Effects Of Humans On Nature In The Movie 'Princess Mononoke'

Superior Essays
Princess Mononoke was an anime film produced in 1997 by Hayao Miyazaki. The movie is set in the late Muromachi Period around 1336 to 1573 in Japan. In modern day, there are many issues over nature and how humans affect it. In Princess Mononoke, these issues have turned into recurrent themes such as humanity, nature, and the effect of humans on nature. These themes are evident throughout characters and images presented in the movie.

In this film all of the characters are very complex, like humans, and show the interplay between good and evil as we see in everyday human life. They allow the viewers to relate and understand the characters because each character has a level of humanity to them. Princess Mononoke is a complex character because
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She says “All these years, you 've defended the Forest Spirit!”, but in her mind that means killing all of the humans that have a bad effect on the forest, such as Lady Eboshi. The Princess says, “That woman is evil, and there 's no one who can stop me from killing her.” However,Princess Mononoke has evil flaws as does Lady Eboshi. Lady Eboshi is very compassionate and understanding. She turns societal outcasts into meaningful contributors in Irontown. “She 's also a very strong female who understands the injustice of the women 's positions in society”(studio-ghibli.wikia.com). “While she 's definitely the antagonist of the film, she 's not exactly a typical villain; she gets a number of moments of praise. While she blows off the heads of samurai, and uses apes for target practice, she also frees prostitutes from brothels, takes in lepers, into her society… Nevertheless, she 's a grey character” (studio-ghibli.wikia.com). Lady Eboshi, is like a modern human who accepts and shows compassion to all groups of people, but she has no respect for nature and what it means for humans. On the other hand, Ashitaka is a human that understands both nature and other humans and has learned to respect them both. Throughout the …show more content…
Lady Eboshi is a clear example of this. Lady Eboshi effects nature in a very negative way. Her negative effect on the forest is the main reason why the humans are at war. She attempts to destroy the forest so that she can mine coal without the obstacle of the forest and its inhabitants. She fails to realize that the forest spirit is what governs life and death, but when she does it is too late because she has already killed the spirit. On a lighter note humans have a very positive effect on the forest too. Ashitaka and San are a clear example of how humans have a positive effect on the forest. They both try and influence other humans to protect the forest. Both try and restore the balance within the forest when other humans almost destroy it and have to return the head of the forest spirit in order for the forest and all life to continue.
Overall, the theme of the effect of humans on nature is a very significant towards the movie and this also relates to the issue of the effect of humans on nature in modern day. There are a lot of people today that don 't respect nature and all that it gives us. alternatively there are those that are trying to influence others to positively benefit the nature that we are currently

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