Spirited Away
K and I watched Spirited Away for my international film assignment. It was... not what we were expecting. Scenes from it were BEAUTIFUL... but were also bizarre... and it just took us by surprise. I guess that’s the power of culture— it really influences how we do things and how we view and perceive things. I’m not familiar with Japanese films so maybe Spirited Away was very typical of Japanese media-- or maybe not. But coming from my own American context, the presence and portrayal of the supernatural, of spirits and so many creatures, of magic and sorcerers, and in a children’s animated and very popular movie, seemed strange to me. Not in a negative way, it was just different and surprised me.
I also got the feeling that this movie was very symbolic, and that if I was coming from a Japanese frame of reference I would have picked up on a lot of moral messages! It seemed like the whole movie was indirectly teaching lessons, maybe about virtue, about greed, about cleanliness, ...
I would love to know how the Japanese feel about this movie! I'm also curious about how this movie compares to other Japanese films! It's definitely got me thinking.
That's so cool! I love your desire to know how Japanese people perceive the film. It's interesting that even in such a global, connected world with technology, media still varies greatly between cultures.
ReplyDeleteI have seen scenes from this film and it is definitely not what I was expecting. But I agree, film and media in general have such a powerful and strong message. Every culture is so different but when we open our minds to the ideas of different cultures we can learn so much.
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