How does Spirited Away transmit empowering values to the new generations?

Spirited Away 2003 shows different values throughout the film for the future generations. In fact “Miyazaki specified that he made the film ‘for the people who used to be 10 years old, and the people who are going to be ten years old’ (Osmond, A., 2008, p8) Now the values that are shown throughout the animation are greed, feminism, environmentalism and identity. These 4 values are shown in many different scenes. However, it is not a surprise animation approaches cultural themes as “Animation as an art, and approach, an aesthetic and an application informs many aspects of visual culture, from feature-length films to prime-time sit coms; from television and web cartoons to display functions on a range of ne communications technologies”. (Wells, P., 2002)

The 4 values that are represented in Spirited Away 2003 have also been represented in other animations such as The Incredibles 2004 where they discuss the theme of identity “your identity is your most valuable possession, protect it” (The Incredibles 2004) or Avatar 2009 where they epitomize the importance of the environment and how mankind is destroying it.

Also, these values are easily seen in Spirited Away 2003 film as “the animator” in this case, Hayao Miyazaki “predicates the performance on the ways that characters move, and by concentrating on the relationships between action and reaction.”(Wells, P., 2002) in this case the action that the characters perform and the reaction being the consequences they face and how that action changes them.

Miyazaki reaches positive messages by the techniques he uses.

This animation is hand-drawn not like the modern ones of the times, in fact pencil and paper where used for most of the animation. He did this to captivate the characters in their own essence and to give a more precise vision of the story.

Not only that but he did refuse to use common anime techniques like lower frame rates, or any dramatic repetition, he paid more attention to detail and did not use short cuts or flashiness.

Moving on, greed is a topic that is discussed in two different scenes. We first see greed at the beginning of the animation when Chihiro and her parents enter the spirits world and start eating their food without asking if there is someone there (appendix 1).

Both of the parents impersonate capitalism as they start eating food that it’s not theirs, with the excuse that they will pay for it later and therefore teaching Chihiro that money resolves any problem. Nevertheless the behaviour of the parents is punished by transforming them into pigs, which is an adjective for greedy, dirty or unpleasant people. Creating a “Seemingly immutable image of destruction and hope” (Wells, P., 1997, p24) for the future generations as they are being raised in this capitalism society.

The other scene where avarice is shown is when No-Face/Kaonashi, a mystical spirit offers money to Aogaeru another mystical creature with the form of a frog who works in the bathhouse. As No-Face offers money to Aogaeru by accepting the money he gets eaten up. No-Face keeps offering money and the people of the bathhouse still accept it even though they know the consequences that by accepting the money one is going to pay the consequences.

Going in depth, these scenes represent capitalism at its fullest, as for others to be rich there has to be others that have to face the consequences of suffering. Even though they know what No-Face is able to do to others they still keep feeding him to get more gold. In fact, if we examine this scene there is a clear representation of the human world. The spirits represent the people as they know that for being rich, they have to hurt other however they keep feeding capitalism to become more richer without caring for other people. (appendix 2)

The other lesson that Miyazaki tries to teach the new generations through Spirited Away 2003 is female power.

First of all, the main protagonist is a Shōjo (young girl) who overcomes fear and goes through a path of magical adventures. However, this choice of gender shouldn’t be a surprise as “Miyazaki plays out his authorial leanings through a series of complex heroines who are consequently engaged in the pursuit of self- knowledge and distinctive identity as an individual, within an increasingly urban society.” (Wells, P., 1997) making the female gender learn their true identity and own it. (appendix 3)

As a matter of fact, Miyazaki is a feminist himself as he has said” The reason I present the hero as a girl is probably because society traditionally accords control to man, in Japan and in the rest of the world. We’ve reached a time when this male-oriented way of thinking is reaching a limit. The girl or woman has more flexibility. This is why a female point of view fits the current times” (Wells, P., 1997) he tries to bring forward gender equality as female can portrayed the role of being heroic and to confront dangerous scenarios just as a man would do.

Even though “Her points of security – her home, her parents, her name –are taken away” (Osmond, A., 2008, p19) she takes a stand and tries to gain back all that was taken from her, except of crying and expecting for prince charming to come for her rescue. Chihiro is a role module for little girls cause even though she is still a child she overcomes her fears and concentrates her mind in solving the problem that her parents have caused.

Finally, “Miyazaki is famous for creating young heroines in films, leading commentators either to praise his supposed ‘feminism’” (Osmond, A., 2008, p20) therefore there is a clear stamen that he tries to teach the new generations that gender inequality is not right and that being a girl does not make you weak in any sense.

The third value that is shown in Spirited Away 2003 is environmentalism. As the film is a studio Ghibli production is not a surprise that Shintō religion is present, meaning all the connections the animation has with nature. In fact, “Miyazaki essentially updates the enduring tradition of Garden Art, with its infusion of Zen Buddhist principles; occasionally inflects his designs with the style of Utamaro and Hokusai, two of the key ‘Floating World’ painters; draws upon the cinematic codes and conventions within domestic scenarios of Ozu, the action sequences of Kurosawa, and the painterly effects of Mizoguchi; and finally, in significant act of non-Japanese cultural appropriation, adapts the hyper-realist designs and narrational strategies of Disney features.”

However, the aesthetic of the film are green and blue landscapes, but it is true that Zen Buddhist figures are present (appendix 4.2).

Not only the film has naturalistic landscapes, but it also has a scene where is shows how the human species is polluting the world. “Animation is somehow concentrated and intense, it can say a lot more in a short time” (Faber, L. and Walters, H., 2003) and even though the scene of the river god is a couple of minutes long it has an empowering message of recycling and caring for the Earth (appendix 4.1).

In this scene the river god is shown as a pile of smelly dirt, however, when he enters the bath, they notice he has something stuck and when they start pulling all sorts of men elements start coming from him.

In other words, “Miyazaki’s transcendental moments are careful to emphasise the enduring resource in nature as the philosophic and spiritual reassurance against the self-destructive impulses of humankind” (Wells, P., 1997) he tries to teach us how the humankind is ruining the environment and what are the consequences of no caring about the environment.

He expresses his vision by creating two different characters, the first one being an abnormal, sad, big and brown spirit that walks leaving trails of smell and the other being a much less big and happier spirit. Miyazaki also enforces the difference of a polluted river with a clean one by sound. At first when the spirit walks into the bathhouse everybody is shouting and running away and meanwhile, they are taking all the pollution from him there are huge rustling throughout the bathhouse.

However, when the spirit is clean there is no sound only a calm drop of water, giving serenity to the scene and therefore creating a contrast of what pollution sounds like and how a clean river should sound and feel. (appendix 4.1)

Finally, the last value that Miyazaki tries to lecture young people about is their identity. As a matter of fact, getting deeper into the subject there is a “Trio of motifs: name, identity and memory.” (Osmond, A., 2008, p9) As Chihiro is trapped in the spirit world her name is stolen from her, baptizing her as Sen. By taking away her name, her identity is lost, and she is just a normal worker at the bathhouse. (appendix 5) Nevertheless, she goes in the adventure of retrieving her identity to go back to the normal world. In this adventure he overcomes her fears and passes her childhood face to a more mature one.

Miyazaki shows us that sometimes your identity, way of thinking and acting need to be taken away to find. So, you can mould and create a better version of yourself and own who you are. The first Chihiro that appears in the movie is a girl brought up in capitalism who has not faced the consequences of the humankind in the world, however, as everything that she values is taken away from her and she is transformed into Sen she starts to realize what she has lost and tries to fight for what it’s hers. Therefore, the second Chihiro we see is a more educated respectful person, who values more what the world has to offer and cherishes what she has.

In conclusion, Miyazaki guides the new generations into being a better version of themselves just as Chihiro, to value what we have, as in being humble and not asking for more than what we deserve, making a statement that girls can also be heroes and overcome their own fears as much as boys, caring about mother nature and preserving our planet. In other words, not polluting it and killing it and finally to never lose our identity since is our most precious possession, however, change our way of acting and thinking to become a better version of ourselves.

Bibliography

> Wells, P., 2002. Animation: Genre and authorship (Vol. 13). Wallflower Press.

> WELLS, P. (1997). Art & animation. London, Academy Editions.

> Osmond, A., 2008. Spirited away. Macmillan International Higher Education

> Faber, L. and Walters, H., 2003. Animation unlimited: innovative short films since 1940. Laurence King Publishing.

Filmography

> Spirited Away 2003

> The Incredibles 2004

> Avatar 2009

Appendix

> Film visuals

1.

2

3

4.1

4.2

5

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