Weeks 5 and 6
Princess Mononoke
1) What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?
2) According to Lent (2000) what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (i.e. comparing Japan and China)?
3)Is anime a high or low cultural genre/media, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of its subgenres?
4)Does Anime confront social issues? Gender roles in Princess Mononoke.
Hi team,
ReplyDeleteI've answered question 4) Does Anime confront social issues? Gender roles in Princess Mononoke.
Napier (2005) describes anime as an intellectually challenging art form in the last decade, by he way it provokes thought on contemporary and significant issues in the way that older art forms can’t. There are many social issues confronted in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (2006), from the gender roles, to the blurring of good and evil, and modern warfare.
Miyazaki’s use of strong female characters challenges in a movie portraying battle and war was surprising for me. Not only do we have Lady Eboshi leading Irontown with hard labour done by outspoken, strong women under her command, but we also have San, a wild, anger-driven young lady, and her “mother”, the wolf god Morro. With the exception of Ashataka, strong male characters certainly seem to take a back seat in this film – not much time is spent developing the male residents of Irontown, the monk Jiko-bu, or even Lady Eboshi’s army, in comparison to the character development put into his female characters. Writers and film makers are becoming increasingly concerned with portraying strong female characters to their audiences, which can be seen reflected here.
I really enjoyed the conflict of good and evil within Princess Mononoke – especially within Lady Eboshi. While she is the one endeavouring to destroy the forest and kill the Forest Spirit, she is loyally devoted to her people of Irontown, rescuing women from the brothels in the empire, and showing compassion for lepers, who she provides employment for. While we initially want to see her as the villain, her kind nature and humanity prevent us from doing so.
The other conflict between good and evil we see is the demonic wound Ashataka gains at the beginning of the story that provides him with supernatural powers when fighting and defending himself. This is confusing for the viewer and highlights the ‘good within evil’ theme that is reflected in multiple elements of the text.
The last social issue explored in Princess Mononoke I’d like to look at is the depiction of the beginning of modern warfare. The film is set at a time where the forest Gods still rule and are powerful, but modern man have discovered iron and profit. Lady Eboshi’s fortress is seen as very valuable, and she wants to capitalise on this by destroying the forest Gods so mankind can rule. Not only this, but the attacks on Irontown by Duke Asano’s troops highlight the shift of belief and discovery from being God based, to wealth based.
References:
Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2006). Princess Mononoke. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli Productions.
Napier , S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.
Excellent response. You've addressed the primary text well and shown a good understanding of the multiple levels and depth of Princess Mononoke. You could have improved your response by including secondary texts. The question you chose to answer was not just about Mononoke but also anime in general. Including other texts would enhance your answer and strengthen your argument. Good work.
DeleteI haven’t watched very much anime, however I guess another text I could relate to this question would be Okja (2017) by Korean director Bong Joon-ho.
DeleteAlthough this eclectic film is a mixure of filming and CGI, it draws much of it’s style from anime, from it’s exaggerated characters – notably, Tilda Swindon’s Lucy Mirando - to including themes of current social issues.
Okja (2017)’s storyline is based off a company’s quest to cure world hunger, by the development of genetically engineered “super pigs”. With the storyline based on such a controversial topic, it’s no surprise the film then depicts the cruelty of factory farming, and the narrative continued by activists trying to save Okja from being turned into food, and bringing her back to where she was raised to be a poster-pig for the campaign.
Joon-ho. B. (2017) Okja. South Korea, USA. Plan B Entertainment.
What really drew me into Miyazaki's films, was that I learnt he took real life serious issues and events and turned them into dark anime for children - of course unless you know the background of the film, you wouldn't suspect a thing. I learnt that Spirit Away, was actually about child prostitution, and dealt with issues of women being trapped, working in brothels (which Miyazaki disguised as bath houses). Similarly, My Neighbour Totoro, is about a kidnapping that happened to two young girls in Japan, (The Sayama case of 1963), and how Satsuki and Mei, are actually dead throughout most of the film. Below I covered how Miyazaki addresses issues of feminism, and women's rights, through the use of the "shojo" character, empowering women in a male dominated society. And I agree that while he does address issues which are quite transparent, he also tackles issues which you wouldn't understand from the surface, unless you dwelled into.
DeleteStronger use of academic references (secondary texts) would strengthen the answer.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you don't mention environmental destruction as a social issue.
When making a new paragraph separate either with a line break or an indent.
A conclusion where you summarize your argument would lift answer a lot.
overall, good work, i like the way you approach the question with plenty of original thought.
2) According to Lent (2000) what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (i.e. comparing Japan and China)?
ReplyDeleteIn Asian society, animation occupies into many places such as an opportunity, economically beneficial, educational and controversial.
Many Asian nations consider animation as a career opportunity (Lent, 2000). Young women are the majority of the workplace’s staff who earn perks or have a chance to be trained. However, when compared to western society, their wages are low. Many animation head staff members reject the idea that they are committing labour exploitation and claim it is good way to be trained and earn opportunities. The reason for this is that Asian animation production have been internationally connected for decades such as places like Hollywood. Ninety percent of animations claiming to be American are produced in Asia. Therefore, Asia holds a large portion of the global animation industry.
Culturally, Western animation has dominated Asia’s animation favourites, especially from Walt Disney Pictures. However, in some cases like China, animators would only use elements of Western animation that was appropriately suitable to their culture (Lent, 2000). It is seen as significant for Chinese animation to not fully mimic animations from the United States, and tell stories, jokes and values that is specifically to do with the Chinese and their traditions. There have been cases where Western animation have been banned to replace it with Chinese animations as it is their retaliation to the United States and China trade wars. Similarly, in other parts of Asia, they oppose the importation of animation from America and Japan because of culture clash as it is perceived as too violent or sexual. Due to this Malaysia’s local animation production is striving the way with making more culturally appropriate cartoons for their society (Lent, 2000).
References
Lent, J. A. (2000). Animation in Asia: appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptatio. Retrieved from http://tlweb.latrobe.edu.au/humanities/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr1100/jlfr11c.htm
1) What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?
ReplyDeleteThe literal definition of the Shojo, as described by Cavallaro (2006), is “little female,” (p.11). The Shojo is a Japanese archetype, which describes a female protagonist in anime, as a young girl, usually a preteen, aged between 12 -13. These characters are typically depicted, as Napier (2001) describes, as being “feminine, innocent, and cute,” - qualities that the female audience can relate to. They also demonstrate a transition from being a young and innocent girl, to maturing into an adult woman.
The Shojo characters are aimed at young women between the ages of 12 - 20, however they do have a large male demographic, and attract men. As Napier (2001) suggests, the Shojo “embody the potential for unfettered change and excitement that is less available to males,” in real society (p.119), and “serves as an appealing alternative identity in contrast to the image of the hardworking, highly pressure Japanese male,” (p.473).
Miyazaki’s depiction of the Shojo girl, however is very different, in comparison to the typical depiction of the Shojo. While Shojo girls are normally, feminine, cute, and innocent, Miyazaki’s version of the Shojo is much more ambiguous. They are typical in the sense that they are shown as somewhat innocent, and living in a dream like world, however as Napier (2005) suggests, while they are still conventional, they are also “endowed with masculinity,” which is what makes them different. While these Shojo are still physically attractive, and have that element of innocence to them, they are embodiments of typical masculine features, and are “active, and assertive, adventurous and courageous.” Napier, also suggests that they are “youth wearing Shojo masks” as in they look like the typical Shojo, but don’t act like it, (p.155).
In portraying the Shojo girl from this perspective, Miyazaki’s intention is to provide a strong representation of female characters, creating role models, that encourages and inspires leadership and independence to the female audience. Miyazaki explained that he doesn't want his female protagonists to be demonstrated as “play toys for Lolita complex guys, (as cited in Cavallaro, Miyazaki, 1988a) Thus, ultimately through his female protagonist, he defamiliarises the conventional notions of Japans history, and the progress of gender coding, emphasising that women can be as strong as men, and hold the same positions of power, and value, considering that, Japan is a male dominant country.
In Princess Mononoke specifically, the female protagonist San’s is the prefect embodiment of what Miyazaki is trying to achieve with his depiction of the Shojo. She is completely different to the typical innocent Shojo girl. She is wild, fearsome, and unstoppable. The first shot we see of San, is a close up of her blood covered face, highlighting her sense of courage and adventure. On a similar scale, Lady Aboshi is also a great example of the non conventional Shojo archetype. Her character challenges the sexual position of power, as she is the ruler of the town, as opposed to being another typical depiction of a women who works in a brothel of some sort.
References
Cavallaro, D. (2006). Introduction. In The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki (pp.5-13). London: McFarland & Company.
Napier, Susan J. (2001) “Confronting Master Narratives: History As Vision in Miyazaki Hayao’s Cinema of De-assurance.” Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique. 9.2: 467-493. Print.
Napier, S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.