Chihiro & Her Parents: A Thematic Binary

Even before they arrive, Chihiro’s eyes nervously scan her surroundings, noticing the nature and forboding vibe; the parents are firmly, calmly fixed on the road. Their modern sensibilities enable a foolish trust in their surroundings.

In Spirited Away, and in his other films, one of Miyazaki’s principle themes is childlike wonder in the face of modern greed, skepticism, and ennui. One of his principle was of presenting “wonder” is through an innocent, young female character. In the case of Spirited Away, the character Chihiro performs this function. The binary of childlike wonder and modern thought is principally explicated in one of the opening scenes of the film, when Chihiro and her family arrive at a mysterious temple, that is supposedly part of the route to their new house. Though the perils of modern thought are already made clear in a later part of the scene, when the parents are turned into pigs, Miyazaki’s values are already made clear in the way that each character, Chihiro and her two parents, first navigate their encounter with the mysterious temple. Their initial reactions to this strange sight immediately align them with their eventual fates. Additionally, they reflect the perspectives of each character. Chihiro’s innocence is still intact. She has an intense awareness of nature and life around her. However, the parents’ sense of wonder has grown callous over the years, and they have enabled the modern thought of their times to become their primary way of seeing. In this small part of the opening sequence, Miyazaki subtly depicts these differences in perspective.

The film aligns with Chihiro’s innocent, cautious point of view, making the action on screen just as forboding and frightening as it seems to Chihiro. Chihiro’s parents seem unphased by the building’s scary presence. Chihiro, sensing the danger, cannot help to remark on the strange power the building exudes, remarking “It’s sucking in the air…”. However, her parents do nothing but lower the power they sense from the building, commenting “It’s made out of wood, but it looks like a new building…” Any wonder they sense from the building is immediately lowered to something they can immediately understand, as in its construction. Furthermore, the parents immediately align the building with something they can understand and are familiar with : technology. Chihiro’s comment is more founded in nature. In stating that “it’s sucking in the air” she gives the temple a much more lively presence. The temple is not just an object they can walk around; it is, in a sense, alive too. The parents immediately make the temple into a powerless object by only commenting on its construction.

Chihiro notices the creepy, abnormal elements around her.

The action on the screen already seems to hint at the fall of her parents, by showing the viewer what Chihiro is sensing in the screen. Miyazaki could have chosen to show an objective, plain building. However, he wanted to show that the “wonder” that Chihiro senses is real, and more tangible than anything that, at this point, Chihiro’s parents could ever sense. Thus, the screen does show the wind flowing into the temple. And the darkness of the doorway is the blackest black on the screen, making it look just as scary as it seems to Chihiro.

Spirited Away: The Magic of Food

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 2001, Spirited Away is an animated film chronicling the adventure of Chihiro as she embarks upon the spirit world to save her parents. The film opens with Chihiro and her family stumbling upon an abandoned theme park. As they sit for lunch, Chihiro refuses to join and wanders away as her parents wolf down the “free” food. Upon reuniting, Chihiro discovers that her parents have transformed into pigs, and her world has shifted and become the Spirit World where humans are not welcome. During her time in the Spirit World, many bonds have been formed and manipulated through the sharing and distribution of food.

Give in to gluttony, Chihiro!

The distribution of food throughout the film plays a crucial role in how relationships are formed and maintained in the film. As the film opens, Chihiro’s parents are shown succumbing to gluttony as they stuff their faces with food meant for the spirits. Contrary to her pleas, Chihiro’s parents are transformed into gluttonous pigs that no longer cherish the food and only eat because the food is in front of them. Chihiro is forced to leave them in search of an escape and a cure. The relationship between Chihiro and her parents is seen as mildly disintegrating as her existence is subtly overlooked by her parents. They ignore her requests and partake in whatever they see fit. The introduction of the food enhances this effect on their relationship. Because of her parent’s nonstop eating, their relationship becomes undermined to the point that she prioritizes others before them later on in the film.

As Chihiro embarks in the Spirit World, she stumbles upon Haku, who feeds her a berry to sustain her body. The sharing of this seemingly miniscule berry begins a relationship in which he becomes her savior from the shadows. This duality is also represented in the use of the food which served to either help or hurt relationships. In the case between Haku and Chihiro, food was used to augment their relationship in which he would provide something for her to eat which in turn were used as an enhancement for her body. In one specific scene, Haku notices that Chihiro’s body is feeling worn and she is not feeling well. As a remedy, he gives her magically charged onigiri which enriches her body and makes her feel better. Although he cares for her in secrecy, Haku assumes a duality to cover up their relationship. In public he forces Chihiro to assume the position of peasant while he is the master. On the contrary, when they are in private and Haku gives her food, the two share a humble relationship that only builds later in the film.

Later in the film, Chihiro receives a medicine from the river spirit which she must use to save her parents. As seen earlier in the film, her relationship with her parents has been weakened, and she prioritizes her newfound relationships over the one she shares with her parents. In one scene where she is shown caring for Haku as a dragon, Chihiro states that the medicine was meant for her parents, but they can wait and caring for him is a priority, so she feeds Haku the medicine to change him back into a human and purge the affliction within his body. In another scene, Chihiro is shown using the same medicine to save No Face, who has become a monster set on destroying the bathhouse. After feeding No Face the medicine, his body is purged of the evils contaminating it, and he reverts back to his primal state. Food has played a large impact on these relationships, and Chihiro uses it to save the people she loves.

 

Vibrator: Isolated in a Sea of Food

In the opening scene of Vibrator, food is featured in the primary form of pop cultural commodity. In the sequence, food represents pop cultural cliche, or corresponds directly to the protagonist’s social anxiety in relation to such cliches. Such immediate attention to food, and its associated consumer culture helps to quickly frame the protagonist as an outsider. It is this isolation, resulting from her inability to assimilate to the pop culture of her society, that enables her sharp criticisms. This isolation is nuanced by the almost threatening, and overwhelming presence of the collective food around her. This moment provides ample characterization; though it only encompasses the first couple minutes of the film, it helps the viewer to understand the protagonist, especially when she jumps into more spontaneous moments in the film.

The first few shots are quick, almost overwhelming skims across the supermarket, revealing shoppers and their prospective purchases. First a sea of magazines, panning over to curious customers, and refrigerated beverages in the background. A customer leaving, as another enters. A man on his cell phone walking past a section so quickly the camera cannot even identify its contents. And then a sign “WHITE DAY” and panning from one set of sweets to another, specifically shortbread cookies.

The camera work, just like the narrator, exudes social anxiety. The quick movements and handicam could either be intended to establish the tone of the film or to express the literal visual perspective of the female protagonist. It isn’t clear, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Perhaps what’s essential is the distant relationship enabled by the camera between the subject and the food. All these items are merely evidence of a commercial culture she doesn’t identify with, and that feels alien, and intrusive to her. Furthermore, there are no closeups of any of the food. Each item is not presented as an individual, really, but only in relationship to other food or people. They’re only presented in groupings, in walls  of food items, in crammed shelves. This builds the feel of the protagonist being so overwhelmed, in this scene. Given the implications of the camerawork, how can she not be? There is a constant sense of motion around her, nearly disorienting; yet she cannot escape the presence of the food. The groupings also emphasize the social importance of food; it only has power, in this scene, due to the collective nature.

The scene continues to explore food as a primarily social aspect. The narrator contemplates the vapidity of consumer oriented holidays, like valentines day, prefacing with “Will your valentine buy you chocolates?” Here, the camera is zoomed very closely on her eye, reflecting the introverted nature of her contemplations. She isn’t connected to her surroundings when she says these things. She isn’t part of the valentines day phenomenon. She is clearly differentiating herself, speaking as an outsider. This “outsider” feeling continues into the next couple statements, with “Don’t buy into the chocolate makers’ marketing ploy, you morons.”. As she says this, other shoppers are briefly shown, interacting normally, with the camera framed conventionally around them. When the camera returns to her, she seems distant, with her back turned, almost silhouetted against the artificially lit rows of food. And indeed, the protagonist is distant; she, at this moment, will never understand the happiness most people find in the artifice enforced by popular food culture.

Extra Credit: Astroboy, Film Review

By: Natalie Jongjaroenlarp

Tezuka’s Astroboy, an animated television series, is about a boy robot created to replace a scientist’s son who passed away. The scientist, Doctor Tenma, through his depression and sorrow over the death of his son, desperately denies that his son is gone. Once Astroboy comes into his life, he tries his best to teach the boy how to live like a regular, human boy. When that fails, however, he sells the robot to a circus without another thought to the boy’s feelings.

This film has grotesque, dark moments that reflect german expressionism. The stereotypes and characteristics of the feeling of claustrophobia, the dark shadows, the mad scientist caricature, and the doppelgänger and split personality effect are prevalent in this film. In the beginning, the frankenstein-like music coupled with the birth of what seems like a monstrosity coming into being help to create the german expressionistic atmosphere. Meanwhile, Doctor Tenma laughs wildly as his creation of Astroboy becomes real, much like a mad scientist. This foreshadows the dark things that will happen to the character of Astroboy later. Also, there are times when Astroboy resembles something of a younger Doctor Tenma. That is why it is so heartbreaking when the scientist sells the boy. It seems like he is selling a part of himself away, as he tries his best to move on after the tragic death of his son. The doppelgänger characteristic of German expressionism comes into play especially during the scene where Doctor Tenma is debating whether or not he should create Astroboy. He has an internal war with himself, as he struggles to come to terms with the recent tragic accident that took the life of his one and only son.

The main point of the film is driven home at the end when Astroboy saves the circus master. He treated the boy with such cruelty, yet he was saved by him in the end. This reveals that everyone should always be treated with absolute kindness because you never know what may happen in the future. As they say, what goes around comes around. This film stars a character that all children love.

The appeal of Astroboy not only comes from the film or tv series, it also comes from the advertising and merchandise. Children everywhere would be thrilled to see candy with Astroboy’s face on it. Sales increased quite a bit once the decision was made to use Astroboy as a strategy. Because children identified with the brand so much and Astroboy was literally everywhere, it made it easy for Japan’s largest candy company to make a lot of money. This same idea was later copied by other manufacturing companies once they realized that the use of popular cartoon characters worked. However, once they began to use the actor’s image, from the tv show, alongside the face of the cartoon, the strategy did not work as well. The problem was that children identified the actor with other characters from other shows.

I Don’t Want Any of This: Food and Relationships in One Million Yen Girl

In the 2008 film, One Million Yen Girl, food is used throughout the movie to represent Suzuko’s willful disconnection with her family as well as most of the rest of society.  The story begins as Suzuko is released from prison.  She retaliated to the inadvertent killing of a cat she took in by throwing away all of her roommate’s belongings.  This earns her a prison sentence, but upon her release Suzuko’s parents decide to make a nice big meal for the family.

[Suzuko’s parents prepare a large dinner for the family, back together after Suzuko’s time in prison. But Suzuko waits, apparently indecisive as to whether she can accept the meal and the support as well as the dependency it represents]

Suzuko quietly refrains from eating, but slowly starts to sip on soup.  She does not seem to be sure whether or not she wants to accept what her family is offering her.  Of course, the meaning of the scene extends to more than the food itself.  Her parents want to provide her with the “nutrition” she needs.  Finally, apparently deciding that she can accept this, she begins to make a hand roll, but her younger brother interrupts.  He yells at her that she shouldn’t have come back.  She explains her plans to leave once she saves up a million yen.  Suzuko then leaves the table, the roll still lying on her plate.

[Suzuko storms off after the confrontation with her brother. Out of the massive amount of food on the table, she has only taken a few sips of soup]

True to her word, Suzuko leaves home after saving up a million yen.  She then travels from town to town, repeating the saving and leaving process and making and abandoning relationships as she does.  Scene after scene shows her eating little or nothing at all as those around her happily devour their meals.  She is choosing not to sustain herself, neither with food nor with relationships, more than is necessary for survival.  Suzuko’s relationship with food in this film reminds me of what food represents in Vibrator.  While Suzuko is not poisoning herself with alcohol or rejecting the food she does take in, she is still refusing the sustenance provided by food, as well as the emotional sustenance those offering the food keep trying to provide.

[Suzuko sits shyly in the corner eating nothing as the others eat, drink, and laugh]

When Suzuko finally finds someone she thinks she can trust, he betrays her badly by borrowing money to date another girl.  She confronts him once she has saved up a million yen, and decides yet again to leave.

[Suzuko asks her lover to explain why he lovers her, upon each answer, she responds “And?” Suzuko cannot accept what he has to offer, neither love nor iced tea.]

We get a sense that she has grown, however.  At the end of the movie we see her buying a donut, a food clearly made for pleasure.  Perhaps this donut represents the ephemeral pleasure she found in her relationship, which was also “sweet” but not “healthy.”  Perhaps, sometimes, the thing that we need to motivate us is not the small, bland, healthy option, but a mouthful of sweet, fattening donut.

[Suzuko enjoys a donut as she sets off to a new destination, it seems that she has learned that it is acceptable to indulge one’s self, at least sometimes.]

Extra Credit: The One-Straw Revolution, a Biographical Genre

by: Natalie Jongjaroenlarp

In Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution, various farming techniques are outlined to describe the trial and error process that Fukuoka went through in order to find what he thinks is the perfect farming method. His approach to farming aligns with nature in its truest form. Instead of attempting to re-make nature, like most modern techniques do, he tries to attack farming by avoiding the use of man-made or unnatural equipment. His exploration of farming has led to revelations that even experts in the agricultural field do not believe. Fukuoka says of the farmers using toxic chemicals, “It is as if a fool were to stomp on and break the tiles of his roof. Then when it starts to rain and the ceiling begins to rot away, he hastily climbs up to mend the damage, rejoicing in the end that he has accomplished a miraculous solution” (Fukuoka, 18). It is silly that these farmers try to fix something that was not in need of repair to begin with. When they get back to square one, they are overjoyed because they think they have accomplished a great feat. The analogies and descriptive writing allow for a clear-cut explanation to the situation.

Along his journey, he has made important, philosophical discoveries while still finding what he is passionate about in life. He realizes that, even when he feels like he has found something that can change the world, he still understands “nothing” (Fukuoka, 8). There is never going to be enough knowledge to understand everything because it is simply impossible for any one person to know things beyond what the human psyche can comprehend. He, therefore, feels comfortable in his own stupidity. In a poetic passage full of description, he relates how he found himself: “Just at that moment a night heron appeared, gave a sharp cry, and flew away into the distance. I could hear the flapping of its wings. In an instant all my doubts and the gloomy mist of my confusion vanished. Everything I had held in firm conviction, everything upon which I had ordinarily relied was swept away with the wind…” In this world there is nothing at all….” I felt that I understood nothing. I could see that all the concepts to which I had been clinging, the very notion of existence itself, were empty fabrications. My spirit became light and clear. I was dancing wildly for joy…I think it could safely be said that from the experience of that morning my life changed completely” (Fukuoka, 8-9). This story is told in a kind of confessional, biographical format, similar to Ozeki’s My Year of Meats, in which Fukuoka describes his spiritual path he took to find the passion he has for farming. This style of writing allows the reader to imagine the emotions and thoughts running through his head in that one moment.

There is a superior, expert-like tone that pervades throughout the piece, especially during the passages that explain the step-by-step process of farming. It gives the readers comfort to know the background of the writer. His credentials add dynamic to the piece because his life is being lived by everyone reading. Suddenly, everyone lives through the successes of his discoveries, philosophical and agricultural. That is why the work means that much more to the public.

Works Cited

Fukuoka, Masanobu. The One-straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming. Emmaus: Rodale, 1978. Print.

Minamata, as Explored Through the Manifesto Genre

Japan 70, Natalie Jongjaroenlarp

The woman wears her sash to represent the victims afflicted by the dreadful incident.

The genre of the manifesto is defined as a means of expression for a specific group to publicize something, usually what they want. In the case of Tsuchimoto’s Minamata: The Victims and Their World, the genre of the manifesto serves as the prototype. The film centers around the community that exists within Minamata, Japan and other close areas that suffered health problems because of the digestion of local fish that carried large amounts of mercury in their systems. It is later found out that this resulted from a nearby factory, owned by Chisso, releasing chemicals and mercury into the ocean and environment.

Through the use of personal interviews with the victims, video footage of the victims and the people who care about them and brief, informational sequences that give the facts of the event, the audience is able to clearly identify with the community as they draw closer emotionally to each individual in the film. For instance, near the end of the film, a personal interview with one of the victims is conducted. The interview focuses on a little boy, around twelve years old, whose mother consumed some of the mercury. The chemicals went to certain parts of his brain, forevermore making him retarded. The “disease” has taken away the bright future of success he once had. This is a good example of how powerful the manifesto genre can be. The genre gives insights as to how much this incident has dramatically changed the lives of the children and other victims of the mercury for the worse.

Because of the effectiveness of this format, the audience cannot help but feel much sympathy for this community and the tragic incident that changed their lives forever. This is especially illustrated through one of the last scenes where a crowd of people gather to help spread awareness of what happened in Minamata. The goal being: to help stop this from happening in the future. They are supporters of the families in Minamata and sympathize with them. They speak out to gain more supporters for the cause and try their best to let the public see what Chisso should own up to. In the hopes that justice will inevitably prevail, they showcase a few victims, like the woman shown in the screen shot above. The woman is proud to stand up for herself and her fellow residents who were also inflicted by this new disease. As a result of this incident, it has created a tight bond between the people living in Minamata, whether affected by the disease or not.

This speaks to the type of long-lasting culture that has survived there. Through this tragedy, the people have stood together, united, for a single cause reaching out to other areas for help and guidance. However, ultimately, they have made it through together. It is hard to believe that one community can go through so much and still come out at the end strong. The genre of the manifesto is perfect to document the lives of these people in Minamata because it cuts through to the heart of who they are and what they stand for.

The retarded boy is being interviewed about how he got the disease.

Spirited Away: Pigs Galore.

In the movie Spirited Away, a family is just moving to their new home. On the way there, they make a wrong turn and get lost. The family stops at a tunnel and decides to walk through, which leads the main character, the young girl named Chihiro, on an unexpected, frightening adventure.
Curiosity is what really caused all of the events that happened throughout the movie. What was unexpected was that the parents were the curious ones. Usually it would be the child wandering off into strange or unknown places yet the parents were the ones who seemed to be comfortable with the unknown. When they actually make it through the tunnel and onto the field, another thing strikes the parents’ curiosity. The other thing just happened to be food.

The food is set out at an “abandoned amusement park” on tables already prepared and ready to eat. The parents yell out to see who the food belonged to but no one responded. As the parents begin eating, Chihiro, who is already uncomfortable, then decides to have a look around. She begins to see things, very strange creatures appearing as the day becomes night. She returns to her parents, only to find them transforming into pigs!

This can be interpreted as gluttony. Although people may have things, food for instance, there is always a desire for more. Upon reaching the field, the mother even mentions that they should have brought their lunches. Yet when the food is presented, they cannot resist but indulge. Sure it may have been a spell they were under, but it still looked as though the parents mindlessly took the food of others. When Chihiro returned to her parents, they still hadn’t finished eating! Someone had to keep smacking them away from the food to finally get them to stop. The desire for more can be very hard to resist, especially if the thing given to you is something that benefits you specifically.
In this movie, the roles seemed to be switched around. The child, although very young, had to take care of her parents. She had to risk her life in order to bring her family back to their world. Gluttony can definitely take a change for the worst. Although it may feel great at the start, too much will only hurt you.

Film:Fast Food Nation “The Fake Food and Desire”

The film Fast Food Nation begins with a company official of fast food company, Don Anderson trying to find an idea that can help him create new item to sell. When he starts the trip however, he starts to be exposed to the hidden stories behind the fast food system. From then on the film introduces several issues relating to the fast food industry from the meat factory where animals are abused and slaughtered to fast food restaurants where disgusting products only get worse. In this stream of production of fast food hamburger, Fast Food Nation points out how people no longer focus on what they are consuming as “food”, but they focus on fulfilling their desires.

The most obvious desire the food connects is the gluttony; the desire to eat. In order to satisfy the desire to eat what is pleasing to the palate, people started to disregard what they are putting in to their own body. In order to make the fast food even more appealing, the fast food company has research team working on chemicals which appeals to appetite. For example, Don Anderson and one of the researchers share conversation about adding a specific type of chemical in order to add the sense of lime for the product which people believe to have lime in it. Even the new item which is introduced in the end, “the hickory smoke big one”, is created with chemicals that people have never heard of. The message is simple the food is not a real “food”.

Interestingly, the film shows different desire, not of American, but of the immigrants from Mexico. The desire of Mexican immigrants is not about eating tasty food, but to be accepted in the American community. The scene that effectively describes this tendency of immigrant is the date of two immigrants; they go to have a dinner at a restaurant filled with Americans, and order Chinese chicken salad. After the supper is over, the boyfriend talks about how delicious the food was when girl friend disagrees; in fact, she claims that the chicken was cold. The reason why two people have opposing opinion about same dish is because their desires are different. The boy friend desires to be fitted in the American society thus he continues to talk about who he would like to get an American brand truck. Deluded by his own the desire, the boy friend purposely blind own eyes to see the truth.  On the other hand, the girl friend didn’t wish to immigrate to America in the first place and does not fully wish to become American. Therefore, only she is able to see the food as consuming nutrition which was not cooked properly.

The film finishes with most realistic ending possible. Although company’s official found out about the corruption within the fast food production, he surrenders himself to the logic of events around him. Similarly, even though both book and film Fast Food Nation pin points out the problems of production system and faults on the food itself, people will continue to buy McDonalds the next day.

OUT and The Factory Ship: Debt and Destruction

In her article on Kirino Natsuo’s novel OUT (Inside OUT: Space, Gender, and Power in Kirino Natsuo), Amanda Seaman cites an interview with the author who states that she sees the work as a “Kani Kōsen (The Factory Ship) for part-time workers.”  Seaman notes that (among other things) the fact that Kirino is not arguing for a change in conditions at the factory, and the individualistic portraits of the characters prevent a reading of the novel as traditional proletarian literature; yet she sees parallels in the way both Kobayashi and Kirino use landscape and space to define the situation of the characters in both of these works.  I agree with Seaman’s ideas about the authors’ use of space.  However, I think there is also an interesting comparison to be made regarding the use of capital in both narratives and the shifting conceptions intertwining money and the loss of identity.  As Seaman noted, strong individualism runs against the themes of proletariat literature and OUT is rooted in the actions and motivations of its specific characters.  However, I think this leads to an interesting contrast in the images of the use of capital and the destruction of the characters in the stories. Both The Factory Ship feature distinctive imagery in which the human is not simply killed, but all trace of the body is wiped from existence.  In The Factory Ship this is most obviously seen in the sinking of a ship of workers – they simply cease to be.  In OUT the women use their expertise as part-time workers in a bentō (box lunch) factory to dismember and box up bodies that are to be shipped off for incineration at a junkyard.

The different notions of capital and debt are interesting in terms of how they are reflected in the ultimate destruction of the human body.   In The Factory Ship the conventions of proletarian literature focus the narrative on the workers as a whole, and the mass of capital evinced in the ship itself and the company superintendent works against the body of the workers as a whole.  In OUT capital is not specifically embodied in the factory in the post-industrial service economy, yet the question of debt permeates all the characters in the book.  The debt collection business runs from corporate office work to the yakuza, and seems to be a permanent fixture of the world in which the characters exist.  This more individual relationship with the parasitic effects of capital is mirrored in the destruction of the body.  Instead of the effect of mass capital resulting in persons being casually flicked off docks by machinery or buried under piles of lumber, we have service industry demolition as debtors are cut into tiny chunks and whisked away into oblivion.