Monday at the Palace

i had heard there would be a protest at the palace this morning. henry noa and the reinstated government were there when we arrived, and handing out flyers about why they were protesting the filming of "the last native princess", or whatever the film would be called, because of a badly written script that portrayed a view of the princess as in support of the annexation of hawaii to the u.s. somehow, sanford dole becomes the hero in this film, in opposition to lorrin thurston. since i haven't read the script (yet), i can't say much more, but it was interesting to hear what folks had to say. i videotaped henry and, later on, soli niheu, about what each considered the primary issues. as soon as i edit, i'll post these short interviews online.

soli was there to talk with the film crew about whether or not they should take some responsibility for the filmmaker's portrayal of accurate hawaiian history. not sure what the response was. but from the few i spoke with, very few, if any, had even read the script! no one seemed to have much to say about anything substantive. the medic guy i met, sonny, was clear about his job as medic. he was there to take care of the cast and crew. the security guys were there to take care of equipment, etc. it was hard to have any kind of substantive discussion with folks whose primary reason for being there was 'the job'. understandable. so okay, i understood.

but as james continues to remind me, this is not really the issue. rather our concern has to do with not minimizing the princess by revising history so that the actress who plays her part makes her look stupid, or weak, or unintelligent. she was none of those things. and she dearly loved her country (our country). it was made clear that none of the folks involved in production had considered (or would consider) any of these points. oh well...

i watched people accessing the palace, the balconies, the whole area so freely, without consequence, i suppose. unlike hawaiians who must always face consequences when they think they can access the palace without 'permission'. money can provide permission. rumor has it that the film co. paid the friends of iolani palace %50,000. that's nothing we could ever do, thus we have less compelling reason for access. and our concern is always for our behavior while on the grounds or in the palace--protocol still rules us. but no one else is held to or holds themselves to those same standards. it wasn't that long ago that hawaiians trying to access the second floor to offer hookupu to the queen at her door (not even in her room) were denied the ability to do so by fip security, and by their watchdog lua group. sad days, indeed, for hawaiians who face consequences for wanting to pay tribute, as compared to businessmen whose tribute is in the form of dollars. reality check!

i heard from kehau watson that abigail kawananakoa had called for a press conference today at 11:30 am at the state capitol. unfortunately i wasn't able to make that one. but her reason for the press call was to inform them of her filing an injunction to stop the filming at the palace. i have no idea why that is. i did hear from security that she caused them to change the title of the film from "the last princess" to "barbarian princess" (or some other title), as she claimed to BE the last princess. too bad she hasn't seen fit to hook up with those of us stils advocating for the restoration of the hawaiian kingdom. more on this tomorrow!