A nightmare of capitalist Japan.docx
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A nightmare of capitalist Japan.docx
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AnightmareofcapitalistJapan
AnightmareofcapitalistJapan:
SpiritedAway
byAyumiSuzuki
HayaoMiyazaki,whowontheOscarfortheBestAnimatedFeaturein2003,makesfilmsforchildren.Buthedoesnottoturnthemintoprincesorprincessesinafairytaleworld;insteadhemakesthememployedworkersinafantasizedcapitalisticworld.InhisSpiritedAway(2001),Chihiro,aten-year-oldgirl,wandersintotheYuya,theleisurecenterofaspiritworld,anenterpriseownedandmanagedbythewitch,Yubaba.Chihirobecomestrappedinthisspiritworld,whereshemustuseheronlyresource,physicallabor,tosurvive.PeoplewholiveintheYuyamustworktoberecognizedasvaluablehumanbeingsworthyoflife.Asoneoftheworkerstellsthegirl,
"Ifyoudon'tgetajob,Yubabawillturnyouintoananimal."
DaveKehrofTheNewYorkTimesdescribedSpiritedAwayas"amasterpiece,pureandsimple."However,thefilmismuchmorecomplicatedthanthat.Notjustasimplecoming-of-agestory,thechild'ssurvivalstoryisintertwinedwithadenunciationoftoday'scapitalistmindset.MygoalinthisessayistoilluminateHayaoMiyazaki’suseofanimationandchildrenascharacterstocriticizeJapan'shistoryofcapitalism.IfindSpiritedAwaythefilmthatmostfirmlydepictsMiyazaki’sdenunciationofacapitalistmentality,especiallyinrelationtoissuesweseeinpost-modernJapan,namelythelossofspiritualvalueandidentity.
HayaoMiyazaki:
masterofanime
Miyazaki’ssophisticatedartliesnotincreatingmarketablechild-friendlyanimation,butinpresentingsocialcriticismthroughchildcharactersinhisanimatedfilms.Onthispoint,Miyazakisharessomethingwithaculturalcriticofapreviousgeneration,WalterBenjamin(1936).BothBenjaminandMiyazakihavefaithintwothings,storytellingandchildren.
Storiescantransmitknowledgebyintegratingthatknowledgeinafantasticaltale.Inthisway,listenerscanlearnnotjustthroughreceivinginformationbutalsobyinternalizingknowledgeasexperience.Benjaminexplainsthatthere'sanewformofcommunicationmadepossiblebynewmedia,whichinhistimeconsistedofradio,photographyandcinema.Thisnewkindofcommunicationtransmitsinformation,whichhastimelinessanddoesnotleaveroomforlistenerstoexpandtheirimaginationorcapacityforinterpretation,becausethistransmissionofinformationrequiresthatexplanationsbegivenatthesametime.Incontrast,storiesprovideinformationalcuesthattriggercreativeinterpretationsonthepartoftheirlisteners,andeachdifferentinterpretation,asit'screated,becomesapersonalexperiencewhichlastsinthelistener'smind.Forthatreason,Benjamindistinguishedstorytellingfrominformationgiving,andinthisvein,Miyazakiisastorytellerwhouseshisfilmstobequeathhissocialknowledge.
Anothercommonelementbetweenthetwothinkersistheirfaithinchildren,andtheyadmirethequalityofyouthfulmindstobefilledwithcuriosityandstayfreefromthetask-mindedbusinessofmoderndayliving.Miyazakibelievesinthecunningandthehighspiritsinchildren;therefore,heutilizesadolescentcharactersinhisfilmstoexplorea"mystical"world,whichinfactisafantasizedversionofsocialreality.Inthisway,hisfilmsechothoughtsofBenjamin(1936),whosays,“Thewisestthing–sothefairytaletaughtmankindinoldentimes,andteacheschildrentothisday–istomeettheforcesofthemythicalworldwithcunningandwithhighspirits”(p.11).
ThisconceptofrepresentingarealitythroughaveiloffantasycanalsobefoundinaJapanesetraditionalart,Ukiyo-e.JapaneseanimatorshaveinheritedvisualaestheticsfromthestyleoftheartofUkiyo-e(Murakami,2000;Looser,2006).Cavallaro(2006)pointsoutthatMiyazaki,inparticular,hasanaestheticsimilartoUkiyo-eintermsofhisuseoftwo-dimensionaldrawingandwatercolor.TheremaybeafurtherphilosophicalconnectionbetweenMiyazaki’sanimationandUkiyo-e.Asaterm,Ukiyo-eisusuallytranslatedas"imagesofthefloatingworld";literally[Uki:
float]+[Yo:
world]+[E:
pictures].
UkiyoreferstotheworldwithoutBuddhistenlightenment;thatistosay,theworldfilledwithconsciousnessofmortality.Buddhistteachingswarnagainstcravingforanythingthatisephemeralornoteternal.Peoplesufferwhentheylosesomethingtheycrave,andthatmomentoflossmustcomebecausenothingstaysthesame.Withoutenlightenment,peoplewillcontinuetofindthisever-changingworldtheverysourceofgrief.OurworldofgriefisUkiyo.
Ukiyo-eartistsdepictscenesfrom"pleasurequarters"(thefloatingworld)suchasKabukistars,beautifulwomen,orscenesfromaplay,namelyasobjectsthatpeoplecrave.AsonedesiresthoseobjectsinUkiyo-e,orastheyexperiencethatdesireinUkiyoitself,s/hemustknowthatonedaythoseobjectswilldisappear,causingsuffering.Ukiyo-e’splaysondualsenseswhere“fantasyispleasure”and“realityisgrief”;thisisthekindofdualworldthatMiyazakialwaysestablishesinhisfilms.Ontheonehand,heelaboratesananimatedrealitybasedonacontemporarypostindustrialculture,completewiththelatesttechnologyandproducts,thateventuallytransformsintoanightmare.Second,healsoestablishesaworldoutofhisownfantasyinwhichachildencountersthevanityofmaterialismandlearnstobalancematerialismwithaneedforspiritualitythere.Forhim,animationinhabitedbychildrenascharactersisaradicalformthathecanusetospeakoutagainstthedominantideologyofconsumercapitalism—radicalbecauseanimationisaby-productofmoderntechnologyandbecausechildrenareaspecialtargetofcapitalistmarketing.Byusingnarrativeswithchildcharactersmovingthroughananimatedworld,thedirectoraimshisvisionatamoregeneralaudienceimmersedinalifestyleofhedonisticconsumption.
SpiritedAway:
enteringthe
capitalizedspiritworld
SpiritedAwaystagesamodernizingJapanintheMeijiperiod(1868-1912)whenWesterninfluencesoverpoweredthenationpoliticallyandideologicallyandoneofthemostsignificantinfluencesfromtheWesttoJapanwasthereorganizationofJapanesesocietyintoacapitalistone.DuringtheEdoperiod(1603-1867),theautocraticSamuraiclasscontrolledthewholenationandJapancloseditsdoortomostothernationsinordertopreserveitself.In1853,CommodorePerryfromtheUnitedStatesurgedJapantostarttradingwithothernations.Inthefollowingyear,JapanopeneditsdoortoothernationsandtheMeijiera,whichisconsideredastheperiodofrestoration,began.InthisMeijirestoration,theinfluxoftheWesternculturebroughttoJapanbothchaosandgrowth,representedbythemixingofJapaneseidentitywithWesternarchitecture,philosophy,fashion,andvalues.
Chihiro’sparentsdevourthefoodintheYuya.
Asaresult,theyareturnedintopigsbythecurse.
MiyazakitakesusbacktoMeijiJapanbysendingtheprotagonist,whowasbornincontemporarytimes,toamodernizingJapan.Thestorygoesasfollows:
Chihiro,anapathetictenyear-oldgirl,ismovingfromthecitytoaruralareawithherfamily.Whiletheyaredrivingtotheirnewhome,theywanderintoaclosedthemepark,nowcalledtheYuya.It'sactuallyisaleisurecenterbuiltinthespiritualworldbyagreedywitch,Yubaba.ThismysticaltownresemblesMeijiJapanintermsofarchitecture,duringwhichtimethestylewasamixofWesternandJapanese.Bythewitch’scurse,Chihiro'sparentsareturnedintopigs,andChihiromustserveasalaborerattheYuyainordertorescuethem.AttheYuya,sheencountersamysteriousboynamedHaku,andwithhishelp,themeekgirlnowlearnstomeetthechallengesofthedistressingspiritworld.ByhavingChihiroliveintheeraofamodernizingJapan,Miyazakiinvitestheaudiencetoexperiencewhatwereallywerelosingasanationandpersonallyduringthatperiod.
TheYuya:
acapitalistsocietyofthespiritworld
Tobeginwith,MiyazakisetsupthestructureoftheYuyaasveryclass-orientedandheuseittorepresentcapitalistsocietyingeneral.Chihirofirstappearsasachildwithinanuclearfamily,whichisthebaseofcapitalistsociety,providingandreproducingthelaborforceviaitschildren.Whileparentsareusuallyresponsibleformaintainingthefamilybyexchangingtheirlaborformoneyfortheirneeds,Chihiro’sparentsaretakenawaybyYubaba’scurseinthefilm.ThusChihironowhastotaketheresponsibilitytobringherfamilybackbyworkingfortheYuya.ByforcingChihirotoexchangeherlaborforwhatshedesires,thefilmrepresentsherasaworking-classworker,achildwhosechildhoodhasbeenstolenfromher.InanexamplethatmakesexplicitMiyazaki'sequationoflaborwithwageslavery,inonesceneChihiromeetsKamajii,theboilerman,whointroduceshimselfasa"slavetotheboilerthatheatsthebaths."SincethewholebathhouseisownedandmanagedbyYubaba,hemeansthatheisaslavetohisemployer.Inaddition,Kamajiihassixarmstooperatetheboilerthatpresentshimasnewmachinerythatenablesminimizationofpaidemployees-notunlikeroboticsonemightseeonaproductionline.Whileheisworking,anotherfemaleworkerbringshimfoodprovidedbytheYuya,andinanothermoment,weseeKamajiisleepingrightthereinhisworkplace.ThesecuesindicatetheYuyaprovideshimshelterandfoodonlyasheprovideshislaborforce;byseizinghisforcesofproduction,theYuyaownshimasitsproperty.
Sootsbringingcoalsintotheboiler.
KamajiireceivesfoodfromLin.Heworks,eats,andsleepsintheYuya.
Moreover,justastheworkersmusthaveajobtosurvive,Yubabaneedstheirlabortosurvive.WhileKamajiiist
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