The films of Hayao Miyazaki: An Introduction

In celebration of Hayao Miyazaki’s new film How Do You Live? scheduled for release in 2020, in the coming months to a year I will be analyzing all of the films of Hayao Miyazaki much in the same way I have done for Christopher Nolan. Similarly, I will analyze each film in order of release; giving both historical context and social analysis of Miyazaki’s work. I am limiting the scope of my analysis to films directed by Miyazaki instead of the whole Studio Ghibli cannon. I do this partly because Miyazaki’s work is arguably the best of all of Studio Ghibli’s content[1] and I want this miniseries to be a digestible as possible. So, please join me in celebrating the legend that is Hayao Miyazaki

BACKGROUND

            Hayao Miyazaki born in 1941 in Bunkyo Japan, was always interested in animation and was a part of the “Children’s Literature Research Club” while in college. According to Miyazaki, this was “the closest thing to a comics club in [the late 1950’s][2]. He eventually graduated from Gakushuin University with a degree in political science and economics in 1963. That same year, he began work  as an in-between artist at Toei Animation. During his time there, he worked on several animation projects before leaving to found Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Tashiro Suzuki. Thus began a career that lead him to be heralded as the “Japanese” Walt Disney (a moniker he hates)[3] and one of the greatest animation film directors in history.

            One reason why Miyazaki is deserving of such a title is that all of his work is painstakingly detailed and articulate. He has such a specific vision, and determined drive to achieve it, that he is often given the reputation to be difficult to work with and be satisfied with any work (especially his own).[4] Added to this, is Miyazaki’s assertion that hand drawn animation is superior to CGI, that there is a clarity and a sharpness to hand drawn animation that he believes cannot be replicated with CGI[5] Thus, all of his animators draw everything by hand, from the backgrounds and sketches to the final frames of the film.[6] This makes Miyazaki unique, and an unfortunate relic.

TO RETIRE, OR NOT TO RETIRE…

            This sense of anachronism is something that Miyazaki continues to grapple with and is the centerpiece of two recent outstanding documentaries about him:

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2014)

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (2018)

What is one of the more startling revelations in these documentaries is the drive determination, spirit and passion Miyazaki has for his work. Each of the documentaries showcase the way in which he struggles with his passion to create. He often argues with himself feeling spent and worthless sometimes, and excited and rejuvenated the next. This internal scuffle is probably the reason that he has attempted to retire multiple times only to inevitably come out of retirement to create something astoundingly brilliant.  

               Miyazaki has come out of self-imposed retirement four times; each time there was a catalyst lead to more work.  He was so intrigued by the use of 3-D model rendering that he came out of retirement to create 1997’s Princess Mononoke. In 2006, a reporter proclaimed that Miyazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki, has surpassed him as a director with his film Tales of Earthsea. Shortly after, Hayao Miyazaki came out of retirement again to give us Ponyo. The most recent catalyst for his current film is publicly cited to be his grandson; but in my heart of hearts I would like to think it was this:

                    Additionally, as a fan, it is difficult to witness Miyazaki’s self-deprecation in these scenes in the way that he believes that he has yet to create something truly amazing. While, I and the rest of the world would disagree, many inventive and creative geniuses would say the same thing about their own work; just as the parable states “we are our own worst critics.”

SEEDS OF SOCIAL ANALYSIS

            Miyazaki’s work is ripe and rich for sociological analysis. In the years he has been active, Miyazaki has incorporated themes of feminism, environmentalism, consumption, and the dangers of industrialization. Miyazaki is often seen as a feminist alternative to the horrendously sexist films of the Disney princess culture. Many authors before me have cited Miyazaki’s work as an example of feminist princess content. Additionally, the majority of Miyazaki’s work stresses the importance of the environment, a frequent plot point being the imbalance that industrialized societies create with nature resulting in the manifestation of mankind’s ultimate demise; unless the lesson is learned.

In Comparison, Miyazaki’s work is the complete opposite of the sexist, corporatized, capitalist monolith that is Walt Disney. Where they operate on stereotypes, he has nuance, where they are a billion dollar company, he donates a lot of his money and work to a museum. Thus, as a fan it is insulting to call him the “Japanese Walt Disney”, because they are so diametrically different. In fact, it would be far more accurate to say that he is the “Anti-Walt Disney.” In that their values, concepts and motivations are contradictory. To that end, Miyazaki is a good Sociologist; and Sociologically, everyone should hate Disney.

If you didn’t love Miyazaki enough by now, watch this:

CONCLUSION

 The films of Studio Ghibli are international treasures. They have been translated into multiple languages around the globe and spawned their own museum. People from one continent to another instantly recognize their characters and embrace them as a part of popular culture. This is all due to the imagination of one man: Hayao Miyazaki.[7] It is that imagination that has kept him young[8] evoking the colloquialism “You live as long as you have something to live for.” Sadly, a time will come when we will have no more Miyazaki films to look forward to, but not. Quite. Yet.

              

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[1] Toshiro Suzuki, One of the major Studio Ghibli producers and lifelong friend of Miyazaki has stated that the reason that Studio Ghibli had to close its doors in 2013 is because Miyazaki stopped making films.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki#CITEREFNausicaa.net1994

[3] I would liken him more to Stan Lee

[4] https://kotaku.com/hayao-miyazaki-is-still-a-hard-ass-1788942695

[5] Much in the same way that Christopher Nolan prefers to shoot on film rather than digitally

[6] Yes once they are all hand drawn they are digitally rendered like a lot films, but this does not lose the spirit of what Miyazaki represents or what he is attempting to preserve

[8] Even mythologizing how he siphons off the youthfulness of younger animators

Zen and The Death of The White Male Savior

INTRODUCTION

             Representation in film has always been a social issue. Many academics have pointed to the relationship between accurate film representation and feelings of self-worth that result in increased levels of success and inclusivity. A more egalitarian and balanced representation of marginalized and oppressed groups (whether they be various people of color, women, persons with disabilities, or Queer) is an important goal to strive for, even though it is often framed as a secondary concern. In order to achieve this inclusivity, the saturation of white male representation in film is going to need to be decreased[1]. To do this there needs to be a relinquishing of patriarchal control in the form of the symbolic death of strictly white male protagonists paving the way for more diverse characters and stories.

CULTURAL IMPACT OF THE WHITE MALE PROTAGONIST

            The American film culture, like the American culture in general was born and thrived under the construction of the white male protagonists. For generations, the representational lens in which an entire diverse population was viewed, was through a white male perspective.  The effects of which retained a white male cultural monopolization on film leading to a structure of white male hegemony.  

           

Normalization of whiteness

The first way that this hegemony is maintained is through the continuous hiring of white men in major roles, leading to the assumption and normalization of diverse white male stories. Because white men were (and still are) over represented in film, this visibility constructs the diverse individuality of white men. They are not painted with a broad brush, and thus there is no understanding of “typical white male story”. Conversely, anytime that any person of color, woman, person with a disability or queer individual was a protagonist in a film, they were often regulated to stories that principally dealt with their mechanism of marginalization (race, class, gender disability etc.). For years, the plethora of diverse roles available to white men were not available to anyone who wasn’t. Instead, these actors were given stereotypical roles based upon skin color, gender and ability.  Thus, diversity of stories were stories about white people, which impacted the sense of possibility that marginalized groups had.

White savior and White washing

Additionally, because of the normalization of white male stories, and a lack of diverse characters, generations of diverse film and TV consumers learned to identify with white male protagonists. They grew up and became active in a culture that idolizes white men as symbols of strength and power, thereby judging their own thoughts, actions and bodies by the deified white men of the silver screen.  This results in a multi-layered structure of organized pacification of marginalized groups, through this cinematic white male hegemony.[2] Still to this day many people of color, women, people with disabilities and the queer community have used straight white cisgender men as their role models, heroes and saviors.

Maintaining the importance of the white male protagonist, their miscellany of stories and characters has led the cultural appropriation of stories from diverse groups that were once believed to be economically unfeasible without a white male at the helm. This resulted in the much maligned white savior trope [3](which often fuels white guilt, and alienates white people from people of color) and an absence of authentic representation[4] in which many marginalized characters are often played by non-marginalized actors. Whether that be white people playing people of color, straight people playing people who are gay, cisgender people playing transgender characters, or able-bodied people playing people with disabilities[5] (the latter awarding the most awards)[6] This results in the use of “ blind” casting which favors the white male majority[7] versus conscious casting [8] that has had better results, and should be continued.  However, regardless of this greatly improved practice, many white characters, have been imbued (usually through their white male creators) with ideas, concepts and characteristics that are a clear form of cultural appropriation. There are countless examples of older white men imparting sage like wisdom that is not from a Eurocentric point of view. So regardless of an improvement of casting, this process of cultural appropriation (that has its roots in colonialism) still continues. One such example is the cultural appropriation of Zen.

ZEN IN POPULAR CULTURE

Zen has its origins Hinduism and the indigenous religions of India.  Later, Zen evolved as a sect of Buddhism and emphasized “the middle way neither engaging in extremes of self-indulgence or self-denial[9] Zen eventually made its way to Japan and became a part of the ideology of the Samurai class in which they emphasized Zen through Bushido.[10] While Bushido and Zen are not the same,[11] there is a similarity in the way that both attempt to achieve emptiness or “no mindedness”. Both understand that everything is about perception, and it is the moment that matters.[12] Thus, an important practice in Zen and Bushido is meditation. This meditation can be done is various ways through sitting, walking or through work. This meditative work was used by the Samurai class as a way to achieve mastery over everything they pursued especially martial science and practice of swordsmanship (Kenjitsu).

Cultural Appropriation of Zen

When this belief system gets translated to the screen (usually in a masculine patriarchal way), many individuals who are adept at any type of martial arts, are consistently depicted as also having a deep rooted (usually) eastern philosophy and code of honor (e.g. Zen and Bushido) which, from a storytelling perspective, adds pathos and drama. Therefore, a lot of Zen teachings in popular culture have often come from white men (either characters or creators) imparting their (culturally appropriated[13]) wisdom upon the next generation of usually white men[14]. Yet, as our culture has shifted, and representation in media has become more diverse (thanks to the tireless efforts of feminist and other social justice movements) the role of the white male protagonist is beginning to shift as well.

From White Savior to Feminist ally

To reflect the social changes of the increase in access to power of marginalized groups, the media has started to see more visibly diverse characters in popular culture.[15] This desire to have a film and TV culture that is a more accurate representation of the populace shifts the importance of the mentor death troupe from a reproduction of  white male hegemony to that of a bridge into the new normal which is a (much needed) world of diverse identities and perspectives. To that end, there are three recent examples where Zen teachings and the death of the white male protagonists, causes the elevation and actualization of female characters.

Kevin Flynn: Tron Legacy

1982’s Tron, while a sci-fi classic to a certain segment of the population (Usually white men currently in their 40’s and 50’s) there is nothing in the film that is exclusively talking about religion, philosophy or anything outside of consumeristically trying to capture the zeitgeist of Star Wars. 2010’s sequel Tron Legacy is a masterpiece of Zen teachings to the point where it could almost be considered a Koan (Zen parable) itself.   Throughout the film not only does Kevin Flynn drapes himself in the image of the stereotypical Zen master[16], white robes, sitting in Zazen, wearing Buddhist beads he has many lines of dialogue that impart a Zen perspective, especially that of patience and achieving of nothingness:

“…the only way to win is not to play.”

“You would be surprised how productive doing nothing can be.”

“Life has a way of moving you past wants and needs.”

“Perfection is unknowable and impossible, but it is right in front of us all of the time.”

  Most people would analyze this film and look at it as a Kevin Flynn giving these Zen teachings to his son Sam. But, if you look closer Sam, like his father in the first film, is just a cypher for the audience. The student of Flynn’s Zen teachings is the ISO character Quorra (played by Olivia Wilde) who often recites Kevin Flynn’s teachings with conviction becoming, at the end, worthy of Kevin Flynn’s sacrifice and to carry on his teachings.

 Luke Skywalker: The Grey Jedi

            As mentioned in a previous essay, Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy is a two dimensional character that is more of a plot device than an actual person. However, it was director Rian Johnson that finally gave Luke depth and allowed for the presentation of Zen outside of the dogmatic binary of light (the Jedi) and dark (the sith) in the film The Last Jedi.

            In the film, Luke has closed himself off to the force and sequesters himself on a remote island to die in the ultimate act of selflessness (the aforementioned clip of Quorra taking herself out of the equation) and patience.  When he decides to help Rey he offers her three lessons about Balance, dangers of binary thinking, and Nothingness.

                      Balance

                      Dangers of the Binary

                      Nothingness

In these teachings, Luke is embodying the Dharma of “the middle way” by being a “Grey Jedi”. While this point get a little muddied toward the end of the film (like a lot of philosophy in Star Wars) Luke’s death is a choice he makes without sacrificing the principle of the middle way. Yoda even reminds Luke that one must not only pass on his strengths, but also his failures because “the greatest teacher failure is.” Thus, Luke, through force projection, engages in an act of Non-aggression against Ben Solo, showing Rey that there is a non-violent solution to aggression and is an example of the true Zen notion of selflessness (something he could not do in previous films). Therefore, Luke as a white male protagonist is able to pass on important lessons without reinforcing the masculine aggression that often leads to the dark side, realizing the truth in Yoda’s words that he is what Rey will grow beyond.

 

The 12^th Doctor

Peter Capaldi’s 12^th Doctor from the BBC’s Popular Sci-fi series Doctor Who was a reset of the character and the series. In the show, The Doctor is a space traveling alien known as a Time Lord who has the ability to regenerate into a different body[17]. In the show’s fifty year history all of the actors to play The Doctor have been white men. However, it was through Peter Capaldi’s run as The Doctor that the show experimented with Queerness and gender fluidity (something that was only hinted at in previous iterations of the show). Firstly, The Doctor’s frienimy “The Master” was played for the first time by a woman, calling herself Missy and Bill Potts( a human companion of The Doctor) was presented in the 10^th series as being a queer woman of color.  This experimentation culminates in the regeneration of the twelfth doctor into the thirteenth incarnation; the first female doctor (played by Jodie Whittaker). In his ultimate swan song, Capaldi speaks to his new incarnation (Whittaker, being on set and just off camera) giving her some parting advice “Laugh hard. Run Fast. Be Kind.”    

CONCLUSION  

            We need to heed the recent examples set by Kevin Flynn, Luke Skywalker and The 12^th Doctor. These are historically white male characters with a long history and deep cultural impact.  Because of this, there is weight to their actions as they are both recognizable, and in many cases, deified. Thus, it is through these character’s collective deaths, and subsequently being succeeded by women, that they have moved from a reinforcement of white male supremacy to one of feminist ally-ship. However, we cannot lose sight of the enormity of this shift, and accept the sobering reality that this important transition has not been smooth. There will continue to be growing pains for many ignorant white men as they shift to this new world order. But this is a necessity as we move from supremacy to equity in our culture.  

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[1] Which, from a non-intersectional perspective, looks like discrimination.

[2] This is tactic is centuries old. The most effective has been was through the construction of white Jesus in Christianity/Catholicism.  White Jesus was used as a mechanism of social control during imperialist and colonialist actions. If the son of a deity and thereby the deity themselves were the same race and gender as the invaders, then the invasion, occupation and annihilation of a group of people of color is justified as “God’s will” EX: Doctrine of Manifest Destiney

[3] Where white individuals save people of color from some sort of plight; often implying that people of color need to be saved

[4] What is often referred to in the literature as the various “faces” i.e. blackface, yellow face, gay face trans face and Crip face 

[5] https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/opinions/hollywood-disability-new-normal-opinion-novic/index.html

[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/27/not-much-has-changed-actress-marlee-matlin-on-the-representation-of-the-disabled-in-hollywood/?utm_term=.3ee0b8b814d4

[7] Mainly because “blind” casting does not eliminate the internalized bias toward white actors due to the long history of white actors receiving a majority of the roles.

[8] https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-authenticity-in-casting-20170713-htmlstory.html

[9] Simple Zen: A Guide to Living in the moment (1999)

[10] Integrity (GI)   Respect (REI)  Courage (YU) Compassion (JIN) Honesty/Sincerity (MOKOTO) Duty and Loyalty (CHU)  Honor (MEIYO)

[11] Some may consider this hypocriful considering the way Bushido often justifies violence and classism that Zen abhors

[12] Zen shares a lot with Symbolic interactionism in this way especially in the way that Zen and SI sociologist look at the creation and the development of the self.

[13] Sometimes creators attempt to get around this accusation of cultural appropriation through the mentor of a white male protagonist being either a person of color or a puppet.

[14] This happens so often it is considered a filmmaking trope https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MentorOccupationalHazard

[15] And we still have further to go https://deadline.com/2018/04/diversity-inclusion-representation-television-tv-time-1202375787/

[16] This is also due to the actor Jeff Brides having so much interest in Zen Buddhism that he actually wrote a book on it https://www.amazon.com/Dude-Zen-Master-Jeff-Bridges/dp/0142180521

[17] Even though during this process the character retains thoughts memories and experiences only their body and personality changes; the Doctor Who fandom often treats this like death.

The Dojo’s Top 10 Sociological Films of 2018

Author’s Note: This list is a list of the most sociologically interesting films I have seen this year so far. It is not a list of my favorite films (though the higher the film is on the list the more overlap there will be) but of films that sparked sociological analysis in my head and/or had wide cultural impact.

 This list will have three sections 1) The Top Ten in descending order.

      2) Honorable mentions (Great film’s that just didn’t make the cut)

      3) The films yet to be released in 2018 that I am looking

          forward to.

THE TOP TEN

10) Black Panther

           

            The film that recently caused the debate to have a popular film Oscar at the 2019 ceremony, Black Panther was a film that had a largely black cast and crew (which in 2018 is shamefully still a novelty) which allowed the central plot and the conflict between the protagonist (Chadwick Boseman’s T’Chala) and antagonist (Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger) to be steeped in the issues black people of color face. One of the interesting impacts of this film was due to the long global history of slavery many black people of color do not know where their ancestry is from, thus once this film came out many of those without a country adopted Black Panther’s Wakanda as their ancestral home. 

9) You Were Never Really Here

            Written and directed by Scottish Film Director Lynne Ramsey You Were Never Really Here is a modern day Taxi Driver. Joaquin Phoenix plays a hitman that is assigned to recover a young girl from a human trafficking ring. As he continues the investigation he uncovers the seedy underbelly of bureaucracy and white men of power.  Powerful, tightly written with zero “fat”, this film is a lean social commentary about wealth and power.

8) Revenge

            A French Produced Gore revenge fantasy, Revenge is a gonzo Grindhouse-style film that literally ran out of blood by the end of the shoot.  The film does fall into certain sexist tropes (in the way that the female body is framed and the perpetration of sexual violence upon the protagonist) but once the titular “revenge” begins to take place, the squeals of obliterated toxic masculinity are enough to make up for how the film got there.

7) BlacKkKlansman

            Spike Lee directs the true story of Ron Stallworth a black Colorado Springs detective, who in the 1970’s infiltrated the Klu Klux Klan. The brilliance of this film is in the way that Spike Lee runs a historical thread from the 1970’s to the very issues of racism, oppression and murder people of color face today. From police brutality to subtle racism Spike lee shows us that the problems that we had in the past are still an issue today; going so far as to conclude the film with the protests in Charlottesville in 2017 concluding with the death of counter protester Heather Heyer.   

6) Eighth Grade

             Written and directed by comedian Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade is a window into female adolescence in the new millennium. There are moments in the film that everyone who went through that awkward stage as an early teenager can relate to, but there are also scenes that exclusively tackles the social issues that young girls face in our current culture. For those who think that white men can not accurately, or fully capture stories about girls and women should see this movie. Burnham is able to achieve an emotionally moving level of authenticity.   

5) Hereditary

            Brilliantly shot by Pawel Pogorzalski, Ari Aster’s Psychological and supernatural horror film Hereditary is a masterful treatise on mental illness and the strain of trauma upon a family. Grounded by a stellar performance by Toni Collette, this film is a spiritual companion to Luca Guadagnino’ s remake of Suspiria; however, if you watch them back to back, you may need to watch with all of the lights on and sing cheery Holiday carols after... or chase it with number 4 on the list.

4) Won’t You Be My Neighbor

            Strategically placed as a palate cleanser before we get to the top three, Won’t you be my Neighbor the documentary of Fred Rodgers and the program “Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood.” captures the audience with nostalgia ( because the program spanned 30+ years ) and reveals the subtle radical social resistance of one man from Pittsburgh. The documentary shows us a less divisive and more inclusive look at social and political compromise. The film also emphasizes that Fred Rodgers was a religious conservative that treated all people with humanity, something that the film suggests we have lost sight of. Have a box of tissues at the ready.  

3) Annihilation

            A Sci-Fi Thriller by Alex Garland This film is noteworthy for the majority of its principle cast being female. The film spends time showing us the diversity of femininity in each character and how they deal with a situation that gets progressively worse. Focusing on how we deal with grief and the way that psychological trauma motivates us and shapes our perception. The Bear sequence is a marvel, and terrifying.

2) Suspiria

            Witches, Feminism and Male Panic; Luca Guadagnino’s remake is brilliant. Reinforcing the power of femininity and the power women have as a collective to challenge the patriarchal world, is amazing. Read my full review of Suspiria.

1) Mandy

            Anyone who has read my earlier review for Mandy should not be surprised by its placement on my list. Panos Costmatos’ film is full of Cheddar Goblins, Demon Bikers, and Hippie Cults, “ripped shirts” and “crazy evil” all anchored by the best performance Nicolas Cage has ever given.  Watch it, Buy it, give it to a friend…may not be for everyone.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

·         The Old Man and the Gun

·         Searching

·         Blindspotting

·         The Wife

·         Can You Ever Forgive Me

MOST ANTICIPATED YET TO COME IN 2018

Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse (Dec 14^th)

Vice (Dec 25^th)

On the Basis of Sex (Dec 25^th)

Anna and the Apocalypse (Dec 30^th)- US (wide)

Destroyer (Dec 30^th)