INTRODUCTION
The fifth film in my sociological
retrospective on the
films of Hayao Miyazaki is the whimsical coming of age story Kiki’s Delivery
Service. Based on the book by Eiko Kadono, this 1989 film was the first
real hit for Studio Ghibli and it was the film that heralded Miyazaki as one of
the best animators of his generation.
With this film, Miyazaki was able to acquire more confidence both
economically and creatively to do more ambitious projects in the future that
would eventually identify him as the greatest animator in history.
PLOT
Kiki,
a young witch living in the country, leaves home to set up a life for herself elsewhere
as is the cultural custom of witches when they turn 13. She moves to a seaside city
where she faces the complications of city life, living on her own, and growing
up. As she settles into her new home,
she opens a delivery service to utilize her flying skills. This integrates her
into the community and allows her to meet and interact with various people
including a couple that owns a bake shop, a boy with a penchant for planes
(channeling Miyazaki himself), and a secluded painter. It is within this backdrop that Kiki learns
valuable lessons about life: the value of hard work, the reality of the
unexpected, and eventually, self-worth.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
This
was a film that Miyazaki did not intend to write or direct. At the time of the
production Miyazaki was finishing up on My
Neighbor Totoro. He initially did not want to split his time between
the two projects, but as the development of the project continued in earnest,
Miyazaki got more involved. He rejected the first script (written by someone
else) and then began to clarify his specific vision with the other animators,
going as far as a trip to Europe to get models for the town Kiki was going to
live in. By the time the crew came back,
Miyazaki was fully invested in the project.
What
convinced Miyazaki to stick with this project was his desire to write a coming
of age story about young girls, for young girls. Not having daughters, himself,
he decided to model the character of Kiki after his producer Tashiro Susuki’s
precocious progeny. Thus, in Kiki’s he wanted to give young girls a
message about the value of hard work (regardless of whether or not that work is
appreciated or valued by other people), that many times in life things will not
work out, and you will have to do a lot of things in life that you do not like to
do. At the time, these messages were exclusively given to boys and Miyazaki felt
that they were such universal lessons to adulthood, that it needed to be
learned by girls as well. Kiki’s was always designed to be a
story about the highs and lows of life. That life itself is not always terrible,
nor is it always full of joy and magic. This is one of the more fundamental
differences in storytelling from western animation, while they too may be whimsical
and fun, they also do not provide the gravitas of life lessons and teachable moments
common in a Miyazaki film.
Disney vs. Ghibli
While there is always going
to be a constant comparison between Walt Disney and Miyazaki[1], it is through the films
of Kiki’s Delivery Service and The Little Mermaid (both released in 1989) do we see clear
differences in socio-cultural gender messages at the time.[2] Whereas, as stated above, Kiki’s
Delivery Service is invested in a young girls sense of self based in the
values of work, friendship and reciprocity throughout the torrential nature of
life itself; Disney’s The Little Mermaid, an animated adaptation of the
Hans Christian Anderson story, is more interested in superficiality and body
identity. The film has the main protagonist give up her ability to speak and get
legs for a man that she has never met who is also significantly older. Even
though Walt Disney did not write or direct The Little Mermaid,[3] the film is both
indicative of the spirit of the creator, as much as all of the work of Studio Ghibli
is attributed to Miyazaki regardless of whether he is the director or not.
The differences between
Disney and Miyazaki get even more stark when you look at Disney and Ghibli as
corporations. Disney is a multi-media conglomerate that holds a significant
chunk of all media produced. In 2019, Disney alone accounted for 40%
of all box office receipts due to their recent mergers of LucasFilm, Marvel
Studios and 20th Century Fox. They, along with four other companies
(Time Warner, Viacom, News Corp, and ATT), control most of the global media.
This focus on capitalistic profit has, in true Marxian fashion, lead to the exploitation of labor,
and a dehumanization of workers at the company. Disney, the corporation, is
the perfect example of what Marx deemed “commodification”[4] and has helped to realize
Marx’s fear of capitalism covering the planet.[5]
Ghibli, on the other hand is barely a for-profit
company. Each of the company’s successes, along with the minimal merchandizing
of each film, is designed to keep them afloat until the next feature. In the
spirit of that anti-capitalist philosophy, the studio even closed its doors in
2013 after the production of When
Marne was There, due to not having another feature lined up. This
hiatus lasted until 2017, when Miyazaki had the idea for How Do You Live?
illustrating the commitment Miyazaki,
and the broader Studio Ghibli, has to creativity and vision over profitability.
While this may seemingly be negated by the revelation that Studio Ghibli films have
been made available
for streaming through HBO MAX., this was only made possible because:
A.
Miyazaki was not clear, what “streaming” was
B.
Producer Susuki convinced him to agree simply to “help
fund future projects.”
Unfortunately, the work and lives of Disney and Ghibli
are so intertwined that, before we move on, we need to take a broader look at
the creators and their specific
entanglements.
Walt, Hayao and John
Walt Disney, the man was
far different than the con that people now know. Whereas Disney the icon was crafted to be flawless:
without vice, inclusive, and kind. The real person was a
confirmed racist, sexist Nazi sympathizer. Much of this reality was
controlled to protect the public image and the brand that was Disney. This is
still going on. Currently, Disney is
sanitizing, or casually
dismissing their overt forms of racism sexism and ableism in their early
films.
Born a generation later,
Miyazaki in temperament, acceptance and ideology is the anti-Walt Disney. From
filmmaking style, to the running of his company, Miyazaki seems to have done
the opposite of Disney. Where Disney is large and bombastic, Miyazaki is reserved,
and contemplative. Instead of packing his films with overt messages of racism
and sexism, Miyazaki has broad messages on environmentalism, and feminism. Additionally,
Miyazaki made several films with a clear anti-war message whereas Disney
made pro-war propaganda. Seeing these two men are equivalent, just because
they both revolutionized animation, is like saying Aquaman and Cthulhu are the
same because they both rise from the sea. Unfortunately, regardless of these
differences, there is a tether between Disney and Miyazaki and that is the creepy
sexual harasser John Lasseter.[6]
Lasseter,
a self-proclaimed acolyte, and fan of Miyazaki since 1981, began his
relationship with Studio Ghibli in 2001, and was instrumental in the US release
of Spirit Away. He not only was the executive producer of the US release
of Spirited Away, he was also in charge of English voice casting and
home video releases.[7] In building this
relationship, Lasseter has always portended that he is “good friends” with Miyazaki,
something that has never been confirmed by Miyazaki, or anyone at Studio Ghibli.
In fact when you see them interact with each other (see above) that supposed “friendship”
seems very one sided. Thankfully, Disney has dropped its US distribution rights
in 2016. The new distributors being the
Animation company Gkids which not only
is full of animators that “cut their teeth” at Ghibli, also now produces a Ghibli
Film fest each year.
SOCIAL ANALYSIS
Much
like Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service is a simple story about growing up. In that we see some of the same similar
themes as socialization and gender identity. Yet, because Kiki is a little bit
older than Satsuki and Mei (the sisters in Totoro) Miyazaki adds in the element
of the social construction of the self
“The
Looking Glass Self”- Cooley[8]
The looking glass self is a theory of
self-construction by Charles Horton Cooley. According to Cooley, the perception
of our self is dictated by our interpretations of interactions and reactions
that we have with others daily. Therefore, we get an idea about who we are by
the way other people treat us. If we get positive
treatment it will more likely, lead
to a positive self-concept. The opposite is also valid.
Kiki and Cooley
When
Kiki arrives in town she interacts with random townspeople. In those interactions
she gets a sense of the norms, rituals, and behaviors of the city. Miyazaki
here is playing off a dual layered interaction here. People are interacting and
reacting to Kiki both because she is from the country and because she is a
witch. The negative interactions she
first experiences make her feel unwanted and leave her wondering if she should
leave the city for another town. It is only when Kiki meets and is befriended
by Osono and her husband that Kiki’s self-concept improves.
Mead:
“The Conversation”[9]
Mead
being linked with Symbolic Interactionism believes that Language is important to the construction of the self. The Self says Mead “arises in the process of
social experience and activity”. Since
we can be self-reflexive, and think about who we are, the individual can be
both subject and object. In fact, Mead believed that one must take objective
account of one’s self in order to be seen as an intelligent rational human
being.
The Self as an Object
Part
of this learning the “objective self” is by taking the role of the “generalized
other” by that he means taking on the attitude of the whole community (as in
being able to see the world outside of your own perspective) This is done
through a three step process:
1. Imitation
(parroting)
2. Play
(Pretend
3. Games
(Sports and other organized activities)
This is necessary in
order to exist within a society.
The Self as a
Subject
Mead
believed that The Self is created through
an internal conversation between the “I” the representation of our internal
desires and the “Me” the representation of our internalized social rules, norms
values and behaviors. In conforming, law abiding members of society the “I” is
“properly” regulated by the “Me”. This is a form of social control. It is the “Me” that allows us to live within
society and have a sense of community, whereas the “I” is what drives our
personality and motivates a unique expression of our thoughts, feelings, and
ideals.
The “Me” being internalized
notions of society, social norms rules, rituals and values.
The “I” is constantly in
the present, the “Me” is either in the past or in the future.
It
is the combination of these two forms of the self that, for Mead, make up the
“Defined Self”
“It
is the recognition of an individual as a self in the process of using his self
–consciousness which gives him the attitude of self-assertion or the attitude
of devotion to the community.
Kiki
and Mead
Before the film starts, it is mentioned through
dialogue that Kiki has been trained to be a witch. This is the process of the
self as object. Through imitating her mother, playing the role of a witch, and participating
in structured games, Kiki has prepared herself for this rite of passage. It is when she starts to understand the self
as subject, that she experiences an emotional setback resulting in a loss of self-identity.
The character of Jiji (Kiki’s cat familiar) acts as
an externalized “Me” throughout most of the film; whispering to Kiki to be
careful, slow down, and to watch where she is going. Together through their conversations,
Kiki and Jiji are creating Kiki’s “Self”. Yet, after an emotional set back due
to an interaction with Tombo and other local kids, Kiki finds that her magic is
fading, and she cannot speak to Jiji. While
the loss of flight can be perceived as rooted in Cooley’s “Looking Glass” The
loss of Jiji is more a symbol of maturity. By the end of the film, she regains
the ability to fly because she found her purpose in herself and in her life. However, Kiki is never able to hear Jiji
again because, through the events of the film, she no longer needs the concept
of society to be externalized. Her experiences
have allowed her to mature enough to be able to do that herself. Bittersweet to be sure; but also common in coming
of age tales that see the loss of magic as an allegory for the transition to
adulthood.
CONCLUSION
It is clear,
that you would not have the oeuvre of Studio Ghibli without Kiki’s Delivery
Service. In terms of merchandise, it is seconded only to Totoro due
to its clean wholesomeness. While not my
favorite of the Miyazaki films, it is important that you respect it for its
craft, storytelling, and sociological encapsulation of self-development.
[2] It
was very difficult for me not to put this in the Social Analysis section.
[3] . I
will come back to this specific comparison in a later essay, as Miyazaki gave
us his own retelling of “The Little Mermaid” with his film Ponyo
[4]
The ability for everything in human life, including human life, to be bought,
sold, traded or exchanged
[7]
Anyone with Studio Ghibli film dvds or blu-rays produced and distributed by Disney,
must sit through an Introduction to each film by John Lasseter that you can not
skip over. Yessh! That did not age well.
[8] *If Goffman’s idea of
Impression Management, is coupled with Cooley’s Looking Glass Self as
previously mentioned, we get an elaborate
form of self-delusion where we solidify in others how we want to be
perceived, but that, in turn, shapes our perception of our selves. We are
manufacturing support and “evidence” for our own self construction. Kiki does
