Learning from Disney’s Raya

Meaningful movie: Trust – a word repeated again and again throughout the film – is a central theme of ‘Raya and the Last Dragon.’

“FAIRY tales.. are not responsible for producing in children fear... that is in the child already, because it is in the world already... The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon... it (tells him) that these shapeless enemies have enemies in the knights of God, that there is something in the universe more mystical than darkness, and stronger than strong fear.” — GK Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles, 1909

This sentiment is paraphrased by Neil Gaiman as “Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.”

Of course, in Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon, the dragons are the good guys.

In the last couple of decades, we can see a shift in Disney films regarding what an antagonist is – from Tolkienesque struggles of shining good guys against gruesome, ugly bad guys intent on domination and destruction, to rather more subtle interpretations of what humanity should be struggling against. Films like Wreck-it Ralph, Brave and Moana demonstrate this trend.

Development for Raya began roughly around the midpoint of Donald Trump’s extremely divisive presidency in America. I suppose it is thus not such a big surprise (minor spoilers ahead) that the film was essentially about how our true enemy is not one tribe or another, but division itself.

Even the “evil monsters” in the film, the Druun, are revealed by Sisudatu (the eponymous Last Dragon) to literally be born from human discord.

The film begins with the story of how the united nation of Kumandra was attacked by these Druun. The magical dragons sacrificed themselves to create a powerful gem which banished the Druun.

The gem however became the object of a political power struggle that divided Kumandra into five warring tribes.

As a girl, Raya was involved in an incident that shattered the powerful dragon gem, and brought the return of the Druun.

To summarise Raya’s journey, she travels the lands, collecting gem shards, making enemies into allies one by one.

At the final phase, she faces her biggest rival Namaari, and wins the day only by deciding to entrust the fate of herself and the world into the hands of the same person who betrayed her multiple times.

I suppose it was a bit of a Luke Skywalker – Darth Vader “I know there is good in you” moment.

Given all the work I’ve been involved with over the years, and things I’ve written about, this movie inevitably resonated strongly with me. It was thus especially fun to read that one of two screenwriters for the movie was Malaysian Adele Lim, who went to school in nearby Petaling Jaya.

There is a point in the second half of the movie, where Namaari is speaking to her mother Virana, the leader of their tribe, arguing that they should join forces with Raya for the greater good.

Virana – representing an older, more conservative generation – disagrees, saying that such a move would be too risky for their own tribe, arguing that it is safer for them to focus on their own self-preservation instead.

This dilemma of whether to invest in one’s smaller sub-group, or the larger group in general is an old one. In economics and game theory, it is often described in variations of the Public Goods Game or the Prisoner’s Dilemma.

When Raya tells Sisu that she is credited with saving the world, Sisu says she was actually like the kid in a group project that didn’t put in as much work, but got the same grade at the end. This is essentially the same Public Goods dilemma. If everyone benefits equally from Public Goods no matter how much (or how little) they invest and sacrifice, then “rational” people tend to think it’s better to let others do the investing and sacrificing.

The problem is of course that everyone starts to think like that, and ultimately, no one is investing into the Public Good - which in turns means there is no Public Good to benefit anyone in the end.

The central issue here is the same as a central theme of Raya and the Last Dragon – a word repeated again and again throughout the film: trust.

When I asked a Cambridge trained economist over lunch some time ago what Malaysia’s biggest economic problem was, he surprised me with the same answer: trust. If everyone trusts each other, then everyone is willing to join forces and invest and sacrifice the same amounts for that Public Good. Without that trust, then there is no Public Good.

In Malaysia, we love to argue about divisive issues: Jawi, UEC, who can use what word, and so on.

I was recently in a meeting which reminded me that these issues usually aren’t really the issue at all. The real underlying issue is trust, and the types of relationships we Malaysians have with one another.

People often talk about Malaysia’s “golden era”, where we were all a little less racist, and a little more integrated. Politics has a lot to do with why this has changed; but another reason I believe things changed is because we stopped talking to one another, and started talking at one another.

Technology makes it easier and easier for us to be cocooned in smaller and smaller social circles and echo chambers; we don’t take the time we used to to really get to know the other people we share this land with. As Raya travelled the five lands, she was joined by more and more companions – most of whom had tried to attack her in one way or another at first. Once she understood their pain however, they realised their common ground and decided to work together (I will resist an extended reference to Star Trek V).

Raya is a two hour movie. In real life, having the kinds of conversations that lead to strong relationships, which in turn leads to trust, takes much, much more time.

But that doesn’t make it impossible. As with most important things in life, it really just boils down to how badly you want something, and how much you’re willing to invest, prioritise, and sacrifice to make it happen.

As Sisu says, “It may feel impossible, but sometimes, you just have to take the first step, even before you’re ready.”

Perhaps my favourite takeaway of the film however is that you can’t wait for or expect anyone else to take that first step – you can only take it yourself. Only that is truly game changing leadership – not relying on politicians, people with “more time”, or anyone else; but taking that first step ourselves and doing our part to build the Malaysia we want.

Nathaniel Tan works with Projek Wawasan Rakyat (POWR). He watched Raya with his beloved wife, whom he would like to thank for six loving years of marriage, as of today. Happy anniversary! The views expressed here are solely his own.