This was so well thought out!! I've always been a little unsettled by some of the imagery in the movie, and you pointed out everything that I'd thought of as a little kid watching it, especially the bit about the parents turning into pigs, I so genuinely thought my parents would too TvT
Agree 100%. I have been watching all these movies you mentioned with my son at an early age already. In my opinion, kids are really good at filtering out things that are too overwhelming for them and only upon a later revisit will they understand the subtext, moral and hidden messages that you can find within good stories. I think many filmakers underestimate children and their capability to accept darkness, sadness and weirdness as part of their sometimes disturbing lives. Not everything needs to feel good and cosy, not every charater has to be black or white. Japanese artists have always embraced this in their animes and mangas. The fairytales of old are very dark and unsettling stories. Difference is that they were mostly created and used as cautionary tales. They are scary and nightmare inducing because there is pure, unrelantable evil in them. Also agree on your point that by design, many of the creatures in this film could be nightmare fuel but as they are presented as relatable, from an empathic point of view, they cease to be that. As you said yourself, characters in Ghibli movies for example, are never one sided and rather multi layered, complex beings with relatable motivations which makes them more realistic than characters in older disney movies for example. Obviously I waited a bit longer, till the age of 12, until I showed him grave of the fireflies but I consider it, among other things, as a really good tool to educate on war and what it does to people and their humanity. All these hidden messages that you can find in every Ghibli movie will hit and be understood differently, depending on your personal experiences and so I think there are perfect for all ages. Thank you for this, Sefo. Yours is one of my favorite channels here, please keep up the good work and I wish, more people would watch your videos.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! One thing I haven't really addressed that you brought up is how old fairytales similarly tended to be unfiltered dark stories that a lot of times served as cautinary tales, as is the case with a lot of fairytales that got watered down by Disney. Spirited Away gains even more value by living up to that tradition of telling nuanced but purposeful stories.
This was so well thought out!! I've always been a little unsettled by some of the imagery in the movie, and you pointed out everything that I'd thought of as a little kid watching it, especially the bit about the parents turning into pigs, I so genuinely thought my parents would too TvT
Agree 100%.
I have been watching all these movies you mentioned with my son at an early age already.
In my opinion, kids are really good at filtering out things that are too overwhelming for them and only upon a later revisit will they understand the subtext, moral and hidden messages that you can find within good stories.
I think many filmakers underestimate children and their capability to accept darkness, sadness and weirdness as part of their sometimes disturbing lives.
Not everything needs to feel good and cosy, not every charater has to be black or white.
Japanese artists have always embraced this in their animes and mangas.
The fairytales of old are very dark and unsettling stories. Difference is that they were mostly created and used as cautionary tales. They are scary and nightmare inducing because there is pure, unrelantable evil in them.
Also agree on your point that by design, many of the creatures in this film could be nightmare fuel but as they are presented as relatable, from an empathic point of view, they cease to be that.
As you said yourself, characters in Ghibli movies for example, are never one sided and rather multi layered, complex beings with relatable motivations which makes them more realistic than characters in older disney movies for example.
Obviously I waited a bit longer, till the age of 12, until I showed him grave of the fireflies but I consider it, among other things, as a really good tool to educate on war and what it does to people and their humanity.
All these hidden messages that you can find in every Ghibli movie will hit and be understood differently, depending on your personal experiences and so I think there are perfect for all ages.
Thank you for this, Sefo.
Yours is one of my favorite channels here, please keep up the good work and I wish, more people would watch your videos.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! One thing I haven't really addressed that you brought up is how old fairytales similarly tended to be unfiltered dark stories that a lot of times served as cautinary tales, as is the case with a lot of fairytales that got watered down by Disney. Spirited Away gains even more value by living up to that tradition of telling nuanced but purposeful stories.