The Spirit of Spirited Away: An Exploration into Femininity and Work
Swapnagandha Bhogle
TYBA
Throughout life we
pick up different identities which affect us. Some of these might be a choice,
and some may not. If I were to label any of my identities as the most
influential, they would be the ones which stem from the systems of gender and
work. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been reinforced into looking at myself as
a student, and evaluating my success on the basis of how I work in that space.
When it comes to my gender, I’ve always had a tarnished relationship with being
a woman. Not because I’ve wished to identify with another label, but because I
see myself as a woman the most, and struggle to navigate my life through a
predominantly patriarchal world. Few stories have touched upon both of these
aspects together because “women who work '' is somewhere a yet-to-be-explored
territory. However, there is one story which does just that. Through this
essay, I would like to explore Hiyao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001) through
its dimensions of gender and work with the help of feminist and Marxist theory.
AN UNLIKELY PROTAGONIST:
(Credits: ghibli.fandom.com/wik)
Stories that cater to young girls
in popular media are dominated by stories of princesses. As a young girl who
fantasised about having the ability to fight off great big enemies, being
fearless, and intelligent - I couldn’t find a reflection of myself in Cinderella,
Ariel, or Snow White. Belle came close with her hunger to read, but there was
still a disconnect. The want for a partner that they were shown to experience
was something I absolutely could not relate with. This inability to connect
made these stories just stories for me. I couldn’t take them to bed with me as
something to think, smile, laugh, or cry about. As I grew up, the resources
around me started expanding, and I had access to an internet connection. I
started watching various films across genres and was finally able to explore
‘my taste’. Amidst the hundreds of stories I was able to consume then was
‘Spirited Away’ - a story of a little girl just like me who wanted to care for
everyone around her, save the day in some way, do good for the world, and be
fearless against the darkest of enemies.
While I rant on about my
experience in a theoretical essay, I do so consciously. It is not to (just)
vent out a certain distress but (also) to put the theory at large into
perspective from one person’s point of view. This point of view expands itself
and is a shared experience for many other people as well, with certain
variables.
Chihiro Onigo is truly an unlikely
protagonist. She’s a spoiled child, which in the story avoids any romanticised
dutifulness that comes with a background of ‘poorness’. Her qualities of greed,
stubbornness, and dismissiveness towards her parents are transformed by the end
of the film. While mainstream female transformation is through clothes and
makeup, Chihiro transforms her worldview without any outer change (Napier,
2006). Combat is usually seen as an obvious way of defeating enemies.
However, “Chihiro does not ‘defeat’ No-Face with violence, but instead treats
him with kindness and offers him friendship” (Bessalem, 2021). Thus, the
assumed feminine trait of caring is viewed as a solution for problems - a
phenomenon I thought was impossible to occur as ‘caring too much’ was seen as
undesirable. As the plot progresses, there are an equal number of instances
where Chihiro is both the rescuer and the rescued, highlighting an
interdependence and thereby an equal status for her.
CONSUMERISM AS GLUTTONY:
(Credits: Russia Beyond)
The conflict in the plot starts
when Chihiro’s parents are attracted by the aroma of food in the abandoned
theme park and start eating the buffet. When Chihiro tries to stop them her
father says, “Don’t worry, you’ve got daddy here. He’s got credit cards and
cash.” Her parents continue to eat the unlimited food in a graphic manner and
eventually turn into pigs. This can be held as a metaphor for the phrase
‘capitalist pigs’ vastly used in the Soviet propaganda against American
capitalism - a wave the Japanese culture was battling post WWII. For context,
Japan experienced an unprecedented boom in the economy in the 70s and 80s. The
US-Japan alliance also increased during the Cold War in an attempt to ‘save’ Japan against a supposed ‘Red Scare’. The rapid influence of a capitalist
framework led to a systemic McDonaldization of the Japanese everyday
culture.
While her parents
and co-workers are shown to constantly ‘want’ more, Chihiro is seen speaking
the language of ‘need’. She denies the gifts offered by No Face saying she
didn’t need any more. On the other hand, the other workers of the bathhouse are
heard using ‘want’ more, highlighting how Chihiro doesn’t possess the illusion
of excess (Jaich, 2017). This is a common theme in Miyazaki’s stories where
children are shown as less connected to the illusions of materialism. They are
seen to be more ‘grounded’ and also intuitive to spiritual realms (a metaphor
for traditional Japan), as can be observed in stories like ‘My Neighbour
Totoro’ (1988).
YUBABA V/S ZENIBA -
SAME FACE, DIFFERENT PACE:
(Credits: www.pinterest.com)
Through the film we are shown two
sisters, Yubaba and Zeniba. They look the absolute same but hold opposite values
which can be compared to how the economy relies on the same resources but holds
different value systems about how the resources are utilised and distributed.
Yubaba lives on the top floor of a fancy bathhouse while Zeniba lives in a
quiet hut in a hamlet at Swamp Bottom. A difference in working styles can be
clearly observed.
Yubaba runs a
successful yet exploitative bathhouse. In the boiler room, we see Kamaji
abusing his workers. They are observed to be overworked, robotically in unison,
and desperate to get some time off. According to Jaich (2017), these are
representative of the manual labour force of the early industrial age, who were
often characterised by being covered head-to-toe in black soot. The workers of
the bathhouse can also be seen to work for the perks of gold, tips, and
stay.
In contrast, Zeniba
is shown to be kind and loving. She has no servans and lives in a seemingly
egalitarian hamlet. In her humble hut, she teaches the trio No Face, the
hamster, and the bird to knit. Here, knitting is seen as a community activity
where Zeniba teaches them like a ‘grandma’. They are appreciated by her and they
are also shown to enjoy the work. The result of their work is a magical
protective hair tie channelised by their good intentions for Chihiro. Thus, as
often described in Marxist philosophy, the work under Yubaba became a means to
an end; and the work with Zeniba an end in itself. (Fromm, 1961)
THAT’S IN A NAME:
The name Chihiro means a ‘thousand
questions’. When she signs her name on a contract with Yubaba, some of the kanji
(Japanese script) is captured by Yubaba renaming her (Chihiro) as Sen, which
means ‘a thousand’ (Jaich, 2017). She transforms from a person with curiousity,
intention, and value to a simple number. Slowly, ‘Sen’ starts forgetting her
original name which is the way Yubaba is shown to control all her workers,
including the powerful River Spirit Haku. This narrative aligns with the fifth
and final stage of Marx’s alienation theory - alienation from self - where
through gradual dehumanisation one gets separated from their own identity and
is made to feel like a cog in the wheel. Thus, in Miyazaki’s world, a name
carries a sense of self as perceived through the eyes of oneself and one’s
loved ones.
(Credits: Studio Ghibli)
The million messages packed in
Miyazaki’s masterpiece cannot be confined in a mere 1500-word essay. Along with
what he intended, there are also various interpretations that people have made
of the story. A fairly courageous gentleperson on Medium
even tried to sell their line of psychedelics through it! Although it doesn’t
capture the movie in all its beauty, this essay is a tiny version of what I see
in a film extremely close to my heart. One might be quick to dismiss remarks on
inclusive storytelling but as a former child I can definitely say that stories
aren’t just stories. Stories, if interwoven carefully, can give an insight into
the most complex aspects of human life.
References
Bessalem, S. (2021,
July 29). Fantasy, Femininity and Heroism: A look into Miyazaki’s female
characters. Fantasy/Animation. Retrieved September 24, 2022, from https://www.fantasy-animation.org/current-posts/fantasy-femininity-and-heroism-a-look-into-miyazakis-female-characters
Fromm, E. (1961). Marx’s Concept of Man. Erich Fromm. www.marxists.org. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.marxists.org/archive/fromm/works/1961/man/ch04.htm
Jaich, L. J. (2017). Caught Between Two Worlds: Resolving Japan’s Modern Identity in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001). UCR Honors Capstones. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/25x1h62f
Napier, S. J. (2006). Matter Out of Place: Carnival, Containment, and Cultural Recovery in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 32(2), 287–310. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjs.2006.0057
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