Native Hawaiians are calling out Jason Momoa for 'prostituting' their culture
The usually much-loved Jason Momoa has been called out by Native Hawaiians for the way he is supposedly representing their culture in the US.
Momoa is a Native Hawaiian himself, and there's no doubt his culture has influenced roles such as Aquaman, with the actor speaking about this prior to the film coming out.
Momoa has also protested the TMT construction atop Mauna Kea and raised awareness for the issue with his big following on social media.
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He's done a lot of good stuff, really. But he recently drew in backlash from some Native Hawaiians, who are less than impressed with the star.
It all started back in October when Momoa posted a picture to his social media of a fishing trip, which all sounds rather innocent.
But in these pics, the film star donned a Malo, which is a piece of traditional Native Hawaiian clothing.
The internet of course went wild for this, with thousands of fans flocking to the comment section of the post to gush and thirst over the star's appearance.
While many were quite happy to see Momoa in traditional Hawaiian clothing, there were some that pointed out a bit of history to commenters.
The US has a long history of sexualizing Native Hawaiians, which dates back to the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Back when Christian missionaries first arrived at the kingdom, they banned the sacred, cultural practice known as hula because it was apparently 'enchanting'.
And to this day, Indigenous people are often sexualized and exoticized - which many decided to point out in the comment section.
Many jumped to Momoa's defence following this, but one person on Twitter pointed out that regardless of his good intentions, 'the context of Hawaiians being sexualized for their customs runs deeper than you'.
Many gave the star the benefit of the doubt, but the backlash really came when Momoa stripped off wearing a Malo on live TV during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! back in November.
"That's a traditional Malo, it's what the Hawaiians wear," Momoa explained to the 54-year-old chat show host.
"I'm doing a show. I'm a creator and writer and director and producer and actor on this Apple series called Chief of War and it's all 1780s, 1790s Hawaii."
He added: "That's what I wear every day, and I was just getting ready for the role because I like to get into character and so I was tanning my white a*s."
But Native Hawaiians were not too impressed by his actions, with one person calling it 'the most disgusting display of pick-me behavior I've seen from an Indigenous person in Hollywood to date.'
Meanwhile, a second accused Momoa of 'very publicly prostituting and commodifying our culture'.
However, not all Native Hawaiians are disappointed with the actor, with some saying they are grateful for the representation.
UNILAD has reached out to Momoa's reps for comment.
Topics: Jason Momoa, Film and TV
Callum Jones