Spirited Away rightfully qualifies as Hayao Miyazaki’s magnum opus, winning fifty-two awards after its release in 2001. The movie describes a young girl’s journey of trepidation and discovery after becoming trapped in the spirit world. There, an almost byzantine story unfolds containing complex relationships, unwritten rules and profuse emotions. As with any work of this scale, a mosaic of themes and motifs riddles the production, but I wish to discuss one of the major “paths” we, as the audience, can follow and extrapolate from: the process of maturity.
The movie begins with the heroine, Chihiro, screaming and kicking to attract her father’s attention as he drives recklessly down an overgrown road. Clearly, this is the stage of childhood in …show more content…
At the bathhouse, which represents the frenzied amalgam Japan was at the introduction of western influence, Chihiro must find a job to survive until she finds a way to save her parents, and she does so helping Kamajii, the boiler room (spider)man. The owner of the bathhouse, Yubaba, allows Chihiro to stay by dint of her newfound work, but she takes away the girl’s real name, giver her the new name of Sen. Here, the name change represents a Sen’s initiation into the first stage of adulthood. Sen is introduced to the adult world, a world of new rules, etiquette and most of all, work. Miyazaki, of course, takes this chance to draw a parallel between the Japanese world and the fictitious spirit work. “Sen” literally means one-thousand and certainly seems like an alien name. However, this is exactly how workers are treated in any capitalist society: by their worth or …show more content…
To bring about his convalescent, she must undergo a harrowing journey into the unknowns of the spirit world, taking a one-way train to the last station. This nostalgic train ride is an incredibly heartwarming scene as we witness the passengers alight until only Sen; her peripatetic friend, No Face; a fat baby-turned-rat named Boh; and evil bird-turned-fly remain. Once again, Sen shows growing maturity as she leads the party into the eerie forest without hesitation, clearly not an easy feat for a child of her age. At their destination, Yubaba’s benevolent twin sister Zeniba’s humble dwelling, Sen learns that she has already succeeded in healing Haku through love, an emotion alien to the spirit world. Zeniba helps Sen’s new friends knit a special hairband for the girl and Sen returns to the bathhouse on Haku’s (in dragon form) back. During the flight, Sen deciphers Haku’s real name as the Kohaku river that she almost drowned in, freeing Haku from Yubaba’s control. Indeed, names are necessary to keep one’s identity in the the witch’s
The movie begins with the heroine, Chihiro, screaming and kicking to attract her father’s attention as he drives recklessly down an overgrown road. Clearly, this is the stage of childhood in …show more content…
At the bathhouse, which represents the frenzied amalgam Japan was at the introduction of western influence, Chihiro must find a job to survive until she finds a way to save her parents, and she does so helping Kamajii, the boiler room (spider)man. The owner of the bathhouse, Yubaba, allows Chihiro to stay by dint of her newfound work, but she takes away the girl’s real name, giver her the new name of Sen. Here, the name change represents a Sen’s initiation into the first stage of adulthood. Sen is introduced to the adult world, a world of new rules, etiquette and most of all, work. Miyazaki, of course, takes this chance to draw a parallel between the Japanese world and the fictitious spirit work. “Sen” literally means one-thousand and certainly seems like an alien name. However, this is exactly how workers are treated in any capitalist society: by their worth or …show more content…
To bring about his convalescent, she must undergo a harrowing journey into the unknowns of the spirit world, taking a one-way train to the last station. This nostalgic train ride is an incredibly heartwarming scene as we witness the passengers alight until only Sen; her peripatetic friend, No Face; a fat baby-turned-rat named Boh; and evil bird-turned-fly remain. Once again, Sen shows growing maturity as she leads the party into the eerie forest without hesitation, clearly not an easy feat for a child of her age. At their destination, Yubaba’s benevolent twin sister Zeniba’s humble dwelling, Sen learns that she has already succeeded in healing Haku through love, an emotion alien to the spirit world. Zeniba helps Sen’s new friends knit a special hairband for the girl and Sen returns to the bathhouse on Haku’s (in dragon form) back. During the flight, Sen deciphers Haku’s real name as the Kohaku river that she almost drowned in, freeing Haku from Yubaba’s control. Indeed, names are necessary to keep one’s identity in the the witch’s