Those are two words many cinephiles would have never connected to Taika Waititi during his hot streak of moviemaking a few years ago. Yet, there is the man saying that about himself.
In a revealing and self-effacing profile from The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar-winning writer of Jojo Rabbit pulls his curtain way back for all of us to see inside his peculiar mind. For his fans, that vantage point may be surprising. Evidently, he doesn’t see his gravy train making many more stops in the future.
He has close to 100 awards to his credits, including the aforementioned Oscar, a BAFTA, some Emmys, and a few Writers Guild Awards for good measure. Waititi is EP on two fantastic TV series, Reservation Dogs and What We Do In The Shadows. Yet, he also owns one of the most refreshing takes on his legacy known to anyone in Hollywood.
Here’s the thing: No one’s going to remember us. What’s the name of the director of Casablanca? Arguably one of the greatest films of all time. No one knows his name. How the fuck do I expect to be remembered? So who cares? Let’s just live, make some movies. They’ll be obsolete and irrelevant in 15 or 20 years. And so will I, and then I’ll die and someone else can do it. This whole idea of chasing, chasing, chasing this life. It’s like, do we have to actually work this hard? Maybe not.”
Taika Waititi, The Hollywood Reporter, June 2023
How Taika Waititi is Making Underrepresented People More Relevant
Despite his accolades and random flops (Thor: Love and Thunder, we’re looking at you), Taika Waititi is making more than films in Hollywood; he’s making a difference. One of his first lines in the article puts that passion on display.
One of the things we all connected on was our disdain for how we appear onscreen in white productions. Indigenous characters, they’re always stoic. They’re always the people who talk to trees and play flutes on mountaintops. They’re never funny, they’re never normal. Nerd has not been a choice. Or dorky. Where are the dorky Natives?
Taika Waititi, The Hollywood Reporter, June 2023
In his mind, where some directors see untold actors, Waititi sees untapped potential. Not to mention, what he has done for the indigenous community through himself. When he won his Oscar, he became only the second indigenous person to ever earn one, behind Buffy Sainte-Marie who wrote “Up Where We Belong” for the Richard Gere and Lou Gossett, Jr. 1983 classic An Officer and a Gentlemen.
Even when moviegoers aren’t watching, the Maori-Jewish filmmaker stresses an indigenous influence in his movies. Take one of his most popular films and roles as Korg in Thor: Ragnarok. You may not have noticed but there were accents of colonialism in the film, mainly poised through Hela’s eyes. Her mission is to carry out the vision of the king (Odin and the Nine Realms).
Does no one remember me? Has no one been taught our history? Look at these lies. Goblets and garden parties? Peace treaties? Odin… Proud to have it, ashamed of how he got it.
Hela, Thor: Ragnarok
And then there’s this Loki guy, the forgotten son of Asgard and the mysterious prince of the Dark Elves. A reflection of colonial American history? Korg was definitely from out of town. And if you watch the rolling credits while waiting for the post-cred scene, you saw MCU filmed in Waititi’s backyard. Looking to make a difference there as well, Waititi worked with local Maori tribes and hired some as on-set interns.
According to the article, his next project, Next Goal Wins, is about the American Samoan national football team coming to theaters this November. With that film, he’ll hire some interns and put other skilled indigenous people to work, probably with no one noticing.
It’s a good thing this story is being told because while the world focuses on PRIDE (and for good reason), June is also Indigenous History Month. “Obsolete and irrelevant?” Not if you consider the history Taika Waititi is making. Not irrelevant at all.
Feature Image Credit: Taika Waititi in What We Do in the Shadows (Peter Stranks/FX Networks)
Since he saw ‘Dune’ in the $1 movie theater as a kid, this guy has been a lover of geek culture. It wasn’t until he became a professional copywriter, ghostwriter, and speechwriter that he began to write about it (a lot).
From the gravitas of the Sith, the genius of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, or the gluttony of today’s comic fan, SPW digs intelligent debate about entertainment. He’s also addicted to listicles, storytelling, useless trivia, and the Oxford comma. And, he prefers his puns intended.
