Anime or animation started in the early 20th century by Japanese filmmakers who experimented with animation techniques. Hayao Miyazaki, a director, animator, screenwriter, and illustrator of such animated films is the creator of Spirited Away. Spirited Away is a film about Chihiro, a young girl who upon moving to a new town becomes lost in the spirit world after her father takes a wrong turn on their way to their new house. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited away illustrates not only the struggles Chihiro has to overcome in order to save her parents who turn into pigs upon eating the food of the spirit world, but there are also many instants in which the role of the economy have caused an impact on Chihiro’s journey. In particular bourgeoisie, proletariat, and the informal economy are three concepts that are useful tools in analyzing spirited away.
Conflict theorist Karl Marx defines the bourgeoisie as the individuals who own the means of production. Some characteristics which will aid in recognizing a bourgeoisie is their tendency to exploit their workers, their flashy exhibiting of their wealth (nouveau riche) and their constant emphasis on their profits. In Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away the representative of the bourgeoisie is verified by Yubaba, a greedy and power hungry witch who owns a bathhouse that caters to the spirits of the spirit world. Yubaba illustrates several characteristics of a bourgeoisie one being her exploitation of her workers in particular Yubaba capitalizes Kohaku (Haku) and Chihiro (Sen) by taking both of their given names in exchange for working under her this causes them to forget their origins and identity making it easier for her to use them as she felt fit. Thus, illustrating immediately how much power she...
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... is a world that is worth living in” (Akagawa, 2013, ¶ 21). Anime in general speaks to many issues and situations we experience on a daily basis. For example, the anime Naruto speaks of growing up as an orphan, learning to grow as a person, friendship, dreams, and so much more yet all a majority of people can seem to grasp is that it is about fighting ninja. What they don’t see is that Hayao Miyazaki is one of many anime directors that have encoded a hidden message in their productions such as Spirited Away, and it is up to the consumer to take notice and decode this message.
Works Cited
Akagawa, R., (2013). Excerpts of Hayao Miyazaki's news conference announcing his retirement
Retrieved from http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/
Suzuki, T. (Producer), & Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2001). Spirited away [Motion Picture]. Japan: Toho
Co., Ltd
It has been happened frequently in today’s society that parents and teachers try to keep children away from violent media. Children are taught that violent is not right and dangerous. In the article, “Violent Media Is Good for Kids”, Gerard Jones asserts that allowing children to violent media instead of banned it can bring great benefit to children during their growing stage. By watching violent media, children learn to overcome fear, control the rage and prove the real self from the superheroes in the story. Jones believes that violent entertainment can assistance children to fulfill emotional and development need. In my opinion, Jones develops a persuasive argument because of his strong emotions, considerable evidences and reasonable assumptions.
In the short article titled “Virtual Morality” by Andrew Tuplin, Tuplin compares both video games and movies that violate moral beliefs according to the social norm. He argues the fact that technology is and will continue to challenge moral beliefs as well as the norm for what we see as acceptable in the real world. I for one see this issue to be harmful and threatening to the way we interact with the world on a daily basis. These so called “fantasy worlds” are confusing young minds and allowing them to create their own image to what is both morally right and wrong in society. This essay will explain why I feel that children should not be allowed to participate in violent video games and movies because the violence they learn will eventually introduce itself in society in one way or another.
The purpose of any text is to convey the criticisms of society, with V for Vendetta and Animal Farm being chief examples of this statement. Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation, they portray many of society's flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that role's ability to motivate and inspire change.
This book, Japanamerica focuses on how the Japanese popular culture influencing the American culture. The author, Roland Kelts take a neutral prospective in order to create this book, which is done by interviewing many significant individual who took part in establishing the popular culture in both Japan and America. Kelts investigates why the phenomenon of Japanophilia, or the “outsider’s infatuation with Japan’s cultural character” (pg.5), is occurring especially in the United States. Even though Japanophilia phenomenon arose before the twentieth century, it is increasing in number because of the anime, manga, videogames, and other medium of popular culture.
Gerard Jones' essay, "Violent Media is Good for Kids," has an epic tone that is straight out of the comic books that he writes. It is a passionate, well-written appeal to pathos that should be very effective at grabbing the attention of his readers. In the course of developing this appeal, he also includes appeals to both logos and pathos, making his argument something more than a simple tug on the heartstrings. Though not without its problems, this essay presents a strong argument in favor of the benefits of violent media such as comic books. Recent events have driven the debate over violence into the center of the national attention once again. There are many arguments in favor of removing all violent media from the reach of children. This essay offers food for thought for anyone considering that idea.
The film revolves around Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl unhappy with the fact that her family is moving into a new home. On the way, her father takes a wrong turn and leads them to what looks like an abandoned theme park. As the family walks along the street, they find a shop with an abundance of food displayed on the counter. Chihiro, following her intuition, decides to not eat unlike her parents who devours the food in front of them, eventually turning into pigs. Stumbling upon a bathhouse, there she meets a young boy named Haku who tells her to cross the river before sunset, however, it was too late and Chihiro was already trapped in the spirit world. Finding work at the bathhouse run by Yubaba, she renames her Sen, gaining control over Chihiro. Haku warns her that if she forgot her name, she will not be able to escape the spirit world. During her stay, she encounters
Cathy’s project discussed how the movie Spirited Away was an important in teaching valuable lessons and showing Japanese culture. Cathy’s design choice for the presentation was whimsical, with images in bright colours and designs. This reflected well on her topic, as the movie itself is filled with bright and whimsical imagery. As such, this made her project effective as it connected her presentation to her overarching topic.
So, throughout the story and throughout life, we see society making countless decisions, making countless mistakes, and repeating the process over and over again. And then, we see the individuals that try to prevent the worst from happening to the world, or in the countries they reside in. However, if it's one thing that can change the world, it's what someone believes in, and what they do personally to back it up.
...t pure?” (621). This rhetorical statement is the final stroke to his satirical masterpiece: it forces the reader to laugh at the outrageousness of the statement, which is the final key of his subtle attempt to expose the full absurdity that is the hedonistic Ukiyo lifestyle. By having the reader sit at the door step of the old woman’s hut and listen in on her stories with the various characters she meets, Saikaku is able to convey how Ukiyo’s superficial, unequal, and hypocritical nature is a breeding ground for corruption. Through Life of a Sensuous Woman, he paints only one conclusion: the dangers and pitfalls that Ukiyo poses to society far outweigh the thrill and pleasure of the “floating-world.”
The film Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is a Japanese animated film. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli in 2001. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is a fantasy film that addresses several themes and carries various messages. It is full of Shinto beliefs and symbolisms. Shinto elements can be found throughout the film, from character design to simple acts such as crossing a tunnel/bridge to reach another realm and eating that realm’s food in order to stay in it. This paper will focus on some of the themes presented in the film as well as some of its main characters.
Violence is everywhere on television, and media has become a part of our daily lives. It is difficult to avoid the exposure to violent media. The violent scenes harshly affected children’s innocent minds. Children imitate what they see in media. It should be a wake up call for everyone to realize that television shows and video games reinforce the development in aggressive behaviors. It provides negative thoughts to children, loss of reality, and prevents people from taking responsibly from their acts. Producers should be conscious of what their products have done to the society. Instead of violence, they should have a different (or a bit educational) themes as a representation for their games or
Many can debate that children are definitely affected by the movies, television shows, book and video games that the entertainment business throws at them. For too many people, violence is an ordinary way to be entertained. One can argue that, exposing children to violence can make them less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, more fearful of them world around them, and more willing to act aggressively. The issue proposed, states that once a child is exposed to such things as the video game- “Doom”, violent books, hostile movies such as “Die Hard”, and hateful lyrics of Eminem, he or she seems to know nothing but violence itself. Even with the new laws about new rating systems, young children are still being sold such books, movies, and music. These laws are simply not strong enough. Many people believe that the entertainment industry should take responsibility, and to start censorships of things tha...
Spirited Away, titled Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi in Japan, follows a young girl named Chihiro on an adventurous, yet threatening journey into a magical realm after her parents are turned into pigs. She forms relationships with people that will help her find her way back home such as Haku, Zeniba, and Mr. Kamaji. She also encounters those like Yubaba who try to make her time in the realm of spirits difficult. Spirited Away quickly became Japan’s highest grossing film of all time. It received many great reviews in every aspect of filmmaking. It won several awards, including A Golden Bear in 2002 at the Berlin International Film Festival, and an Academy Award in 2003 for Best Animated Film. Hayao Miyazaki, the film’s writer and director, strongly encourages Japanese culture and its survival. He believes that “surrounded by high technology and its flimsy devices, children are more and more losing their roots”(Reider). Hayao Miyazaki’s aim is to present not only an animated motion picture, but a work of art. He does so by using certain animation and film techniques, applying Japanese culture, and creating in depth characters, all of which highlight key symbols in the film.
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.
Researches from vagaries universities have come to a point in which all their work has led to a conclusion that cartoons triggers a violent increase in child’s behavior. A child generally watches about 18,000 hours of television from the start of school to graduation, which effects the mental and psychological of a child. The fact that television itself has a strong hold on everybody’s life and the children of families are very vulnerable to the ill effects of the fake world cartoons bring. (C.J.Choma, Stevie Hosster, Rober Lue, Divia Nelson, Shawnte Ray, Ben Wilcox, Brandon Ybarra, and Dr.Louisa, 2004). The absent of death and harm in the world of make believe can lead up to children being confused on what is real and what is fake because through their eyes the character and world in the pre...