Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is a prominent Japanese animator. Although an animator I also view Miyazaki as an auteur as well, he shares his feminist view through his movies, which to me are pure works of art. He is a wonderfully imaginative cinematic genius who creates masterpieces and frames them around the tales that often focus on the adventures of a female protagonist. I believe his genius stems from being able to tell his stories in such an unconventionally feminist friendly form while remaining artistically stunning and true the ideals of the story. In contrast to the majority of films, where the female role is primarily only made important as the romantic interest of the male hero, in Miyazaki’s films the romantic aspect of the movie plays relatively minor aspect of his stories, leaving only room for other more important themes to fill the role of the female lead.

The protagonists face both trivially minor and significantly major trials, from the a sort of coming of age, where they discover the true meaning of becoming an adult and the responsibilities that make them into mature individuals, to one's relationship to nature, to coping with the sickness of a beloved family member. The heroines often experience challenges in their problematic ordeals as a process that they approach with a naïvely genuine curiosity and joy in the world. The beauty of Miyazaki's art is that it gracefully awes its viewers in wonderment. It is evident that Miyazaki carries an attraction with flight, as it is often a reoccurring theme in many of his films that often depict magnificent aerial sequences. Additionally his love for nature provokes him to depict breathtaking cinematic views of nature, which shows the harmony and conflict between humans and the environment, nevertheless Miyazaki never forgets that the story is of upmost importance, this notion of miyazakis work is represented well in many of his animated films, but the one I chose to analyze was his film Spirited Away.

Spirited Away is a movie about the adventure of Chihiro, a young child irritated by her parents decision to move to a new place. While on their way to the new home, her parents take a wrong turn, the family finds what seems to be an abandoned theme park. But all is not as it seems, her parents supernaturally change from their human form after eating food meant for the parks ghostlike occupants. Chihiro, out of horror and confusion runs away. She quickly returns to the spirit world and tries to rescue her parents but is confronted the devious antagonist Yu baba, who runs a bathhouse for spirits and promises to return her parents in exchange for her labor in the bathhouse. As a follower of Miyazaki’ films, I realized that Chihiro is different from most of Miyazaki’ female protagonists as she is initially timid and outwardly incapable of taking care of herself, however her bravery and ingenuity matures as she faces many trials. Eventually, she is reunited with her parents, but the important part of the film was not merely that she reunited with her parents but rather the process of personal growth and making mature decisions that allowed her to get her parents back.

These films certainly promote feminist ideals with their portrayal of females as multifaceted, captivating individuals rather than merely proposing distracting unrealistic romantic illusions. His movies provoke the audience in such a way where you find yourself so emotionally attached to the characters. It would not be a surprise to me if one may catch themselves at the edge of their seat while applauding for their victories while remaining sympathetic with their setbacks. Although it is only recently that his work is being noticed, mainly because his approach is different (e.g. female protagonist) he is still a widely well-respected Auteur. Many regard him as a Japanese Walt Disney; yet to me he is on a completely different level as his films, although animated, cater largely to a more mature audience.

Works cited

1)"Hayao Miyazaki." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. .

2) Spirited Away. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli, 2001. DVD.

3)"Styles and Themes of Hayao Miyazaki." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. .