The Realm of the Pachyderm

Before I put my thoughts out on the table, I'd like to make a note that I do indeed realize it's almost three. My sleep schedule is going to be INSANE when I get home, but whatever. I'm aware of the fact that I'm still awake.

Anyway, the reason I'm awake [and blogging] is that I know I won't remember exactly what I want to say or how to say it if I put if off until the morning. So, without further ado...

A very long time ago--rewind to when I was in 8th grade--my friends saw a movie called Princess Mononoke. Now, I wasn't a fan of anime at the time and I'm really not a huge fan of it now, but because my friends saw it, I HAD to see it. However, because my parents thought a PG-13 rating was a little too much to deal with when I was all of 13, those thoughts were arduously trampled from my head.

Seven years later, I'm reminded of the fact that I still haven't seen this movie when a presentation is given on it during my International Cinema final. Realizing that I can finally tick that one off my list of things I've been meaning to do since I was 13, I found it on Youtube/Google Video and embarked on the quest to find out just what I had missed out on so many years ago.

The PG-13 rating was deserved. There was some blood and quite a bit of battle violence [nothing out of control], but what made it really weird was the physical manifestation of anger that possessed some of the forest gods--thick writhing red and black slugs. It was really interesting and true to Miyazaki style, but it was still pretty weird.

Anyway, without going too deeply into the story line, I just wanted to comment quickly one of the prevalent motifs in the film: female-led communities. All of the major societies [with two notable exceptions] were under the direction of women. The Emishi tribe where the protagonist, Ashitaka, comes from is led by a Wise Woman. From there, he ventures to a place called Iron Town where he meets Lady Eboshi, the domineering leader who inflicts deforestation on the surrounding ecosystem for the sake of the success of Iron Town [a smelting town]. He also meets San, princess of the wolf tribe, and the Forest Spirit, which plays the maternal role of healer and bringer of life and death [the forest itself plays a maternal opposite to the paternal presence of the iron works].

When I was watching it, I wasn't uncomfortable with the idea of women running these societies, but it felt perceptively different from how male-dominated societies run [ie. a world I'm used to living in]. They ran every bit as efficiently, but...I suppose I want to say that there was more concern for nurturing than there usually is when men are in charge. The violence came from conflicting nurturing desires--Eboshi for the success of the town [which in turn meant employment and prosperity for saved prostitutes and lepers, the employees of the town] and San for the forest and the well being of all the creatures in it.

The two exceptions I mentioned earlier were the tribe of the Boars [a race of gigantic boars, seriously] and the Emperor's samurai. The Boars, led by a giant male Boar god named Okkoto, are characteristically stubborn and run into battle without considering the trap that was laid for them by the humans. Almost their entire army was wiped out because of their pride. The samurai, given directives by the emperor, were ruthless and purely concerned with their own gain rather than trying to promote peace between the forest and the humans. Essentially, both phallocentric societies felt themselves above the nurturing necessary to promote peace between societies. Consequently, both societies crumbled in the wake of either the weaponry of hate or the renewal of the land at the hand of the maternal Forest Spirit.

Along with all this, this film plays a lot of opposites off of each other. Man v. Woman, Nature v. Industry, Love v. Hate, Control v. Violence, Pride v. Humility, Mankind v. Animals. I could go on for pages, but I'm starting to lose steam.

I don't think I'd recommend it if you're not into anime or violence to prove a point. However, if you'd like to watch it, I'd certainly suggest doing so after the kids go to bed. The monsters and battle scenes could be upsetting...I'm probably going to have some CRAZY nightmares tonight, no jokes.

Miyazaki is a visionary, there's no doubt about that. However, if I had to really champion one of his films, I think I'd opt for Grave of the Fireflies or Howl's Moving Castle or even Spirited Away rather than Princess Mononoke. I feel as if the aforementioned films are less heavy-handed in their message and that they portray said messages just as strongly but with less violence.

So, chew it over and answer if you have any thoughts, regardless of whether or not you've seen it. Oh, and please don't take this as a diatribe against men. That's certainly not what I was going for.

Yikes, too much posting. Good night!