Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Morgan H — 06 Sep 2008

Brother bear is a movie about a boy named Kenai who is trying to prove himself as a man. It all starts off when the Shaman tells Kenai that he is giving the bear of love. Kenai is not happy with this at all because he does not think it is manly. When a bear comes and takes some fish Kenai thinks this is his time to prove he is a man. But instead it puts him and his brothers in great danger which results in the death of his older brother. Kenai thinks if he goes and kills the bear that killed his brother then that would make him a man. His brother trys to warn him that this will only upset the spirits. So when Kenai ingnores him and kills the bear anyways he is then turned into a bear himself. While he is a bear he meets a young cube named koda. On their journey to find where the lights meet the earth. ( the place that kenai believes he will be turned back into a man ) They go through many obsticals including trying to stay alive from Kenais brothers who is hunting the bear he thinks killed Kenai which in all reality is Kenai. Towards the end of the movie Kenai finds out that the bear he killed was Kodas mom and him and Koda go their seprate ways. then one day Kenais brother is just about to kill him when Koda comes and saves the day. Then the spirits turn Kenai back into a human. However Kenai realizes that he loves Koda and that koda needs him more than his tribe so he decides to stay a bear.

This movie is a perfect example of indigenous religions. Many indigenous religions believe in spirts that help show you how to live the life you are supposed to. If you try to please the spirits of ancestors then your life will be well lived. It also shows how important of a role the older generation plays in indigenous religions. When Kenai tore his charm off and threw it on the ground in front of the Sheman that is extremly disrespectful, and I think the movie did a good job showing this.