Moana & How Far Self-Autonomy Can Go

Throughout the film, this is exactly what Moana has: a choice and a voice. She chooses to venture beyond her island and voices her desire to do so, as she is a highly outspoken character throughout the film. However, her autonomy does not come easily, as she is, in part, compelled to set aside her family to pursue her journey. A major conflict for Moana is whether to stay with her family and community or chase her dreams of exploring the ocean. While Moana deeply cares for her people and island, she was never given the choice to become the next chief; her father decides it, and her autonomy is partially stripped away. Her desire to explore beyond Motunui, however, is purely her own.

She explores this conflict throughout her song, “How Far I’ll Go”. Moana sings: “I can lead with pride, I can make us strong, I'll be satisfied if I play along, But the voice inside sings a different song, What is wrong with me?” She knows she would be a great leader and feels obligated to her people, but deep down, she knows it’s not what she wants. While her decision to leave and sail the ocean is a big risk, she feels satisfied. What’s helping push this self-autonomy? If we look more deeply into Moana’s self-autonomy, we notice an overarching character trait that helps build it: self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a term that Albert Bandura describes as “an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments” (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997).

While Moana might doubt herself when overwhelmed at first, we see that her ability to push through this and believe in her self-efficacy is the key to her overcoming a variety of obstacles, ranging from leaving Montinui to returning the heart of Te Fiti. In fact, this ability of hers to stand her ground and push on even when it’s hard is an attribute of self-efficacy. Her self-efficacy also goes hand in hand with her autonomy, as she can “execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments,” that is, venturing beyond Montinui and returning to the heart of Te Feti (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997).

Overall, Moana teaches us that believing in ourselves and cultivating self-efficacy allow us to step out of our comfort zones to pursue our autonomy. It might not be easy, but in the long run, it allows us to feel fulfilled and reach our full potential. The only person who can tell us how far we can go is us, and if we take a chance, we will achieve our dreams.