Nichole Herrin
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Professor Tondro
Final Term Paper
May 6th, 2014
A Cultural Analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s Films
Prevalent Themes in Miyazaki Movies
Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most well-known animators from Japan; his work has won accolades from critics across the globe and his creations have been seen by countless families. Not to mention that his film Spirited Away won Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film in 2002 at the 75th Academy Awards.1 So what is it that has made Miyazaki’s art style and films celebrated and revered? All art, no matter where it is from or whom creates it, is a product of both its creator’s history and the time period when it is created. Anime and manga from Japan is no different and Hayao has said that he often draws upon his own experiences and life to act as inspiration for his films.
Napier has described anime as “a richly fascinating contemporary Japanese art form that both harks back to traditional Japanese culture and moves forward to the cutting edge of art and media”.2
Wells (1997) suggests that the history of Japanese art is not one of succession but of blending new cultural and artistic influences with the old; just as the indigenous peoples of Japan had their culture and customs superimposed on by the Chinese. This blending of culture, tradition and drawing style is true of anime and manga and general; and exceedingly so in the case of Studio Ghibli and their leading Director Hayao Miyazaki. He flawlessly blends western sources and settings with ancient Japanese history and traditions. His films are also filled with under-lying messages of environmentalism, pacifism, and feminism that have had an obvious broad appeal to audien...
... middle of paper ...
...e. The male leads that join them in the films such as Ashitaka, Haku, Howl, Tombo and Asbel can also stand alone as strong, well-rounded characters; but when put together in the films the two each enhance the other’s characteristics instead of taking over as the ‘big strong man’. Even the minor female characters have strong personalities and are not portrayed as being a contingent character for a man. Toki, a former call-girl occupies a foreman like position in the bellows area of the iron works. Lisa, Sosuke’s mother, works a full-time job at a nursing home while also caring for him. Characters like these show girls that you can be a strong independent woman and still be feminine; which is something we definitely need to display to our children. Miyazaki’s character are not bound by strict gender-roles or ideals and actin a way that feels comfortable to them.
Reischauer, Edwin O., and Albert M. Craig. Japan, Tradition & Transformation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. Print.
Riichi, Yokomitsu. Shanghai. Michigan: The Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan , 2001.
Hiroshi Inagaki’s 1954 film Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto and Kenji Misumi’s 1972 film Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance are both characterized by fluid panoramic shots that show men that are at once dwarfed by their surroundings yet simultaneously in control, showcased in breathtaking sword-fighting scenes where they seem to defy the laws of gravity. Samurai films, “much like the American Western,” feature “tales of loyalty, revenge, romance, fighting prowess, and the decline of a traditional way of life” (“Samurai Cinema”). Both of these films display all of these themes, but where they depart is that the protagonist of Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto begins as a wayward member of society and eventually earns honor and respect, while the protagonist of Lone Wolf and Cub steps completely outside the bounds of social acceptability.
Greene, Carol. Enchantment of the World Japan, p. 97. 28 Pitts, Forrest R., Japan. p. 78. -. 29. Davidson, Judith.
...e many reasons why they are weak. One main reason is, the story itself takes place in a patriarchal society that gives the story a setting that it is male-dominated. Women in society are still commonly stereotyped to be weak fragile creatures and when they act like a man or do an action that is quite normal when males do it, it is considered extraordinary. An example of this would be when Hillary Clinton ran for president and so many people saw Clinton as extraordinary for competing but if she was a male it would be normal. In opposite terms, when a male does something that normally women would do, for example cooking, it is seen as different and even at times looked down upon. Although women are opinionated this way societies are always changing, but even though there is no distinct society that is fully patriarchal, many cultures still show patriarchal features.
However, the other authors have argued that behaviour requirements were different per gender. By comparing how each gender is portrayed in each tale, Zipes notes that "Heroines are generally portrayed as domestic figures or figures who need domestication." While ". men are expected to become socially useful and fight for their goals."
The film had nothing to do with the male characters. For once Disney made the male characters the bystanders as the females took center stage. The film is not about finding your one true love and living happily ever after. Surprisingly no one in the film ended up getting married. The female characters stood their ground and remained strong independent women. Instead it is about two sisters in a coming of age story and reconnecting as sisters. Little things like the death of their parents and the catchy songs live up to the Disney formula, but the film as a whole is something new and refreshing. While Disney is not quite on Japanese director, Hayao Miyazaki’s level of producing strong female characters, this movie was a move in the right direction. Instead of a movie with girls this movie is about girls.
Anime is gaining popularity in the United States as it is shown more on television, most Noticeably on the Sci-Fi Channel with shows such as Saturday Anime and during Anime week and on Cartoon Network with shows such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z being shown every weekday during the Tonnage block. Anime is a highly used medium in Japan. It appears in the movies and on TV. In fact, Nearly one-half of all tickets sold in Japan are for anime. Some famous anime directors are Hayao Miyazaki, Reiji Matsumoto, Mamoru Oshii, Osamu Tezuka, Tatsuo Yoshita, and Katsuhiro Otomo. Hayao Miyazaki directs "lavishly illustrated, sincere, family-oriented, deeply resonate stories for children" Such as Kiki's Delivery Service and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. He also directed Mononoke Hime, A "creative and technical tour-de-force" which is the most popular film In Japanese history. Reiji Matsumoto created Space Cruiser Yamato or Star Blazers as it was known here, a show about a WWII battleship turned spaceship used to defend Earth. Mamoru Oshii directed Ghost in the Shell, "the current standard for high-tech anime filmmaking" Osamu Tezuka created Tetsuwan Atom, known in America as Astro BoyTezuka is also "responsible for the 'large eye' look" found in anime. Tatsuo Yoshita created Mach Go Go Go, otherwise known as Speed Racer. Katsuhiro Otomo directed Akira, the first blockbuster anime film in America, Ebert reviewed it, it was cutting edge in both countries and it began the "adult anime revolution"--"violent imagery, complex stories, and controversial subjects." Ever since Akira was released, there has
This paper will explore what it is about anime that makes it so appealing to even a Western audience, creating an international fan base. Although manga can be traced to American origins, the comics that the Americans brought over have been intensely modified to create essentially a new form of media. Manga and anime have become a significant component of Japanese culture, and often times they integrate Japanese culture and society. Yet, regardless of its Japanese origin, anime is still viewed on the other side of the planet. The question then becomes what is it that makes it so appealing to a foreign audience? This paper will rely heavily on Susan Napier’s book, From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the
Over the course of Japanese history, arguably, no artist is more famous for their works than Katsushika Hokusai. During his 88 years of life, he produced over 30,000 pieces of artwork, and heavily influenced Western styles of art. His most famous piece was created around 1831, a Japanese styled piece titled, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. This piece has stood as a defining piece of artwork in the Japanese culture for over 180 years, analyzed by students and authors for the interpretations filling the paper. The relationship between Hokusai’s painting has directly affected the Western point of view of Japanese style. The English author, Herbert Read’s novel interprets the painting distinctly differently from a Japanese point, American poet,
In society today, we are conditioned to believe certain sets of ideals. We use these ideals to interact and get along with the other people we surround ourselves with. These ideals are often the societal norms that form common ground amongst individuals. However, living life based off these basic and unchanging beliefs is not beneficial to humanity, nor does it make life any easier to live. In fact, holding on to the most accepted beliefs holds back society as a whole. Judith Halberstam, in her essay “Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation” challenges these societal norms through the analysis of animated movies and, in doing so, carves a path for a new way of thinking.
Drawing on pictorial traditions as venerable as sumi-e (black and white ink brush painting), yamato-e (landscape painting in the Japanese style), and emaki-mono (narrative picture scrolls), the Japanese cinema was characterized by a pictorial elegance not seen anywhere else in the world. A propensity for long takes and long shots gave many of the films a stately, leisurely, contemplative pacing that appealed to many young film critics and filmmakers. The creation of mood, of tone, was similarly a unique property of the Japanese cinema. Combined with many theatrical elements, the films presented themselves as the product of a culture that seemed far from the one that waged fierce war on the world. The stylistic experiments of Kurosawa (one of the rare directors who were as comfortable with dynamic montage as he was with long takes) and Ozu (a filmmaker virtually unique, but not sui generis, with his graphic matches, narrative ellipses, dramatic de-emphasis, and singular thematic concern) grew out of a prolific, varied, and exciting cinematic period. (Grant p.
Can you imagine Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein, the great work of literature, without, for example, such female characters as Mrs. Margaret Saville, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Justine Moritz? In this case the novel will have no meaning. All the women help to develop the plot, and without them Frankenstein will lose its spirit. Although these heroines have a lot in common in their characters: they are all strong-willed, kind, careful, and selfless, at the same time, each of them is unique, and each plays her own role in the novel. Mrs. Margaret Saville is the woman to whom the narrator tells the story. Elizabeth Lavenza is the beloved of Victor Frankenstein. Justine Moritz is the heroine who is accused by mistake of murdering William and executed instead of the fiend. There is close connection between the female and male characters, and if we break it, Frankenstein will have no sense. The author of the novel, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, characterizes the women in the same way as the men, and shows that they are independent players. So, the female characters in Frankenstein are as important as the male ones.
In multiple instances throughout the film, female characters violate gender norms by acting as both warriors and leaders because they are adapting typically masculine traits. In the film, women are the majority of the labor force at iron town. The men are merely there to do the labor that needs the most physical power. “Americans oversimplify Japanese women as demure, submissive, and oppressed” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 38). This quote shows that the stereotype of women in Japanese culture had been just like the western perspective where they were below men. This quote also shows that Princess Mononoke reverses the gender role from being submissive to being above men. Another quote that supports that women were not submissive says that “the young unmarried women in Japan have become a powerful group, demographically and economically” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 39). The women who were in the upper class society of Japan had time on their hands and we know this because they had time to write literature. “Most of the canonical work from this period was produced by women of the upper social class” (Varner, 2005,
Miyazaki is well known creating well-developed characters and Princess Mononoke is a good example showing these qualities along with a strong message on environmentalism and an underlying theme of feminism.