Why Moana Needs a False Goal

WARNING:  There will be minor spoilers for Disney’s Moana in this post.  
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Last week I talked about the importance of the false goal, and I wanted to expand on that topic this week.  And sometimes, the easiest way to explain what something should look like is to give you an example of what it shouldn’t.  Enter Moana.

Now, put down the stones you’re about to hurl at my head.  I enjoyed Moana.  It had great music, a plucky and likable protagonist, beautiful animation-- the works!  But several people have said they never got past the first thirty minutes of the movie.  Heck, I almost turned it off at minute 35.  All the time Moana spends on her island home feels like sandpaper raked on gravel.  Even with all that glorious production value, I was bored. I had to ask myself: What’s going on?  Then it hit me: while Moana (the movie) has a very clear false goal, Moana (the character) doesn’t actually have a false goal at all.

As a recap, the false goal is what your protagonist follows for the first part of the film before they realize things are a lot bigger/deeper/harder than they could have imagined and they were wrong in their approach to the “problem.”  But it’s not just about having a false goal, it’s about having the right false goal.  Choosing one can be tricky.  A false goal may look perfect on paper and still not work.  Let’s take a closer look at Moana to get a better idea.

Little Moana is born with the desire to explore the ocean, and by minute three the audience knows she’s going to do it.  That is her true goal, and she already has it before the movie begins.  Then her father spends the the next half hour convincing Moana to stay put.  The false goal the movie actively pursues is her father’s, not hers.  But we don’t care about him because he’ll become an irrelevant character after Moana hits the water.  He’s basically backstory.  

The movie spends an insane amount of energy convincing Moana to adopt her father's false goal using spectacular tactics.  There is a village of colorful characters singing to us about it-- and even a piggy sidekick.  All of which will disappear the second Moana leaves.  After 20 minutes, Moana agrees with her father that she shouldn’t go anywhere or do anything interesting ever.  Not only has Moana done nothing so far, she has agreed to do nothing in the future.

This false goal commits the cardinal sin that only his royal majesty Samuel Beckett can get away with: a goal to do absolutely nothing.  The movie works so hard to keep us interested with scenic beauty, great music, and dancing.  But all of this effort is to keep Moana exactly where she is.  The false goal is static.  Pro tip: Don’t work so hard to keep your protagonist in one place.  I’m bored just typing all this wasted screen time on paper.

The false goal is supposed to be the starting line. This makes Moana’s first quarter like watching a runner warm up.  Get on with it already!  
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Now, once the movie finally lets Moana get back to her original goal of exploring the ocean and she picks up her egocentric yet charming companion (brought to you by the king of charm himself: The Rock) the movie soars.  But if you were wondering why the whole thing clunked in the beginning, now you know.  And you won't make the same mistake.  Now, get back to writing your own epic masterwork and make sure your protagonist is at the helm of your piece and that s/he is always moving, even if they are moving in the wrong direction. 

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