What is life like in contemporary Hawaii?

October 17, 2019 10:15 AM

As an American, I have spent time in 49 of our 50 states. Hawaii, due to its distance, has remained out of reach. I want to be able to read an article, flip through a magazine, watch a film or doc, read a book (fiction or nonfiction) or see a blogger/vlogger that covers life on this unique chain of islands. Looking for an array of perspectives from Native Hawaiians, Asians, other Polynesians, mainland Americans in Hawaii, gay/queer life, rural vs. urban life, political relationships to the mainland US, etc.

I am largely looking for "today" contemporary views though I realize that means understanding the country's colonial and indigenous history. I am NOT interested in any tourist accounts or vacation-based guides to the region.

posted by caveatz to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

Look at our newspapers' websites (Star-Advertiser and Civil Beat, etc.), and the Hawaii subreddit. To be honest almost everything I see online is nostalgic or romanticized, but at least you can get a variety of perspectives that aren't directly trying to sell something on the subreddit... apart from the TMT stuff maybe.
posted by taskmaster at 11:13 AM on October 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

The Offshore podcast would be great for this, especially the relationship between native and non-native Hawaiians.
posted by catquas at 11:42 AM on October 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

This documentary, Kumu Hina, might be of interest. You can rent it on Amazon Prime for $4, or watch it through HereTV.

I also second the Offshore podcast. I thought the first season was very good. I found the second season kind of muddled, which is too bad because the topic is a compelling one about Mauna Kea. Season 3 is also good but in reality not exactly about Hawaii.
posted by vunder at 4:44 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

A good fictionalized option is Smells Like Stars by D. Nandi Odhiambo, who is an assistant prof. at UH. The book isn't exactly set in Hawaii, but his fictional Pacific tourist haven is basically that.

I've heard really excellent things about Growing Up Local and Blu's Hanging, although both were written in the 90s. Also, if you don't mind not-immediately-contemporary, Barbarian Days covers Hawaii during the 60s-70s (in the early chapters) from the perspective of a haole (foreigner) surfer kid. Finnegan hits pretty close to home on some of his observations of the school system, common situational indicators on O'ahu, and obviously surfing.

I also have a copy of All I Asking For Is My Body by Milton Murayama but haven't read it yet. It's from the perspective of a Nisei (second gen Japanese) boy during WWII, and a lot of the dialogue is in Hawaiian Pidgin.
posted by Paper rabies at 5:53 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Not quite answering the question, but okay, James Michener's old 1959 doorstop novel 'Hawaii' is 6 novellas which depicts cultures in fusion in old Hawaiian history up to the mid 20th century, in an entertaining novelistic style. If you like geology, there's some tectonic plates in chapter 1.
posted by ovvl at 5:59 PM on October 17, 2019

Oh! For a combination of Hawaiian colonial history and contemporary stories, Unfamiliar Fishes is an excellent option (I listened to the audiobook - it's super well produced, although 7.5 hours long).

Also, for contemporary feel, check out Civil Beat (imo the better of the local news sites).
posted by Paper rabies at 6:02 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

The 99pi podcast had a spinoff show about fashion and clothing. That show had an episode about Hawaiian shirts that I (non-American) found really interesting.

link to episode
posted by McNulty at 6:12 PM on October 17, 2019

Also, be aware that life on Oahu is quite different than the other islands, so make sure you're getting both in your media (e.g. if you look at news sources, also look at West Hawaii Today or Big Island Now and Maui stuff that I don't know in addition to Oahu or state-wide--which usually means 90% Oahu--stuff)
posted by DebetEsse at 3:46 PM on October 18, 2019

Can confirm: Blu's Hanging is AMAZING, although it is pretty dark. I don't think you can go wrong with anything written by Lois-Ann Yamanaka. There's a lot of great contemporary literature in Hawai'i that doesn't always make it to the mainland that might be worth checking out as well--Na Mea Hawai'i has a pretty good selection. I remember reading The Tattoo by Chris McKinney and Da Word by Lee A. Tonouchi in high school and really enjoying them. (Caveat: that was kind of a while ago.)

The Olelo community access channels might be an interesting avenue for getting more local/human interest kinds of content. Not sure if you can stream the channels online, but they have a pretty well-stocked YouTube channel.
posted by helloimjennsco at 1:18 PM on October 21, 2019