The Mastery of Miyazaki Hayao

I've spent the last few days watching Miyazaki films late at night and there is one overarching theme in them all: after watching I feel both incredibly happy and creative. Miyazaki is the artist's animator. Though he is labeled Japan's Walt Disney, I must say that he is a helluva lot cooler than Disney. While his films can mostly be viewed by children (save Princess Mononoke) they defy convention and have female heroes who are bright, resourceful and full of life. I would say the best film for children is My Neighbor Totoro, which features a simple storyline about two young girls who meet strange and awesome creatures by their new house. I normally complain about people who are SO hardcore that they feel it is a sin to watch anime in any form other than the original Japanese with subtitles (or if you're super hardcore, without) but in the case of My Neighbor Totoro you pretty much have to watch it in Japanese if you don't want to have your eardrums assailed with the irritating voiceover of the youngest daughter.

My favorites are Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Princess Mononoke is epic and spectacular. Word has it that Miyazaki did 80% of the artwork himself, which is SO kickass. The storyline really resonates with me now upon taking my Asian Mythology class. The source of animal gods is from Shintoism, but the Deer God, the Golden Deer, is the Banyan Deer, or a form of Buddha. It also has hints of Hinduism in the idea of rebirth, a new age. It does not, however, go all the way with this and have some Shiva-esque character destroy the universe. It's really funny how differently time is viewed on either side of the world. The west views it chronologically while the east views it circularly.

Spirited Away is pretty much based on Shintoism. It's a really funky version of Alice in Wonderland. A lot of people think that going to the hot spring of the spirits is pretty freaking weird, but I loved every moment. I do remember watching it with friend several years ago and having her freak out over the spirits. I think they seemed demonesque to her, which is very sad because she missed out on and entire beautiful culture. I mean, I can see how it would happen but I just think its sad to be so ingrained in one culture that you can't see the beauty in others.

Anyway. Miyazaki is awesome. C'est tout.

listening to--Teddy Thompson: Up Front and Down Low