A Conversion Story

Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl's The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu is, in many ways, a traditional story of how native peoples are colonized and converted to the religions and ideas of the white majority of American. Ka'ahumanu is a queen of the Hawaiian islands who rejects the Gods of the Hawaiian tradition and is persuaded to convert to Christianity by dedicated missionaries. However, Ka'ahumanu is not your typical submissive 'outsider' woman; she is strong, opionionated, and fears no man. In Ka'ahumanu, Kneubuhl has created an active woman character: Ka'ahumanu has doubts, fears, and prejudices, but strives to do what she believes is right.

It is interesting that the Hawaiian peoples are not portrayed as a 'model minority.' Some minority peoples, especially those in the Asian communities, are depicted by the media as being 'safe,' thus leading to the stereotype that Asian-Americans are hard-workers and borderline doormats, not rabble-rousers. But Ka'ahumanu, Hannah, and Pali are women with foibles, desires, even dark secrets. They do not obey anyone but their own selves. Even though Ka'ahumanu and Pali convert to Christianity in the end, one gets the sense that they have made the decision out of their own accord, not because they are blinded by any notion of 'white superiority.'

As I read the play, I naturally pictured the actors as they are described to be. But then I think back to our last class, where RJ was cast as the Filipino-hating bullies and Todd and Bobby were cast as Filipinos. Non-traditional casting puts such a different spin on perspective. I think that, in Virginia, it is more common to see Caucasians cast in minority roles since the population here is overwhelmingly white. So while it was not terribly strange for me to see Todd and Bobby in the roles in Filipinos, it was very strange to see RJ in his role. The disgust on his face as he was kicking Todd...it was very eerie. In a way, it was almost like a very twisted parallel empowerment. Even though it was acting, it was also not; for the first time, a Filipino was in the position of power, and could use it to channel his frustrations from having been on the bottom. I don't know. What I do know is, the entire scene was very powerful. I was almost scared by the emotions it invoked in me...I could feel RJ's character's anger, but mine was directed not at Filipinos, but all the times that I or someone I knew had been wronged because of our race. I was surprised that that much anger existed in me. But violence solves nothing. And I guess that's what we're trying to do in this class: invoke change in a meaningful and peaceful way. There is a lot that we can learn from the past.