Lilo & Stitch (2002) is about a nineteen-year-old Hawaiian girl, Nani, who raises her little sister, Lilo, after their parents’ deaths. Nani struggles to retain custody of her sister and, after Lilo adopts a troublesome alien pet named Stitch, almost loses custody of her altogether. But in the end of the movie, Nani prevails. She maintains custody of Lilo and continues to raise her with the help of her newfound support system. The film’s characters repeat, “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” Nani and Lilo learned this first from their father, and it becomes the core reason why Nani refuses to give up custody of Lilo—and why Lilo refuses to abandon Stitch.
The live-action remake decides to hone in on Nani’s failed dreams. In this version, Nani is a star student with a full ride to her dream school in California, studying marine biology. However, she gives up her dreams to care for Lilo. Tūtū, an elderly neighbor and family friend new to the remake, fishes Nani’s college acceptance letter out of the trash. She praises Nani’s mind, and encourages her to give college a second chance so she can make full use of her gifts—heavily implying Nani’s talents are being squandered by raising Lilo.
Moreover, the remake changes Nani’s personality. Nani is more visibly overwhelmed and withdrawn from her sister. She frets over bills and insurance and spends far less quality time with Lilo. Where the Nani in the animated film makes jokes to help shelter her little sister from hard realities, this Nani cynically tells her little sister that ohana is just a fantasy and that Lilo needs to face reality. In the original, Nani asserts that she’s the only one who understands Lilo’s numerous quirks, while in the remake, Nani tends to be as confused and stressed by her sister as everyone else.
By the end, the social worker (recast to be a kind and empathetic woman) persuades Nani that she can’t raise Lilo. Nani initially protests, because “no one gets left behind,” but Tūtū replies that she also shouldn’t leave herself behind. Convinced by this, Nani willingly relinquishes custody of Lilo so that she can pursue her dreams in California. The film softens the decision a little with a mid-credits scene showing that Nani can visit Lilo whenever she wants with an alien portal gun, but the ending still stands: Nani is better off relinquishing her responsibility for Lilo.
Taken as a whole, the remake’s changes are focused on Nani as an individual learning to put herself first instead of being consumed by the pressures of raising a child. In order to do this, she must give up custody of Lilo. The movie sees two goods in tension: the good of fulfilling one’s potential and “not leaving yourself behind,” and the good of sacrificing for one’s family. While the movie still commends Nani’s efforts to achieve the latter good, it argues that it’s best (for both Nani and Lilo) for Nani to pursue the former. The movie ends with a speech about Nani’s talents—her mind, her creative spirit, and so on—that she inherited from her parents, and how the way to make them proud and use those gifts is to pursue her dream school.
Meanwhile, the remake’s underlying philosophy contradicts the rest of the story. Stitch’s whole transformation hinges on Lilo taking him in and loving him, even though he actively makes her life worse (much of the time). Was Lilo leaving herself behind by choosing to save Stitch? If ohana means never letting another person get in the way of your goals lest you “[leave] yourself behind,” then ohana can crumble as soon as a loved one becomes too needy. In this case, it’s six-year-old socially awkward Lilo. In the remake, Lilo is all too aware of what Nani had to give up to care for her and urges her big sister to pursue her dreams instead of raising her.
This is a natural outworking of a secular worldview, where one should only care for other people so long as they don’t get in the way of your self-actualization. But that is not the worldview of the original Lilo & Stitch film, which unconsciously relies on a Christian concept of love.
In the animated film, Lilo sometimes exasperates Nani, but Nani would rather be with her sister than pursue anything else. Lilo shows Stitch the meaning of ohana because Nani first showed it to Lilo. Nani’s joyful, sacrificial love for Lilo in the animated film makes no sense in a worldview where the highest good is putting yourself first. Nani’s love is only justified by the biblical worldview—where Jesus declares we find our lives, our destiny, our purpose, and our happiness by losing our lives in love for him (Matthew 16:25).
Biblical love is neither thankless bondage nor unfettered freedom (which is merely slavery to one’s whims); the lover gives herself freely and gladly to the beloved, just as Christ gave himself to her. Jesus declares that the sacrifices the people of God make in love aren’t a hindrance to becoming who they are, but are actually essential to becoming who they are—namely, imitators of him, who did not come to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28).
This truth may be particularly poignant for mothers and fathers, who sometimes have to give up profitable opportunities in order to better take part in the uncelebrated, unglamorous work of caring for their children. However, all of us have responsibilities to others. Our lives are judged not by our career résumés or our college transcripts, but by how we serve God. The path to happiness and fulfillment is not by fleeing from all responsibility and obligation, but by running towards commitment. While sacrificial commitment to others may not always feel enjoyable in the moment, it offers lasting joy and satisfaction.
True love is made possible because Jesus refused to abandon his people. God’s people were (and still are!) rebellious and willful—he had every right to leave them behind and forget them. But instead, he chose to share in their sufferings to save them and became their Elder Brother (Hebrews 2:10-12). Christ’s unfailing care for his people in all times enables them to gladly lay down their lives as he did. Every story about ohana ultimately finds its meaning in the story and love of Christ Jesus.
By Genevie Roby