Miyazaki’s animation movies by Charlene 95540456
Miyazaki’s animation movies from the first one to the last had received universal appreciation and the plots, characters of them always engrained in our heart. In his movies, there were various aspects noticeable. Often did he deal with issues, either by fictional or realistic/personified portrayal, that are close to us, such as similar environment (polluted social milieu as Princess Mononoke presented), personnel constituents (family members, employer and employee, and guests as Spirited Away demonstrated), or background (a civilized society as Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind exhibited). And he usually used his movies to serve as a platform to convey messages he wanted to bring to the public.
Among all the Miyazaki’s animation movies published, I like Spirited Away the most. There were so many implications within this movie and it was full of educational magnitude that made it reach universal appeal. This movie served as the epitome that reflected our current society where the greed is prevailing. People pursue endlessly and blindly the wealth and luxurious enjoyment that they may not aware of losing something. At this point, I think Miyazaki wanted to inform us of the danger that we might lose ourselves in this sense. In this movie, when Chihiro’s parents arrived at a deserted town and stood before a stall full of delicious food, they cannot help but go forward and eat extravagantly. This is the same attitude we always do when there are luxury before us. The delicious food symbolized the money or the luxury, and her parent’s attitude presented what people always react toward it. They are so tempting that it is hard for people to stand still or resist the splendor of wealth before our eyes. And yet, once we were trapped, we become the slave of it. Just like the credit card slave which mushroomed in our society few years ago or the idea of credit card , there’s no limit for us to use money, but we have to discipline ourselves not to go too far as Chihiro presented—stand still and not take even one bite for the delicious food. When we are enticed by money, we are oftentimes blind like we saw Yubaba were unable to recognize her own child who had been transformed into a rat.
On the other hand, this movie constantly reminded me of the importance to be true to yourself and not to lose yourself so that you would not trapped into going astray, especially in a world where some of the legitimate values had been twisted. Just like what we can see from Chihiro. Innocent, she exuded her pure heart even in the worst condition. During her adventure, she kept her upright integrity virtue that not only helped her find the true identity but win her parents back.
All in all, Miyazaki’s works were altogether worthy of our deep contemplation. With those outstanding pictures, we can find deep meanings behind them.
Monday, January 11, 2010
When Disney Princess becomes Maid in Real Life
The Walt Disney Company produced the very first animation cartoon in human history, Snow White and the Seven Dwarf based on Grimm’s classic fairy tale. The film was not only a big hit but also initiative, later on, the Academy Award even conferred on the film an Honorary Award in 1939. Following princess series Cinderella and the Little Mermaid had promoted the Disney Industry into another golden period and were widely supported all over the world. Little girls all over the world are crazy for these colorful animations because these fairy tales discovered the princesses in them. They believe Prince Charming will come to them and then live happily ever after just like how the story goes.
As the prosperity of technology, young girls nowadays receive information about princess fairy tales very often no matter from reading books, watching television or movies. There are even a lot of related products of the Disney Princess series. Experts believe that though it is very common for young girls to imagine they are princess, it is not a good thing for them to establish a concept of pursuing only material enjoyment and being pretty. The Disney Company has earned three billion US dollars from products of princess collection last year, as a result, it is difficult for little girls to remain ineffective when an average of twenty five thousand kinds of commercial and information of princess products around them every day.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarf and Cinderella are considered as two female-focused movies which reflect the contemporary culture and philosophy perspective. They had set the images of women as damsel in distress, and men as knight in shining armor or prince charming. In these films, Disney princesses serve as passive and fragile victims, who can only patiently waiting for benevolence and rescue from their prince. Undeniably, these Disney animations achieved the capability of entertaining, yet, since the audiences of these adoptions are mainly little girls, it raises questions which are far more important than the enchanted romance: are they really educational? Do they reveal the positive massage to children? Further more, what negative influence will they make on innocent and juvenile female audience?
Snow White and Cinderella are very alike. The former one is an anathema to the Queen because of her distinguished beauty and charm, as a reason, she has to flee from the palace into the woods. The latter is bulled by her stepmother and stepsisters; she has to do all the housework in a ragged outfit like a maid. Their only salvation is the prince, who represents hopes of these unfortunate girls. Moreover, the prince is also a symbol of fair justice and savior who will rescue these princesses from the evil power and make them a real princess through marriage in the end of the story. What young girls absorb in their childhood will influence them in their womanhood. Through these Disney Princess movies, children receive inappropriate information which can be easily found in the lyrics and dialogues. These can be directly naturalized by children and imperceptibly influence their perspectives that men can save them from all the misfortune and hardships, and will make their dreams come true in the end.
Dreaming is beautiful, however, in these two stories, dreaming can be regarded as a way of escaping from the reality. “A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for, you keep have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing the dream that you wish will come true.” This is what Cinderella sings at the beginning of the movie, when she gets up and shares her feelings with her animal friends after they woke her up in her tiny bedroom up in the garret under the roof of the house. It is harmless to bear a dream in heart, but reality requires more than fairy tales—wishing is not going to change an unfortunate girl’s life and dreams do not come true all the time. A kind and sweet girl does not have to accept everything and acting as meek as a lamb. It is self confidence and courage instead of tolerance and groveling that add her beauty.
Other than the love of prince and marriage, these Disney princess stories convey a passive attitude of females when they are facing difficulties and unequal treatment. In these movies, females do not take action to defend or make definite rejections. They unconditionally surrender themselves to fate; these princesses hardly have thoughts. Although they all have one thing in common, which is, they are all dreamers who believe if they consistently holding their wish, it will somehow come true in the future. For instance, Snow White dreams about reencountering Prince Charming, she does not fight for herself when the guard confesses to her that the Queen wants to kill her; she does what the guard told her to do—flee and hide in the woods and never come back. Cinderella dreams about dancing and fall in love with her prince in the ball, but when she realizes she can not go o the ball because it is impossible to finish the work her stepmother delivered, she has nothing to do but crying heartbreakingly at the fireplace.
Fairy tale animations are the extension of the people’s imagination and creativity. To make the story more interesting and attractive, princess who has been excluded turn to invoke the companionship of animal friends such as cats, dogs, mice, birds and so on. It looks cheering and happy when the princess and animals singing and playing together, but it could be a crisis if children imitate the princess and befriend animals in real life. Children may catch fleas from playing with stray cats and dogs, more over, they may be bitten and injured by hostile dogs or scratched by neurotic cats. Playing with mice and birds may cause infection of ague and bird flu. Other than befriending animals, young kids may want to keep pets as well as the characters in the cartoon. This may cause problems of irresponsible breeders and even abuse after they lost their interest in the pets.
Through the stories of Disney princess, not only children but also grownups have fulfilled their most romantic fantasy. Every girl can be a princess in her own wonderland, but if she follows the passive attitude toward difficulty and unequal like these Disney princesses, she may forfeit her happiness and unfortunately become a maid off screen in her real lives. Life is not another adoption of fairy tale; only positive attitude and facing the hardships aggressively can young girls create their own sublime wonderland and become a real princess in their life.
Melissa Wong 95540455
As the prosperity of technology, young girls nowadays receive information about princess fairy tales very often no matter from reading books, watching television or movies. There are even a lot of related products of the Disney Princess series. Experts believe that though it is very common for young girls to imagine they are princess, it is not a good thing for them to establish a concept of pursuing only material enjoyment and being pretty. The Disney Company has earned three billion US dollars from products of princess collection last year, as a result, it is difficult for little girls to remain ineffective when an average of twenty five thousand kinds of commercial and information of princess products around them every day.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarf and Cinderella are considered as two female-focused movies which reflect the contemporary culture and philosophy perspective. They had set the images of women as damsel in distress, and men as knight in shining armor or prince charming. In these films, Disney princesses serve as passive and fragile victims, who can only patiently waiting for benevolence and rescue from their prince. Undeniably, these Disney animations achieved the capability of entertaining, yet, since the audiences of these adoptions are mainly little girls, it raises questions which are far more important than the enchanted romance: are they really educational? Do they reveal the positive massage to children? Further more, what negative influence will they make on innocent and juvenile female audience?
Snow White and Cinderella are very alike. The former one is an anathema to the Queen because of her distinguished beauty and charm, as a reason, she has to flee from the palace into the woods. The latter is bulled by her stepmother and stepsisters; she has to do all the housework in a ragged outfit like a maid. Their only salvation is the prince, who represents hopes of these unfortunate girls. Moreover, the prince is also a symbol of fair justice and savior who will rescue these princesses from the evil power and make them a real princess through marriage in the end of the story. What young girls absorb in their childhood will influence them in their womanhood. Through these Disney Princess movies, children receive inappropriate information which can be easily found in the lyrics and dialogues. These can be directly naturalized by children and imperceptibly influence their perspectives that men can save them from all the misfortune and hardships, and will make their dreams come true in the end.
Dreaming is beautiful, however, in these two stories, dreaming can be regarded as a way of escaping from the reality. “A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for, you keep have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing the dream that you wish will come true.” This is what Cinderella sings at the beginning of the movie, when she gets up and shares her feelings with her animal friends after they woke her up in her tiny bedroom up in the garret under the roof of the house. It is harmless to bear a dream in heart, but reality requires more than fairy tales—wishing is not going to change an unfortunate girl’s life and dreams do not come true all the time. A kind and sweet girl does not have to accept everything and acting as meek as a lamb. It is self confidence and courage instead of tolerance and groveling that add her beauty.
Other than the love of prince and marriage, these Disney princess stories convey a passive attitude of females when they are facing difficulties and unequal treatment. In these movies, females do not take action to defend or make definite rejections. They unconditionally surrender themselves to fate; these princesses hardly have thoughts. Although they all have one thing in common, which is, they are all dreamers who believe if they consistently holding their wish, it will somehow come true in the future. For instance, Snow White dreams about reencountering Prince Charming, she does not fight for herself when the guard confesses to her that the Queen wants to kill her; she does what the guard told her to do—flee and hide in the woods and never come back. Cinderella dreams about dancing and fall in love with her prince in the ball, but when she realizes she can not go o the ball because it is impossible to finish the work her stepmother delivered, she has nothing to do but crying heartbreakingly at the fireplace.
Fairy tale animations are the extension of the people’s imagination and creativity. To make the story more interesting and attractive, princess who has been excluded turn to invoke the companionship of animal friends such as cats, dogs, mice, birds and so on. It looks cheering and happy when the princess and animals singing and playing together, but it could be a crisis if children imitate the princess and befriend animals in real life. Children may catch fleas from playing with stray cats and dogs, more over, they may be bitten and injured by hostile dogs or scratched by neurotic cats. Playing with mice and birds may cause infection of ague and bird flu. Other than befriending animals, young kids may want to keep pets as well as the characters in the cartoon. This may cause problems of irresponsible breeders and even abuse after they lost their interest in the pets.
Through the stories of Disney princess, not only children but also grownups have fulfilled their most romantic fantasy. Every girl can be a princess in her own wonderland, but if she follows the passive attitude toward difficulty and unequal like these Disney princesses, she may forfeit her happiness and unfortunately become a maid off screen in her real lives. Life is not another adoption of fairy tale; only positive attitude and facing the hardships aggressively can young girls create their own sublime wonderland and become a real princess in their life.
Melissa Wong 95540455
Female Character In Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle 95540333 Katie
Fragile but strong, kind, brave, and junior are the basic characteristics of Miyazaki’s female characters; moreover, they’re always given the mission to save the world or to solve the problems.
From Nausicaä in the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Sheeta, The Castle in the Sky, the Sister, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki, Kiki’s Delivery Service, to Ponyo, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, these characters although have different hair styles and dressing, they share almost the same face. Despite the fact that respectively the main characters Chihiro in Spirited Away, and Ashitake, in Princess Mononoke are different than others in terms of appearance, Miyazaki’s “woman admiration” still project on the two work. Despite the fact that the Witches in Spirited Away and Sosuke’s mother in Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea appear as the supporting characters in the two stories, they, however, play a role in the stories.
In this paper, I will try to examine the female character called Sophie in one of Miyazaki’s popular animations “Howl’s Moving Castle”.
In Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle”, Sophie started her adventure after the Witch used the magic. Surprised as it is, Sophie didn’t feel shocked , agitated or even fainted, the reaction of which would be presented in most American cartoons, right after she saw her face in the reflected in the mirror. Instead, she stayed rather calm and peaceful. When Sophie looked down at her wrinkling hands, she instinctively touched her face, astonished, and then rushed to the mirror, saying “Is this me? No! I have to calm down. I have to calm down!” Then she started to walked here and there in her room without complaining and struggling, instead, she decided to leave home the next morning.
Imagined how would a 90-year-old old woman walk? It might be like an old body walking with a humpback, and at slow speed. However, what if an old lady who was a bashful girl few days ago? We might infer that this old lady shares the characteristics and mind of a young girl, but she might not be able to represent her young-inner-parts due to her old and feeble body. This can be seen from the scene where Sophie raised up the scarecrow, her will is firm and strong, but her body is week that she had to make a lot effort to be able to raise it. Sophie’s affection toward Howl was from her young heart, but her old face failed to correspond to her inner heart. When the scene where the Witch and Sophie made their efforts to go up stairs, the way old Sophie hugged the dog, struggling to go up contradicts with her aggressive posture to the Witch after she reached to the top.
However, those contradictions weakened when Sophie made up her mind to face things and challenges in front of her. She became younger and younger. But, on the other hand, when she started to escape from something, she turned back to an old lady.
I think Sophie is the projection of girls at their 20s. There are many women, although are still at the age of 20s, they perform like they’ve gone through all the vicissitudes of their lives.
From Nausicaä in the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Sheeta, The Castle in the Sky, the Sister, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki, Kiki’s Delivery Service, to Ponyo, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, these characters although have different hair styles and dressing, they share almost the same face. Despite the fact that respectively the main characters Chihiro in Spirited Away, and Ashitake, in Princess Mononoke are different than others in terms of appearance, Miyazaki’s “woman admiration” still project on the two work. Despite the fact that the Witches in Spirited Away and Sosuke’s mother in Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea appear as the supporting characters in the two stories, they, however, play a role in the stories.
In this paper, I will try to examine the female character called Sophie in one of Miyazaki’s popular animations “Howl’s Moving Castle”.
In Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle”, Sophie started her adventure after the Witch used the magic. Surprised as it is, Sophie didn’t feel shocked , agitated or even fainted, the reaction of which would be presented in most American cartoons, right after she saw her face in the reflected in the mirror. Instead, she stayed rather calm and peaceful. When Sophie looked down at her wrinkling hands, she instinctively touched her face, astonished, and then rushed to the mirror, saying “Is this me? No! I have to calm down. I have to calm down!” Then she started to walked here and there in her room without complaining and struggling, instead, she decided to leave home the next morning.
Imagined how would a 90-year-old old woman walk? It might be like an old body walking with a humpback, and at slow speed. However, what if an old lady who was a bashful girl few days ago? We might infer that this old lady shares the characteristics and mind of a young girl, but she might not be able to represent her young-inner-parts due to her old and feeble body. This can be seen from the scene where Sophie raised up the scarecrow, her will is firm and strong, but her body is week that she had to make a lot effort to be able to raise it. Sophie’s affection toward Howl was from her young heart, but her old face failed to correspond to her inner heart. When the scene where the Witch and Sophie made their efforts to go up stairs, the way old Sophie hugged the dog, struggling to go up contradicts with her aggressive posture to the Witch after she reached to the top.
However, those contradictions weakened when Sophie made up her mind to face things and challenges in front of her. She became younger and younger. But, on the other hand, when she started to escape from something, she turned back to an old lady.
I think Sophie is the projection of girls at their 20s. There are many women, although are still at the age of 20s, they perform like they’ve gone through all the vicissitudes of their lives.
Miyazaki’s Animations by Eva Wang 95540460
Despite genders and ages, many people enjoy and appreciate Shun Miyazaki’s animations very much. His works become so popular that it became a worldwide phenomenon which not only Asian people love, praise his works but also Westerners. Therefore, I would like to discuss about the reasons for his big success, especially in relationship portraying skills.
In all Miyazaki’s works, there are always more than just one simple theme. Themes such as green issues, family relationship, love, and feminism are the common issue discussing in his works. However, relationship among human, despite parent-children, human-nature, friendship, or love between lovers, is always the main focus of his. But why relationships among people can raise so many people’s identification and make his works so popular? I think it is because we are human beings, so what Miyazaki describes in his stories are things that very likely to happen in our own life. Besides, Miyazaki, who has a very unique way of thinking about human relationships, always transforms his opinions into his stories and expresses them in a very brilliant but simple way. Take love for example, in almost all his animations, the main character is oftentimes a young girl, less than 18, and there is usually a boy as her company. In those movies, these two young people will fall in love with each other; either by love at the first sight or with the time goes on. Their love is always the source of their power and transformation. Miyazaki uses different stories to illustrate how great the power can love generate and motivate people to change.
For example, in the movie—Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Ponyo’s unstoppable love toward Sōsuke is the origin of her magic power and beginning of her series of transformations. Ponyo fell in love madly with Sōsuke at the second she saw him. In order to stay with him forever, Ponyo not only fighted against with her father but also tried all possible means to be a human, which was considered as the taboo in her family. Ponyo was willing to do anything to gain the chance to stay with Sōsuke, even if she has to leave her family, her house, or break the balance of the sea. She caused the super Tsunami which destroyed so many houses and ships simply because she wanted to see Sōsuke. And at the end, Ponyo finally transformed into a human and can live with Sōsuke peacefully and happily. This movie is a good illustration of how love can make people change and be so determined, and also the example of how crazy love can sometimes hurt other people around them.
Another example is—Howls’ Moving Castle. The movie mainly describes the love and self-transformation between the two main characters through their adventure. Sophie is a girl who one day been cursed to gain a 90-year-old-like appearance. Because of the change of her appearance, Sophie decided to leave her home town and started her adventure. Later on, she was gradually in love with the owner of the castle—Howl, the beautiful young youth. It is shown in the movie that whenever Sophie tells a lie, she will stay like a 90-year-old woman, but when she fights with her true heart or tell the truth, she will return to that pretty and young Sophie as she used to be. And Howl, though possessing handsome face, has his own flaw as well. Howl is not as brave as he looks like; indeed, he is nothing but a coward. However, by the gradual and more and more strong love forming between Howl and Sophie through their adventures, both of them gain something precious. Howl no longer is a coward that he finally found his courage back, and Sophie found her true self. All these changes are owing to their powerful and strong love. From this movie, Miyazaki once again emphasizes the power of love and all the positive transformations love can bring to people.
There are so many reasons that make Miyazaki’s animations to be so successful, and love is one of the reasons. Miyazaki uses this universal concept as the media to attract and echo with his audience. He uses those cute, warm hand-draw pictures to state serious and heavy issues, and from those hand drawing and simple story lines can he attract audience from all ages to watch it together without any barrier. Audience from different cultural background can all learn and think deeply these about these big, heavy issues from entertaining animations. This make him stands out front the crowd and bring him the reputation he earn today!
In all Miyazaki’s works, there are always more than just one simple theme. Themes such as green issues, family relationship, love, and feminism are the common issue discussing in his works. However, relationship among human, despite parent-children, human-nature, friendship, or love between lovers, is always the main focus of his. But why relationships among people can raise so many people’s identification and make his works so popular? I think it is because we are human beings, so what Miyazaki describes in his stories are things that very likely to happen in our own life. Besides, Miyazaki, who has a very unique way of thinking about human relationships, always transforms his opinions into his stories and expresses them in a very brilliant but simple way. Take love for example, in almost all his animations, the main character is oftentimes a young girl, less than 18, and there is usually a boy as her company. In those movies, these two young people will fall in love with each other; either by love at the first sight or with the time goes on. Their love is always the source of their power and transformation. Miyazaki uses different stories to illustrate how great the power can love generate and motivate people to change.
For example, in the movie—Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Ponyo’s unstoppable love toward Sōsuke is the origin of her magic power and beginning of her series of transformations. Ponyo fell in love madly with Sōsuke at the second she saw him. In order to stay with him forever, Ponyo not only fighted against with her father but also tried all possible means to be a human, which was considered as the taboo in her family. Ponyo was willing to do anything to gain the chance to stay with Sōsuke, even if she has to leave her family, her house, or break the balance of the sea. She caused the super Tsunami which destroyed so many houses and ships simply because she wanted to see Sōsuke. And at the end, Ponyo finally transformed into a human and can live with Sōsuke peacefully and happily. This movie is a good illustration of how love can make people change and be so determined, and also the example of how crazy love can sometimes hurt other people around them.
Another example is—Howls’ Moving Castle. The movie mainly describes the love and self-transformation between the two main characters through their adventure. Sophie is a girl who one day been cursed to gain a 90-year-old-like appearance. Because of the change of her appearance, Sophie decided to leave her home town and started her adventure. Later on, she was gradually in love with the owner of the castle—Howl, the beautiful young youth. It is shown in the movie that whenever Sophie tells a lie, she will stay like a 90-year-old woman, but when she fights with her true heart or tell the truth, she will return to that pretty and young Sophie as she used to be. And Howl, though possessing handsome face, has his own flaw as well. Howl is not as brave as he looks like; indeed, he is nothing but a coward. However, by the gradual and more and more strong love forming between Howl and Sophie through their adventures, both of them gain something precious. Howl no longer is a coward that he finally found his courage back, and Sophie found her true self. All these changes are owing to their powerful and strong love. From this movie, Miyazaki once again emphasizes the power of love and all the positive transformations love can bring to people.
There are so many reasons that make Miyazaki’s animations to be so successful, and love is one of the reasons. Miyazaki uses this universal concept as the media to attract and echo with his audience. He uses those cute, warm hand-draw pictures to state serious and heavy issues, and from those hand drawing and simple story lines can he attract audience from all ages to watch it together without any barrier. Audience from different cultural background can all learn and think deeply these about these big, heavy issues from entertaining animations. This make him stands out front the crowd and bring him the reputation he earn today!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Love in Miyazaki's works by Anita 95540458
The element Love is already a must ingredient in Miyazaki’s animations making the plot touching and vibrating in our heart no matter how many times we watch.
Love is a theme that whatever background Miyazaki used to illustrated this relation, people around the world could still understand and be touched.
The most important is that Miyazaki display Love through young characters. I think it is like the same purpose of using a lot of young girls as his main character; through showing love through young boys and girls, people don’t have the vigilance in accepting the story. In addition, it could attract a wider range of audience, touching children and also adults.
Discovering Love through adventure makes it stronger and powerful. For instance, in Spirit Away, although the main theme is not on Love, Haku and Chihiro’s bond helped this young girl through difficult times. Furthermore, Chihiro helped Haku to find his real name. Similar to Howl’s moving castle. Love can break curses.
Among all Miyazaki’s works, the love scenes that impressed me most was in “Howl’s moving castle.” We always say that love has an unlimited power she shouldn’t underestimate or love makes people more beautiful than ever. This is what Miyazaki successfully added in this animation. Howl’s moving castle, he used a journey to self discovery and self-facing to demonstrate a beautiful adventure.
The love between Howl and Sophie is dramatic but strong. In the story Sophie was been cursed and turned out to be a 90 year-old lady. Both have built a wall around themselves; Sophie chose to conceal from her true self and Howl chose to hide his fright and coward. However, their love helped Sophie to follow her heart and live out herself, and helped Howl to overcome his fear and to comprehend love, affection and protection.
Here are the major scenes where we can detect Sophie’s love for Howl
When Howl asked Sophie to represent in front of Mrs. Saruman as her mom, she defended for him. As a result she became younger once again, a proof that she unknowingly spoke for love from the bottom of her heart.
The other time for her to be younger was in her dream; she woke up and went to the tunnel where Howl was hiding. Seeing him as a monster she still accepted him as he is and said “But, I love you!” But when she woke up she returned to be the old lady, because in contrast she didn’t show her love towards Howl in the reality.
When she traveled back in time, she witnessed the contract between Calcifer and Howl. This was the timing when she realized Howl needed her and faced her true self.
I think this switch from an old lady to a young lady is the reflection of our own heart. Although this sudden change of appearance won’t happen in our real life, it is still a reminder to us: when you try to live out yourself is the time you are the real you.
So here love led her to face herself, helped Howl and broke both of their curses.
The love led them out of the obscurity.
Love is a theme that whatever background Miyazaki used to illustrated this relation, people around the world could still understand and be touched.
The most important is that Miyazaki display Love through young characters. I think it is like the same purpose of using a lot of young girls as his main character; through showing love through young boys and girls, people don’t have the vigilance in accepting the story. In addition, it could attract a wider range of audience, touching children and also adults.
Discovering Love through adventure makes it stronger and powerful. For instance, in Spirit Away, although the main theme is not on Love, Haku and Chihiro’s bond helped this young girl through difficult times. Furthermore, Chihiro helped Haku to find his real name. Similar to Howl’s moving castle. Love can break curses.
Among all Miyazaki’s works, the love scenes that impressed me most was in “Howl’s moving castle.” We always say that love has an unlimited power she shouldn’t underestimate or love makes people more beautiful than ever. This is what Miyazaki successfully added in this animation. Howl’s moving castle, he used a journey to self discovery and self-facing to demonstrate a beautiful adventure.
The love between Howl and Sophie is dramatic but strong. In the story Sophie was been cursed and turned out to be a 90 year-old lady. Both have built a wall around themselves; Sophie chose to conceal from her true self and Howl chose to hide his fright and coward. However, their love helped Sophie to follow her heart and live out herself, and helped Howl to overcome his fear and to comprehend love, affection and protection.
Here are the major scenes where we can detect Sophie’s love for Howl
When Howl asked Sophie to represent in front of Mrs. Saruman as her mom, she defended for him. As a result she became younger once again, a proof that she unknowingly spoke for love from the bottom of her heart.
The other time for her to be younger was in her dream; she woke up and went to the tunnel where Howl was hiding. Seeing him as a monster she still accepted him as he is and said “But, I love you!” But when she woke up she returned to be the old lady, because in contrast she didn’t show her love towards Howl in the reality.
When she traveled back in time, she witnessed the contract between Calcifer and Howl. This was the timing when she realized Howl needed her and faced her true self.
I think this switch from an old lady to a young lady is the reflection of our own heart. Although this sudden change of appearance won’t happen in our real life, it is still a reminder to us: when you try to live out yourself is the time you are the real you.
So here love led her to face herself, helped Howl and broke both of their curses.
The love led them out of the obscurity.
Monday, January 4, 2010
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