahrose1187]

I physically recoiled from the screen

[@parkchimmin7913]

Tf is up with non-Asians sexualizing traditional Asian clothes 😖 eughhh

[@sugoiiininjadesuu7262]

@@parkchimmin7913 Ikr 🙄

[@vertigoed.]

@@parkchimmin7913 prolly because of the vietnamese war, like in the musical Miss Saigon, the lead wears the exact outfit without pants (bc she is a sex worker). But def whitewashing.

[@livmendel]

i love daniel dae kim and gemma chan, i thought they were great in their roles, but i completely agree, disney should have casted more southeast asian actors in this movie :/

[@slaymil]

and the fact that disney likes to incorporate a lot of their voice actors' acting and facial expressions into their characters' acting (see how much chief benja looks daniel dae kim). we could have easily seen and heard beloved seasian actors on screen but we didn't

[@livmendel]

@@slaymil YES, i saw raya in theaters last night and i couldn't get over the fact how much chief benja was modeled after DDK. i think it's mainly the jawline and/or face shape, i'm not sure. but i agree, disney could have easily casted SEAsian voice actors, as well as sisu's original character design, which i much prefer over the current one.

[@slaymil]

@@livmendel oh you should see the dragon concept art!! we were ROBBED

[@livmendel]

@@slaymil we wereeee :( i'm planning to ask for the art of raya and the last dragon book for christmas this year since i love collecting them from my favorite animated films. i would love to see more of its concept art. and hopefully we get a documentary about the behind the scenes like frozen II and soul, which should be coming out sometime soon

[@angelabby2379]

just a little bit of inside. this is more progressive than others. ex : kubo and 2 strings japanese but almost all white cast. kungfu panda chinese again almost all white cast. and it was amazing, this is amazing but hey all asian cast

[@cloverbaboy]

i grew up here in the philippines and your video just hit home how much colonialism WRECKED my country's history and how different we are compared to other SEA countries

[@technojunkie123]

In what ways in the Philippines vastly different in culture than the rest of SE asia due to colonialism?

[@trydrinkpineapplejuice5911]

Indonesia also experience colonialism from many countries but they never forget their old culture unlike here in the Philippines trying hard to be an american or latina. We are not different the rest of the Southeast asian but only Filipinos still keep themselves being different emphasizing Latina culture and American culture. When talks about Filipino culture in pre-history, these Filipinos proclaim again that they don't have culture before Spain Colonialism. Lol We have similar culture with Malaysian and Indonesian but Filipinos still refused them because they are latina-asian. Mano po with the older people is similar to Indonesian and Malaysian but our country still say that Mano po is from Spain. Even the food have similarity with Indonesian too but Filipinos still refuse to accept the fact that we have similarities with Southeast Asian.

[@cloverbaboy]

@@technojunkie123 a lot of our culture has been erased by spain and from the 1500s and to 1899 we were ruled by spain so a lot of our culture has european influences. Like compared to other SEA clothing, the cuts and silhouettes of our clothes have a distinct western influence like big victorian era sleeves, large skirts with trains, and fissues draped over the shoulders and chest, that's seen in the maria clara gown from the late 1800s

[@sweetpeppermint463]

As an Spaniard, I'm sorry :( we love you 💕💕💕💕

[@instantnoodleskun9336]

@@trydrinkpineapplejuice5911 im sorry but we literally got colonialized for hundreds of years. Our history books are filled of spanish friars literally shitting on our sculpture guardians or anito just to show how above they are. We didnt choose to forget all about it. Please dont shit on other countries history and past to show how culturally unique you are its not a good look.

[@hyelimchoi_]

i look forward to that time every week when mina calls me a beautiful dove

[@byrnetdown6076]

i look forward to that and her wonderful outfitsss she's a lovely human

[@holzlastname1976]

Me as well ❤️

[@justtalkingaboutnothing]

THANK YOU. Finally an Asian content creator that is WILLING to talk about the racism WITH IN the asian culture and not just here to pretend like oh well that was in the past or its not that bad. Tired of seeing east asians keeping their heads down on topics like this, acting like they don't benefit or part take from these disparities and colorism.

[@lucheng1945]

Not everything is good for all east asians either... I'm probably a bit biased, but i feel like westerners really hate China. I know communism is very bad, but all I hear about China is how they make cheap knockoff products, the governent gives you no freedom, and everyone eats dogs. China has so much rich and diverse culture, I cannot begin to describe it. Europeans really messed up our societies and the communist revolutions absolutely decimated our historical artifacts and knowlege. I feel so sad that so few people take the time to truly learn about China. Also, I'm really jealous of Japan. It is so popular right now, with foods, anime, etc. People think that the country can do no wrong. I really want to tell others about their horribe War crimes in WWII and about bad things in their modern society, but I'll just sound very petty and hateful :(

[@mophead_xu]

@@lucheng1945 i hang out mostly on animanga side on twitter and that's so true: so many unironic weebs that think jp is the pinnacle of perfection. on the bright side, there are also japanese and non-japanese jp cultures/entertainment enthusiast that are willing to have that conversation, from jp history (including their atrocities during WW) to the various issues still prevalent in jp society today (lack of regards for SA victims and racism, for example). the fetishist weebs are still loud, unfortunately. and maybe in general they're most representative of majority. but thankfully at least they're not the _only_ voices in the conversation.

[@skylerwhitefan]

@@lucheng1945 communism isn't very bad lmao

[@lucheng1945]

@@skylerwhitefan Hmm...based on your comment and your cringey profile picture I assume that you are young and ignorant. I genially suggest that you go read a bit about the histories of China, Cuba, North Korea and other communist countries. If you are laughing about the consequences of communism than you really don't understand it.

[@skylerwhitefan]

@@lucheng1945 why is my profile picture cringey? it's just a picture of me. also ive studied communism for years and consider myself a marxist. The countries you listed are not even communist, but socialist. I suggest you go study instead, not just believe in anti-socialist brainwashing propaganda.

[@lyatahiri6191]

As a person whose first lenguage is kot english, i spent so much time wondering why South East Asians felt the need to write "sea" in all caps, like were they really that proud of their culture being related to the SEA and just now i realized its actually an acronym and not refering to the actual sea. The reviews make much more sense now, i feel so dumb.

[@NoName-lj6of]

LOL I thought that too when I first heard the term, don’t worry, you’re not alone on this!

[@cousinittcopycat]

Me too hahaha I was like: they must like the sea!

[@Dhdjksjsnsnsnnsnsna]

So many ppl get confused when I type SEAsian. Oh and not to mention the amount of times I’ve seen white ppl go “iTs nOt aSeAn iTs ASIAN!1!1!1!”; like sure, YOU know better.

[@ventii_kun]

Don’t worry, I always got confused about that until I saw your comment......and it doesn’t help that my first language is English and I’m partly Asian.😅

[@yourlocalbuddyhere289]

At first, I got confused too As a South East Asian lol

[@francesdeguzman4214]

I think the reason why Avatar was able to work the mish-mosh of different Asian cultures is because there were clear distinctions between each Nation, hence I felt that there was more "respect" with the cultures that they re-interpreted. However, with Raya I feel that there was not much respect to the individual cultures of the countries of South East Asia, because it feels like Disney essentially said "Well, lets mix it up cause why not" when in fact, there is a diversity in the history and culture of each SEA country. For me I feel that Disney could have used more ways to differentiate each region rather than just using color, and really played on the history of each country. The problem for me with Raya is that it poses as an appreciation for SEA without actually going into the beauty of the countries' individuality. Though I would like to say that I haven't watched the movie (Disney doesn't even distribute Disney+ to SEA lol), and this is all from my first impression.

[@crunchii891]

Spill bestie💅🏽✨

[@Kairikey]

And also the fact that Disney promise SEA representation, while Avatar was more upfront with more of an inspiration.

[@acupcake90]

@Jochi Khürelbaatar they’re greedy. Disney just think when they mixing all SEA together, the movie will draw attention from every countries. They wanna kill two birds with one stone. because just one particular country in SEA isn’t big enough market opportunity/ not enough buying power for them.

[@ianesgrecia8568]

Let's be real for a minute: DISNEY DONT CARE! It's may seems bad, but it's true. Disney dont care for 'culture representation' or the individuality of the tribes. There would have to be an ACTUAL STUDY on the topic and, if they where actually interested on this, make some contract with an expert on the topic. NOT NECESSARY A NATIVE expert, but it's preferencial. Being a native don't mean you know the deeps of your culture. I'm a brazilian and I can tell about 10% of the people around me actually knows your folklore. The point and objective is to make money. And if you sell well enough thats ok. Avatar IS NOT a 'exact culture representation' and they make that their point. They took many cultures and mix and match, but as Frances De Guzman said, each tribe is diferent with their own cultures. Why? Because Avatar people care more about WORLD BUILDING than culture representation. When you 'representation' and 'message' is more important than the actual plot and entretaniment of the movie or show, that's what you get. I just cant repeat this enough: Gender, color and sexuality ARE NOT characteristic features. You character needs PERSONALITY to be a good character. And a story need more then 'a overall good message'. It needs to ne A GOOD STORY.

[@corycianangel6321]

Also a missed opportunity. Disney should have at least make Disney+ accessible to the other SEA countries while they're marketing Raya.

[@brittanymcmcmc9730]

I work in animation. Any details that they didn't include aren't because it's "harder to animate" when dealing with CG (that only applies to 2D animation, where everything is hand drawn). In CG they just build the model, so them not including the dragon heads was just a design choice by whoever had say over that costume. In 2D, yeah, definitely small details like that are harder to animate like you mention in your Anastasia video! But...yeah....it was probably a head designer/modeler or executive's decision to get rid of the double dragon head which is weird because I think it would've looked better. Love the amount of research you put into your videos!

[@_iyakin]

idk if that makes it better that disney "simplified" the designs 🥴 especially after hearing the cultural significance. but ty for sharing the info and respect to your work in animation!!

[@brittanymcmcmc9730]

@@_iyakin It definitely DOESNT make it better... :(

[@dledee]

@@jimlight5137 we gotta keep in mind some of this movie was animated from the homes of the disney animators so it's possible that it was taking too long to render and they had to simplify it to adhere to deadlines.

[@ejnipper9414]

My theory is that it had to do with merchandising. It's easier to produce a simplified costume for a doll or toy than a detailed, more historically accurate one. It kinda sucks that Disney bases their creative decisions off of marketing so much-- I always notice this in films like Frozen 2, where there are a bunch of costume changes for what I assume is the purpose of selling more toys. Just a hunch though.

[@Aeiouaaaaaaaaa]

My assumption was that adding embellishments of dragon faces so close to Raya’s face could have been visually distracting, maybe, since our brains are hardwired to notice them as well as spots of contrasting levels of detail. But I agree they would have been a cool and culturally significant detail. Plus, the artists at disney would definitely have the skills to design around that, so I’m kind of eyeing the toy merchandising theory the earlier comment brought up.

[@MsNinahhh]

I’m Laotian and I felt so happy watching this, I saw so many aspect of my culture represented in this movie and it warmed my soul. Laos is a small country so a lot of people aren’t familiar.

[@gianmarcorusso1713]

It's small but beautiful with gorgeous history :) Hope to visit someday

[@samanthaphomsopha2652]

same here! my family was very happy

[@MsNinahhh]

@@gianmarcorusso1713 It's a beautiful place! Luang Prabang is my favoruite!

[@gianmarcorusso1713]

@@MsNinahhh I know, I do crave for Luang Prabang in particular :)

[@hurricanejay1777]

I'm half and I watched this with my fully Lao mother! We loved Tuk Tuk haha

[@jac8313]

I have dead ass heard a youth pastor say “that’s a big Christian mood.” And yes, it was weird and kinda amusing.

[@Butterflier00]

youth pastors make me cringe...and I'm a christian....glad my church was so small that we didn't have a youth pastor....

[@wynchiella]

tbh im used to that, my youth leader was doing bible study and they said, “and jesus said, ‘get the f**k out satan.’

[@tinymxnticore]

@@wynchiella Me as a Christian

[@Devilcakes]

Honestly... no youth pastor can top Lil Nas X. And I'm not returning to my church.

[@Rainjojo]

@@Devilcakes period

[@angie5430]

Was the question “stew or rice?” weird to anyone else? it makes no sense at all bc you eat stew WITH rice. Rice on its own is not a dish.

[@ironwingartist5578]

Really kind of felt like do you like pizza or bread?? lmao

[@Aeiouaaaaaaaaa]

@@ironwingartist5578 or a “do you like noodles or sauce?” situation

[@bubaaaaaaaaa]

@@Aeiouaaaaaaaaa or a “do you like ice cream or cone?” situation

[@someoldytaccount]

@@bubaaaaaaaaa Cacao beans or chocolate, anyone?

[@kv7254]

EXACTLY

[@vivianp5805]

THANK YOU MINA! being a Cambodian everyone looks over us and assumes our culture with Thai. No hate we just get looked over for everything. Our true origins all lost when during the Khmer Rouge. So thank you so much for your detailed research. It was heavily inspired by Cambodia and I’m so thankful for that. I’m so happy Disney finally made a princess for us South East Asian girls ❤️

[@soph4549]

Fellow Cambodian here, I absolutely agree. We are always mistaken as other south east countries. My heart for once feels like finally someone doesn’t mistake us for other cultures.

[@parkchimmin7913]

Same. I’m honestly shocked at the amount of Khmer references in this film. Holy shit. We’re often overlooked (and people usually confuse us with Thailand).

[@coolperson8272]

Dw, as a fellow half-Thai I completely understand and respect the differences between our two cultures. Cambodian culture is very unique and beautiful, and I'd love to learn more about it!

[@shanicek5188]

OMG same. I was so excited bc I legit never see Cambodian culture in media anywhere 💀

[@Iceyfire12]

Actually the lead of the storyboard artist is Fawn Veerasunthorn who is Thai. So actually it was partly Thai but Khmer history is older than ours so …

[@BiggesBEPfanEva]

i just...mina deserves a mcfreaking medal for *always* putting in effort to pronounce names of outfits, cultures, etc.

[@calsrestarea]

Her Indonesian pronounciation was spot on!

[@danielzhou2972]

I love awkwafina so much but I agree, when I heard she was the voice of the dragon, it rubbed me in the wrong way that the actress wasn't gonna be from Southeast Asia culture

[@RT-dk7yv]

I’ve heard people saying sisu strongly resembles the Filipino Bakunawa, a water dragon! The iconography is super similar especially with the moon/dragon crystal orb. Side note, Disney cast an unknown Filipina actress as Raya before firing her for kelly Marie Tran

[@wolzie8075]

Bakunawa and naga are the same As far as i know

[@flyingpaper6824]

@@wolzie8075 bakunawa can eat the moon

[@mrgreenfox5578]

@@flyingpaper6824 yes, and bakunawa is a type of a "naga" dragon

[@maryfaceeggo]

Do you know why she was fired? I thought it was to give Kelly Marie Tran some spotlight after the flack she got for Star Wars but I was honestly super disappointed because i was excited to see Cassie Steele who is filipina Canadian

[@digmyvids]

@@maryfaceeggo apparently they said it's because Kelly's voice ended up fitting Raya better. when they hired Cassie, Raya's entire personality and characteristics were totally different, and Cassie's voice didn't match up well with the character that Raya became in the end. personally, i feel like it would've been fine if Cassie stayed on even with Raya's changes, but my friend who works in animation and frequently deals with voice casting directors and voice actors says it comes as no surprise that a rewritten main character was recast entirely

[@Domon0310]

I can sympathise with the anger of Southeast Asians over casting East Asians in the roles from their culture. I always get angry when a Polish or Eastern European is played by an American or British person. They're all white, so what's the difference, right? Besides the fact that Eastern Europe has completely different history (e.g. no colonialism, in fact most of it was controlled by other empires: Ottomans, Austrians, Russians and Germans/Prussians, who all treated Slavs as second class citizens, even Russians were prejudiced against other Slavs) and very different culture from Western Europeans/Americans. And when I hear Americans speaking with perfect American accents or butcher Slavic names or words... ugh

[@xXPirate-KittyXx]

Yeah, I’m Aussie but I’d really like to see the American film industry be more multicultural(not just melting pot multicultural). The American film industry dominates the rest of the world and it got a massive foot in the door by pioneering a lot of these industries. Which no one else can compete with, because America is so insular in terms of media(greatest nation in the world, anyone). Like let’s not forget that bad guys often have a British accent in American movies because of the whole ‘Americans can’t be bad guys concept’. Which if you think about that in depths, yikes. As an English speaking nation we are losing a lot, of words and terms because of this shit, I don’t care if this due to immigration(that’s natural) but not because of the failings of Aussie media. Sadly, we don’t have the natural barrier of language to separate us. Personally, I think the American film industry, needs to pump money into other countries film industries but also needs to just put tv shows on with different languages just to expose people to other countries history and current culture.

[@ellaarmstrong216]

@@xXPirate-KittyXx I mean its not really the American film industry's responsibility to kick start other country's film industry's or to tell anyone else's story. If other countries want their film industries to succeed they need to put the funds into it themselves. The American film industry isn't stopping them from making their own stuff. Also, the American film industry doesn't operate as one single entity. Its just a mixture of different directors, script writers, and actors that want their personal creative visions to be seen by the public so its not like one secular operation that can carry everyone else on its shoulders. And other countries do have pretty amazing film industries as well so make sure not to discredit them. Its just that many people don't put in the effort to even try and find them because most people are already satisfied with what shows are easily available to them. But they definitely are there. For example Bollywood is thriving. Also, if you want to see really amazing and accurate period dramas I would recommend that you look into some Chinese shows because China makes tons of amazing shows about ancient China. I've seen some pretty good shows and movies from the Philippines, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, Japan, Korea, France, Italy, Iran, Taiwan, and Thailand too and I'm happy to make recommendations if you want to expand the range of shows you're watching. Netflix has a plethora of international films to check out if you wanted to. I do agree however that if American movie makers want to feature other cultures in their films that they should do it accurately and respectfully just as everyone should.

[@amoixtlapaltic4690]

I feel y'all As a Mexican I hate when in a movie every male Mexican character shows with those weird big hats- like wtf those things aren't used since the Mexican Revolution

[@gianmarcorusso1713]

Same here in Italy :)

[@mnmnmnmnmn]

@@ellaarmstrong216 you can’t deny the American industry has a monopoly

[@pearlhay5033]

Sisu probably developed her siblings powers as a way to say that you are not just powerful alone, but from the strength from family, there is always something to learn from your family members that can make you stronger, and this is resonate with Southeast Asian culture because family is important.

[@corv1d770]

I lost it at "it's a Durian, Karen."

[@Indonesianboy]

😂

[@gloriac.266]

10:03 I too also HATE when people on etsy or depop don't wear the ao dai properly, or call the ao dai a cheongsam/qipao... like really? First of all you didn't do you're research properly, secondly that's just disrespectful, thirdly THEY LOOK DIFFERENT, different material, cut, design, etc smh. I've also come across sellers who call cheongsam/qipao as kimono 🤦‍♀️ or have their models pose like this 🙏 or have chopsticks in their hair or space buns UGH

[@bethaniet2926]

omgg i feel you they don't even at least identify the clothes properly and just write 'oriental mini dress' with a bunch of dragon emojis in their listings and it just rubs me the wrong way so much

[@Cookierocky1005]

I’m Vietnamese and this really grinds my gears too. It’s so disrespectful to wear an Ao Dai improperly on purpose to make it more “sexy” to appeal to the Western eye when it is our country’s traditional garment and is supposed to be classy and tasteful. I also just hate it when people claim that “they didn’t know any better”. Literally if you’re going to wear any traditional garment that is from a culture that isn’t yours, learn to be respectful of the piece and learn the correct way to wear it so you don’t go looking like a goddamn fool. Smh

[@baconprogamer-go2yy]

The ao dai is not Vietnam’s TRADITIONAL garment.

[@RogueVideoRaven]

Keep shading Disney and their performance level representation

[@lysander3459]

Why?

[@_iyakin]

@@lysander3459 Disney is worth billions of dollars, and they can handle public critisms. They're not a new company either, they have the resources to produce movies to hire people from those cultures, research throughly, hire writers who will do the culture justice, etc. but they instead choose to water down aspects for the sake of making profit.

[@KamenRiderOtaru]

@@_iyakin the writers are Malaysian and Vietnamese

[@KamenRiderOtaru]

@Zhen Bautista so you're saying that only SEAsians can make a movie inspired by SEA cultures.

[@wendys9500]

@@KamenRiderOtaru I think the point is that plenty of other movies have white and even East Asian representation, so when the perfect chance for more Southeast Asian representation comes along, Disney doesn’t fully do it justice

[@tkim2320]

I found the rice scene interesting and historically accurate. Lots of parts in Southeast Asia and East Asia suffered and some continue to suffer from rice shortage more often than you would think. Sometimes it is because all the rice is being taken by a wealthier area or the price drops so low that farms need to sell more of their stock in order to make enough money to survive. Also factor in different weather conditions of droughts and floods causing rice production to plummet. Seeing that she hadn’t had it in a while, I’m guessing maybe a year or more which is understandable if they were suffering from a bad year or two of rice farming vs never having had it.

[@BuizelCream]

This suggests that Fang specifically might have suffered a drought off-screen, and thought they need the Dragon Gem for more water prosperity 🤔

[@hallooos7585]

@@BuizelCream Or they could’ve waited for a year or two

[@avsusky]

An example I know of comes from a book called Lost Names about Japan's colonization of Korea in the 20th cen and it mentioned how rice, especially white rice, was a luxury that most could not afford.

[@nas9647]

yup i agree, even for my country in 1990s it's still difficult for a lot of average-to-poor people to be able to eat a good quality of rice eventho they work everyday in paddy field, but mina's statement about having a stew instead of rice is so accurate too bc at that time ppl replaced the lack of rice with different kind of tubers like sweet potato and cassava

[@jessyluxe]

i been waiting for this 1 🗣🔊🔊

[@bunbohue9235]

I love ur channel although im mixed I still love watching viet youtubers even if you do makeup i just show it to my full viet friends

[@aaronhour]

Your line about the oldest cambodian garment only being from the 1850s made me sad cause I'm imagining all the super detailed clothes that are just lost to history

[@veritygazzard7210]

Mina’s dedication to extensive research and yet flowing, natural delivery truly makes her and artist in her own right.

[@soupy2590]

i knew the southeast asian references would be here but i still thought it was so cool for someone to say "cambodia" so many times in a row! because the country that i've lived in for a good portion in my life isn't as recognized as their neighbors thailand or vietnam, and i just wanna say it's a beautiful country with amazing people and a super long and interesting history, so i hope people will like cambodian culture and appreciate it the same way they do with the surrounding nations :)

[@soph4549]

Say it louder!!

[@shanicek5188]

Cambodians unite!

[@goofyglooper]

@@shanicek5188 here 😌

[@ashbieri]

Me having no idea about the history behind garments: YES MINA, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, SERVE ME THE KNOWLEDGE

[@miyukijane]

Wet rice cultivation is extremely labor-intensive. In some historical periods across Asia, rice would be a luxury. Poor people would eat the easier to grow millet or barley. In East Asia (I don't know about SE Asia) a lot of farmers grew rice but couldn't afford to eat it themselves because rice was also used as currency and would be how they paid their taxes.

[@janibii_608]

I have a headcannon that Raya's outfit has different peices from the different lands since shed been travelling for 6 years so she would have grown out of her clothes. Like the boots are from Spine, the cape is from fang, the hat is from talon, the shirt is either from fang or tail, and the pants are from spine or tail

[@gamergrandmagirl]

I know plenty of Christians who would say they stan Jesus lmao

[@realmothchu]

im not even christian and i stan jesus

[@swain-Ix1tv]

imo everyone should stan jesus, he was a pretty great guy

[@xXPirate-KittyXx]

@@realmothchu Tea.

[@zainmudassir2964]

Muslims respect him too. He's Prophet Isa in Arabic

[@lunafox5571]

@@zainmudassir2964 yeessss true

[@ritatouilles00]

Being called a neopets and then specifically a fairy draik has been the biggest compliment omg I'm so impressed by the level of research! I'm not knowledgeable on SEA culture/garments so this was really nice

[@everythingexploration707]

Highkey that dragon looks like it should be in a Dr. Suess movie

[@KAMISERIS]

It looked like a my little pony lol

[@DariaMaria_]

For me like Elsa with hair on her face XDD

[@dayizaiah]

FINALLY A DISNEY MOVIE FEATURING HMONG CULTURE/CLOTHING! TYYY MINAA FOR MENTIONING IT 🥺♥️

[@lerl6093]

I was thinking specifically about the belief in Hmong culture that the soul is in parts that will cause a person to fall into disharmony if fragmented (I don't know much about this but I think it's something along these lines?) and how that could be thematically relevant both in the concept of Kumandra and the way Sisu regains the powers of her siblings (sort of like her "ancestors" because she's been asleep for 500 years) as Raya puts the pieces of her soul/the orb back together. Idk.

[@jayistrying4558]

Disney: We wanted to represent Southeast Asia. Also Disney: We don't offer Disney+ services in Southeast Asia region.

[@6v6-c4u]

Also Disney: hire mostly East Asian voice actors

[@odyseehasdislikesyoutubesu1892]

lets pirate then , come with me , and lets sail the seven seas of the Net , ARRRGH.

[@ShellySwirl]

Because there's different workers or directors for it,, Disney isn't just one person

[@Indonesianboy]

That's the problem . Disney should make disney + available in all southeast asia region since disney shut down disney channel southeast Asia :( , but luckily disney + is available in my country Indonesia but not all contain are in indonesian dub but ok

[@dazzlingburritoes5693]

I almost died when you said "I sTaN jEaSuS"

[@darao.4907]

Jesus fandom where u at ✌️

[@mm4843]

Who’s Jeasus😭😭

[@weneedadoorknob.6524]

Ohh do you mean my boy "RoLd Gsauce"

[@ventii_kun]

I’m half Filipina and the point you made about the lack of Southeast Asian representation is accurate. I am *really* embarrassed & ashamed to admit that at one point in my life, I felt more of a “connection” or “sense of longing” to be apart of a different culture partly because of Hollywood media. I grew up with Mulan, Pucca, and anime to name some Asian oriented content I was exposed to for a very long time (hold onto this info). My parents, Black father & Filipina mother, divorced when I was in 3rd grade. I lived with my mom for a few years before moving in with my dad’s relatives, whom I still currently live with to this day. Although I’ve spent several years always from my mom, my pride in my Asian identity never wavered.....But the thing was.....I “forgot” about it. My early childhood was primarily spent being influenced being Filipino culture (and a teeny tiny bit of Japanese culture which was weird because nobody in my immediate family is Japanese so like yeah?). Fast forward to living with black relatives, I kinda dropped the little bit I learned/was able to even vaguely remember about my Filipino heritage because in my mind at the time, it wasn’t practical to try and learn a language that nobody else ever used at school, malls, the grocery store, etc. I was the only Asian person I knew within a 10 mile radius so trying bring up Asian related things didn’t really make sense. Yes, I know how that sounds, but I was in middle school and I viewed things from a pragmatic standpoint and NOT because I was ashamed of being biracial (that has never been an issue with me). When I got to high school, I started getting into anime and my tensions between my mom and I died down a bit. Anime is primarily associated with Japanese culture....I love anime....I am Asian......and I realized just how lacking I was in my Asian half. So, for some reason, I went looking for “internal validation” of my Asian identity in a world that didn’t center around my own culture. Now, I never once thought I was Japanese or viewed their culture as “superior” to everyone else’s (I may have been going through an identity crisis but I never went off the deep end). I seriously thought watching anime would make me feel more connected to my Asian roots! It’s stupid but I legitimately believed that! I was stanning over Crazy Rich Asians (and I still do~), despite the characters being Chinese people living in Southeast Asia. If I watched a pieces of media that introduced an Asian character, I was all over them even though they were usually either of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean descent. And in weird way, despite me BEING of Southeast Asian decent, constantly seeing only certain types of Asian people fulfill tv/movie roles made me think negatively about my own culture. I briefly believed that Filipinos, Thais, Indonesians, and other cultural groups were not interesting because we scarcely received roles that explored us as people and simply acknowledged our existence in general. I hated that feeling. I couldn’t believe that for a moment, I allowed myself to entertain the idea of an “us vs them” mentality. I knew it was bad to think like this but I didn’t just how badly it already affected me. As of now, I am trying to rebuild a connection with my mom and do detailed research about Filipino culture (as far as I’m aware there aren’t many media outtakes on Southeast Asians, everything is usually East Asian centered). Southeast Asians *need* a stronger presence in mainstream entertainment. We are no better or lesser than anybody else in this planet. We have a right to be seen and be allowed to have our own established identities. My mentality has changed a lot in recent years for the better. I can thoroughly appreciate similar yet vastly different cultures without it resorting to toxic comparisons. It’s not easy and it mmmmm will be a long road ahead, but a movie like Raya and the Last Dragon, despite its multitude of missed opportunities/inaccuracies/problems in general, is a good start. I apologize for this long rant but this video brought out whole a lot of emotions and thoughts from me. I have now, and am still learning, the importance of keeping a culture alive in my heart.

[@thatguy1251]

Cool, I am half Liberian and half Lebanese.

[@syeshacarigo4206]

Watch Trese!!

[@idontownagoldfish]

i myself still struggle with that mentality of filipinos not being interesting, and longing to be apart of another culture because of the lack of SEA representation, and i'm so angry because of it. i'm angry that there's not enough representation, not just of filipino people, but of other asian ethnicities than east asian. i'm still trying to get rid of that mentality. anyways i suggest watching TRESE, a filipino-centered anime on netflix.

[@odyseehasdislikesyoutubesu1892]

"So, for some reason, I went looking for “internal validation” of my Asian identity in a world that didn’t center around my own culture. Now, I never once thought I was Japanese or viewed their culture as “superior” to everyone else’s (I may have been going through an identity crisis but I never went off the deep end). I seriously thought watching anime would make me feel more connected to my Asian roots! It’s stupid but I legitimately believed that! I was stanning over Crazy Rich Asians (and I still do~), despite the characters being Chinese people living in Southeast Asia. " Black father and filipina mother? are you in the states? EU? or africa? imma guess the states , if so why did you think watching chinese , japanese or other east asian media would reconnect you to your south east asian roots? more specifically your filipino roots? you compared apples to oranges , japan and the philippines are vastly differents , take the most obvious example , japan is majority athiest or agnostic athiest with some christians here and there , while the philippines is majority catholic christian with some other religions like islam , hindu , budhism etc.

[@butterflytaster5553]

"all i had growing up was mulan, and she was from a totally different culture." as another se asian girl: 100%

[@deleria_]

I was disappointed with the dragon’s facial appearances. There was a lot of potential to have ethereal looking dragons, instead we got those... disturbing eyes.

[@sanemiko5848]

it was quite odd tbh-

[@Пинагод]

And a majestic, scaly dragon at that. She's meant to be a water dragon, that of which, means she should have scales since most water dragons/serpents in Southeast Asian culture _have_ scales, the beliefs were based on _sea creatures._ And we could've either had a tsundere majestic dragon or a himbo/bimbo majestic dragon as both can be formulated to the humor aspect of the movie and give more chemistry between Raya and the dragon, instead we kinda just got this awkward, 'relatable' dragon that doesn't actually know how to handle forgiveness.

[@not_obsidian]

Ethereal, majestic, fearsome, even? But NO, we got an obnoxious, Frozen-esque Awkwafina dragon- an ungodly combination devoid of any regard for the SEA mythos of dragons/naga… ya know, the cultures the movie literally appropriated from?

[@whatever5401]

the dragons in the film look like eel+gecko+ferret+snake hybrids that bathed themselves in the type of paint you'd see at a kid's unicorn-themed birthday party

[@ShellySwirl]

Because it's a kid's movie and they'd rather see that than a scary dragon..

[@veen-a2092]

I'm South East Asian and I like the movie, as far as a Disney Princess goes she have the spot for the most Badass along side with Mulan

[@chaebomnimcancellednoticed5606]

I’m Cambodian American and this video truly taught me so much about my own culture. Seeing all the images brings back the culturally significant things that I grew up seeing and you explaining it clarified what I didn’t know. I’ve rarely ever been taught about the history that existed before the Khmer Rouge and this video just made it more special to me

[@monique5sos242]

lolll same

[@goofyglooper]

As a fellow Cambodian American, you had me at every word and I could not agree more 😤

[@dinarosita1607]

The problem I had with Raya was that the dialogue was too modern same thing with frozen and Moana. I know that they want the kids to feel that these characters are relatable then why set it in a classical setting in the first place. Overall I did like the movie but didn't like this bit. Btw I love the research you have done for this video.

[@dinarosita1607]

especially since you pointed out the dragon nerds thing

[@dazedneptune]

Same. Im not surprised given the background of one of the screenwriters but yeah some parts of the movie was weirdly modern. Like, would dragons really have group projects in school??

[@BuizelCream]

The modern dialogue is a lot more glaring in Raya, most specifically from Sisu and her illustrations to make her points 😅 I think they made Sisu act more like the Genie from Aladdin . . . but Sisu's efforts just doesn't work.

[@meepmeep3384]

The dialogues makes me cringe somewhat

[@kingsaracoon9594]

In my opinion Moana was not too heavy on it but this movie was just really 🤢

[@pearlhay5033]

Please say kah-my instead of Ker-mer, in academia they seem to say the latter, but Kah-my is how Cambodians say it :)

[@gremlita]

noted!

[@miaisa6611]

Hi! Can you talk about the outfits of the protagonist in a Korean drama called "it's ok to not be ok" it's on Netflix. All of her outfits are from professional designers. You should watched!

[@gabyy8279]

Yeah !! I love her outfits 💐✨

[@beatrix1775]

yes please !!

[@bellaisabella3582]

Fr!! I’m in love with everything Moonyoung wears🌞

[@kenziebod8919]

omg that’s perfect!!! please do it

[@mariunfabregas7533]

And since we're on the topic of K-dramas, she should do Hotel del Luna too! IU/Man Wol's outfits are just **chef's kiss**

[@annaharvey2906]

omg I literally couldn't stop laughing at the end when all the dragons came back... like it's just my little pony... why...

[@seauqis]

They could've made her more etherial, like she would speak in a really elegant voice and give raya important knowledge. But i guess this dumbed down MLP dragon is all we have

[@princessofweirdsville9000]

Which version tho?

[@professorhistoire5349]

hey, the movies supposed to be for kids. it would make more sense financially to make the dragon a fun, cartoonish, mlp-esque character than an all-knowing-powerful-deity type thing

[@funsquadlove7133]

@@professorhistoire5349 yes I agree

[@EmilyHernandez-jt4cs]

@@professorhistoire5349 We’re just saying, yes it’s suppose to be for kids, but kids are not the only ones watching, just because we want something more mature doesn’t mean it’s going to be inappropriate or something

[@Alex-ob1tn]

"melting pot of... asian-ism..." that's a new sentence

[@Ma-tz6oe]

Why did your livechat start a jesus fandom😭

[@allie_Am]

The comment about the Durian fruit made me laugh so hard hahaha

[@seauqis]

I 100% agree percent with her, like why tf are you so pissy about the scent of a fruit????

[@gbsqrd2787]

Durians are wonderful (even if I can't have a lot)! Yes that scent is overpowering but the silkiness and creaminess of that thing is indescribable

[@bubblymochi7170]

I was really disappointed by the how lazy the plot of the movie was. Also, I think what they should’ve of done instead of mashing up our cultures together would have been to make each tribe inspired by a region in south East Asia. I think character designs could have been more consistent then. Also I really don’t like the way they designed Sisu.

[@panda31415]

I didn't mind the blending of cultures as much because the last few generations of my family had been pushed around escaping the political struggles in east and southeast Asia over the past century. We've lost parts of original culture, but also assimilated and had picked up things from the places we were able to call home for a bit of time. I have a friend with a similar family history who felt a bit attacked and invalidated when someone went off on them talking about how inaccurate it was because the cultures were blended. This experience - the pain of losing the connection to parts of our heritage but the joy of learning about and reconnecting to the origins of the cultural practices we've kept up even if they aren't all from the same place - is valid. I do hope that there could be more opportunities to explore the unique cultures in southeast Asia through something like a spinoff TV series (like there is for Tangled, Hercules, Aladdin, etc) with more time to do so, or future movies focused on more specific locations. A two-hour movie just isn't enough time to do it justice.

[@harmonetheanimationaddict4419]

Raya's dad calls her dewdrop. Namaari's mom calls her morning mist. Dew appears because of mist. VEEERRRY INTERESTING.

[@ahiruaki7448]

I wasn’t very impressed by the movie it was subpar and forgettable. I was disappointed with its macguffin quest plot, one big thing I don’t like about Disney using different cultures is they only respect it as an aesthetic but don’t bother creating a plot that actually reflects culture, instead they take a regular old fashioned white American plot and try to “spice it up” by adding culture, and in my opinion if you could take the culture out of a movie and the movie still works you’ve obviously done something wrong.

[@sagiri__]

You... perfectly said what I couldn't put into words ^^ I wondered why I wasn't extremely enthusiastic and I guess THIS is why

[@inkasaraswati7625]

Thanks for your insight. I haven't seen it but I was wondering how it is in terms of story. I was thinking about how Mulan (the animated one) was not 100% accurate but is still beloved by Chinese people because the story is solid and still specifically Chinese.

[@meepmeep3384]

There's no iconic song too!

[@professorhistoire5349]

@@meepmeep3384 some people actually liked that it wasn't a musical

[@stepahead5944]

Agreed. I appreciate you can recognize the White American aspect of it. When they portray other American ethnicities its the same issue. Lots of aesthetics but things fall apart from there.

[@thedaydreamgallery]

Mina's videos are so entertaining and informative I've learned a lot by watching them

[@eyafaer]

In the University of the Philippines, graduates wear a "sablay" during grad rights which looks like the Sabai. The tradition is starting to influence other universities and colleges here, in lieu of the toga which is very hot and inappropriate for the climate. Sablay does mean drape in Tagalog when refering to cloth.

[@Nowegotbadblood]

my favorite part of this movie is definitely how gay namaari and raya are.

[@Lilly-to9hs]

same

[@MewMew375]

I think they was just getting along

[@Angel_leah005]

They even gave namaari a lesbian bob

[@gothiccology8038]

@@MewMew375 djakdjcj u are the definition of people who see stuff like that and say “they were really close” Lmaoo

[@seauqis]

Namaari was so lesbian coded ghdhxgxvbz

[@sapphic.flower]

Raya is a movie I'm reallyyy happy to exists as a southeast asian even though I personally wasn't into it. Obviously it could do better in representation in both casting and culture the but you kind of just had to accept it as a SEA inspired fantasy world rather than actual SEA lol. I really want Disney to make another SEA movie though that does take place in the real world.

[@kaitlynb5467]

Pls in the meantime, save Myanmar 🇲🇲🥺

[@psychicuterus1339]

Mina: "Is like saying I stan Jesus. It's really weird." Me: * hides in Spanish*

[@catacc.]

?

[@faceofastranger6689]

Oh no, a colonizer 🏃‍♀️💨💨 *hides in Filipino*

[@rainn_luvsrain]

Viva cristo rey.

[@christiannightshade5886]

@@faceofastranger6689 😭

[@nuriam.1598]

What has to do being Spanish with Jesus? I'm spanish and i don't get it at all.

[@angelscorner4456]

//SPOILER i'm pretty sure namaari was lying when she told raya they didn't have much resources in fang lol. she wanted to gain her trust so the army could steal the orb 😂

[@lena3659]

Lol I must be slow because throughout the movie I kept wondering why both Raya and her dad agreed that Heart wasn’t prosperous because of the gem yet Fang was somehow prosperous after getting a piece 😂

[@veesaos8316]

I'm from Yogyakarta and the kotang jacket worn by raya is inspired by the Bregada troops, which in the past were real ass soldiers but now are seen more as cultural figures. More specifically, its from the Nyutro division of Bregada.

[@rotibasie]

Fellow SEA here! I definitely agree with you on the casting part. Personally I understand that you don't have to be the race/ethnicity of a character to voice in animation. But they purposely casted an all asian cast with such ratio between east asian and SEA. I feel like east asian and SEA was seen as the same the same thing, which gives me a slight "all asian is the same" vibe ngl. Absolutely a missed opportunity so SEA actors. Also! great video

[@starlitsky8599]

My mother told me, that in the Philippines Corn is a cheaper substitute for the more expensive rice. Hence stew might be a thing but rice is not. Source: Shes filippina, most of our Family still lives there.

[@jennynt]

regarding the "we're poor. we don't have rice" situation. I can only speak for myself but my dad who grew up post-war-Vietnam-poor says that rice was quite a valuable and scarce resource. if you watch any North Korean refugee videos, they also say that they would not have rice to eat, so yeah Raya was actually spot on.

[@Harmony867]

Yeah, this was a thing for a lot of Asian countries during and just after war. Not sure if they had much alternative food though. In East Asia they had grasshoppers and scavanged non-nutritious plants to feel less hungry

[@Adelynoir]

But they didn't have stew either. My grandma lived off of eating locusts and cracking raw chicken eggs into her mouth and whatever greens they could forage

[@HudaefCares]

Here in the Philippines you'll hear that people back then ate root crops to survive. The specific one they mention is boiled sweet potatoes. In some parts people mix corn kernels and rice grain together, but you have to be careful eating it or you'll hurt your stomach.

[@melowlw8638]

raya's dad explains why people paid so much to see the movie before anyone else 😳😳

[@hat7475]

PLSSS BAHDAJVZSVD😭 I'm pretty sure if I was not a hopELeSs LesBo I would've also acted up when I saw her dad- 😳✋🏼

[@OReily08080]

Her dad was too foine. I told myself I was gonna be devasted if anything happened to him

[@hat7475]

@@OReily08080 HAHAHA 💀

[@vegsamosa]

It makes me so happy to see other minorities getting the representation we deserve, a victory for one is a victory for all. (But I will still be patiently waiting for a south Asian princess that's NOT a hot mess like Aladdin)

[@chi_ka3610]

Your pronunciation of Yogyakarta and Surakarta is so cute 😭😭😭❤️❤️ Anyway for me, someone who born and grew up in southeast Asia, I found this movie somewhat offensive, I know they didn't tend to make this movie offensive but somehow I just feel so. I actually put my bar of expectation too high, what a letdown, I mean who doesn't love Disney. I kinda wondering why people like it. I mean you CANT just put an entire region into one movie and called them the same. Indonesia alone have more than 300 ethnicities, There are 175 estimated languages spoken in the Philippines, Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups living across the country, and don't forget about Singapore, Laos, Brunei, and other countries in Southeast Asia that I didn't mention here. And what's with the differential season in kumandra, Tail has this grand canyon like landscapes, and tail with her snow, that kinda reminds me of Japan, just a big NO.

[@darbycheever5524]

being called a beautiful dove is the best part of my week

[@durianfarmer]

yes!!! seeing non-se asians reactions to durian is so irritating 😠 my grandparents are durian farmers so i live in constant envy of them bc i can never access good fresh durian that aren't super exxy where i live 😭

[@helllo1085]

I love that this is include alot of Cambodia stuff becoz most of the other video always refer Cambodian stuff as Thai stuff due to it’s similarities . This means that she did her research 💖💖✨

[@solorespira7880]

I don’t even have to watch this video to know how great it’ll be

[@VioletBaudelaire100]

hey ph citizen here, and we actually went through a rice shortage when the pandemic started. bc our g0vt. keeps treating our farmers like shit it's ironic when u think abt how we used to be one of the too exporters of rice and now most the rice in the ph is imported :) so yeah it is possible to have a rice shortage in an asian country

[@soph4549]

Thank you so much for the videos. It’s not often to hear about Cambodia’s culture, Cambodia has always been overshadowed by other south east countries.

[@goofyglooper]

As a fellow Cambodian I'm so glad someone finally said it 😭

[@tris2806]

Me personally, im still happy that we have a Disney princess now. It would be difficult if they only take a culture from one country and say it representing southeast asia because we have a lot of similarities and it will cause conflict instead

[@hanac3154]

when they talk about the lack of rice, i was reminded of japanese colonialism of korea! koreans had to supplement rice with things like chicken feed because all the rice that was farmed on the peninsula was taken by the japanese. the japanese also destroyed several types of rice native to korea and made them extinct (in addition to a bunch of other native korean species of flora and fauna).

[@hanac3154]

not that im saying it makes sense in the movie, just something it reminded me of as a korean :)

[@angelabby2379]

the movie is about southeast asian fightingg....and coming together. here we are east asian still fighting ;0

[@HudaefCares]

I mean in the Philippines we feed chickens with watered down rice... That doesn't sound too bad since it's basically congee. What kind of chicken feed are you talking about?

[@ducc0287]

I cant get over the outfit your wearing, the colours, the pattern, the shape, its so beautiful

[@arcie3716]

I remembered reading the Raya and the last dragon book that talk about the behind the scenes and inspiration for the movie. Right off the bat, I noticed how the team didn’t even bother going to the Philippines for researching for this movie. This movie was advertised for being the southeast Asian princess✨ but yet didn’t care to have every SEA country be a true part of this movie…

[@hanmae4892]

I definitely agree with that but maybe just maybe they have this "reason" right?

[@puckbryn3583]

on the religion nerd thing, before covid I joined a group at my local church that was a sorta theology history group that was interested in talking about anthropological discoveries and more recent bible translations, and yeah, even though it was more or less a knitting chat group, they definitely called themselves “theology nerds” they were precious and very welcoming ladies and I miss them bunches

[@sharpduds]

Theology nerds are great

[@richyk.99]

My country Cambodia being recognized 🥺 you showing those beautiful temple sculptures. Such a great informative video

[@byakuyatogami2905]

This movie kinda hit different because I don't see a lot of aesthetics similar to things I saw growing up. One of my grandmothers is from Thailand and I'm used to seeing the aesthetics but not so much in media (which is why I'm getting so hyped for Pangina Heals in drag race). My great grandmother, from the other side of my family, is from Indonesia, which I hardly see anything for. Even of this movie wasn't perfect it resonated with me, just seeing things that I'm vaguely aware of from families stories made me really happy, along with the queen implications just because I'm glad that can coexist and I feel seen

[@MicaRayan]

Raya and the Last Dragon --- It was inspired by some of prominent figures & folklores throughout Asia - Tun Fatimah from Malaysia, Sang Kelembai... many elements were gathered between the vast regions 🕊️🐉🙏 I'm not familiar much abt folklores from neighboring countries... so maybe local can give some input on it... I'm from Malaysia🇲🇾♥️ I've watched this movie, fascinating! It's special and it was remarkable that they created it from home despite the pandemic halting the whole thing!

[@yanntham2010]

I think some people forget that Kumandra is a fantasy land. Disney can’t just choose one SEA country to represent because Kumandra doesn’t exist, it’s just supposed to be a SEA inspired place. So they took different inspirations from various SEA countries to create this fantasy land. The representation here was actually pretty good considering how diverse SEA is. (I’m southeast Asian so pls don’t attack me)

[@KanemiX3]

yeah but disney and their rep said so themselves that this is a ASEAN representation, I'm south east asian too so I expect cultural distinction across the tribe, instead what we got was a melting pot of all the which confused me. Im just saying what they said, the project manager of Raya themselves said this was about ASEAN culture. If they said it was just a fiction loosely based on ASEAN them I would have bought it

[@kattales4122]

I actually feel like fang’s leaders having more expensive/modern wear makes sense. I think that if their garments were patterned they would look more traditional, but it’s almost like they had to make an expensive looking garment out of a cheap fabric. It also gives the vibe that they value their appearance and wealth over the people’s, which I guess isn’t exactly true, but still drives home that villain vibe.

[@chengxiong9661]

@19:19 As a fellow Hmong, I am very proud that this movie included a minority in it. I was not expecting any minority representation in this film. I thought it was just going to be SEA countries, excluding minorities. Well, I was wrong, and props to Disney for including the minority in it.

[@somsri9820]

I have to say my favorite part of this movie was not only getting (some) representation (I’m part Thai 😛) but also recognizing some little cultural details I felt connected to!! And WOW the animation was stunning

[@bunbbi5197]

Thank you for talking about this movie! As a Hmong person I was super pleased to have ANY kind of representation in the movie even if it wasn't a large focus, and was just happy to see so many familiar SE foods and buildings that I had grown up seeing.

[@shereenryn9446]

Im glad that this movie is based on southeast asia in general, bcs none of southeast asia countries can claim raya, we just kinda share her bcs i know indonesian and malaysian can be competitive when it comes to culture. Even tho its more to viatnamese/thai culture but as a malaysian, i can definitely see my culture in this especially the food and the scene where they making batik.

[@orange7916]

actually the writer for Raya is malaysian!

[@barbaramarina0]

I like the avatar last air-bender-esque kind of world. Obviously it's not an accurate representation but it's also not really meant to be, though of course an accurate one would be good. At the very least it wasn't offensive.

[@lara_xy]

Why do I feel attacked wearing a silver ring on the left hand and a gold ring on the right hand.... :D

[@annapettit8045]

I just looked down at my hands and... same

[@ilektrarepousi5769]

*awkward cough* same hEhEhe 😅

[@Apple-xl9xr]

I’m Cambodian and this makes me so happy, I’ve never seen any representation of Cambodians in the west! ❤️

[@cambodianostalgia]

Thank you so much for mentioning the Cambodian inspirations in the movie. We have been slept on for so long lol

[@jujka669]

I have never searched something so fast in the internet as Cambodian Royal Ballet and oh my they are on a different level of being cool

[@slaymil]

AND I'M SEATED 🇵🇭

[@skolas-aditya]

I'm just glad I'm not the only one facepalming at the... unfortunate design choices they had for Namaari and her mom :")) The undercut and the super clean cuts of their clothing just... bothered me so much. I'm Indonesian, and I feel like it really is a missed opportunity, when there's a whole plethora of SEA royal clothing to base their designs off. Especially the elaborate hairstyles and headgears - such a missed opportunity!