Miyazaki's themes are nice because he doesn't throw it in your face nor does he say "Your evil because your doing this,
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Lord-Bigglesworth — 16 years ago(March 02, 2010 09:34 AM)
Yes and no. I haven't yet seen Ponyo so I can't really comment on that one but it didn't bother me in Spirited Away since that wasn't what the film was really
about
but it did get just a little grating in Nausiscaa and Mononoke, although that could be due more to annoying screaming girls' voices than the film pushing the themes.
You'd feel cocky too if you were full of myself. -
rdufault — 16 years ago(March 22, 2010 12:29 PM)
As long as he's the best filmmaker in the world, Miyazaki is allowed to make whatever films he wants. Look at it from his point of view: Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with concrete taking over everything that's not completely impassable mountain. The best example of this in Miyazaki's films is Pom Poko, where Japanese raccoons fight to preserve their natural habitat - and lose.
But nature is not the only recurring theme in Miyazaki's films he also tackles war - and its effects on nature, like in Nausicaa, where an ancient war decimated the planet (Castle in the Sky could even be a sequel to Nausicaa, hundreds or thousands of years later). He also tackles war's effect on people, like in Princess Mononoke or Howl's Moving Castle - and of course Japan suffered big time after WW2. Grave of the Firefiles is not a Miyazaki film proper, but it's a Studio Ghiblu production, and tackles war's effect on kids. -
DaDevster — 15 years ago(April 19, 2010 04:55 PM)
As opposed to most environmentalism these days, which are products despreately doing anything trying to seem "green" and "good for the planet", Miyazaki's films are truly a work of art. I don't have as much of a problem with it in his films because the effort put into these films is so tremendous I can accept the enrivonmentalist message and enjoy the film. With commercials and poorly made films it's much more noticeable and grating, but with Miyazaki's films I'm so immersed in the movie that the environmentalist overtones seem perfectly natural. In my opinion, at least.
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StephEff — 15 years ago(April 23, 2010 09:50 PM)
Not at all. I don't see how someone can get "tired" of being reminded of what we're doing to the planet Not to mention, I don't find that Miyazaki is only showing environmentalist themes, it's nature in general. He shows the good and the bad of nature - in Ponyo we see how disgusting we've made the ocean, but we also see how cruel the ocean can be; in Princess Mononoke, we see how humans kill the forest spirit, but we also see the forest spirit take life away as well. He never pretends that if we "save the earth", everything will be sunshine and roses, but he does remind us that we won't be able to see the good OR bad of nature if we don't have nature to begin with.
Steph -
adamsmo — 15 years ago(May 10, 2010 08:28 PM)
What doesn't make sense is that not much of the profit that comes from the media that promotes environmentalism actually goes to any environmental causes. I'm ALL for environmentalism and it DOES need to be promoted, but they aren't really helping their cause very much, at all.
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Nynaeve — 15 years ago(June 24, 2010 03:55 PM)
No. It makes perfect sense. There is a lot of pollution in the ocean. When you live by the sea, the trash that gets washed up is part of your daily life. When you live IN the sea, even more so. It would seem odd and out of place if this issue were left OUT. Especially when the title character almost DIES from being stuck in a discarded glass jar.
Also, I'd say the "harmony with nature" theme WAS the primary theme, much more than "accept one another's differences", a theme which was set up but then subverted. (Though in a way, those two themes are the same).
L, do you know gods of death love apples?
Death Note -
Kalavati — 15 years ago(September 23, 2010 10:07 AM)
I can see how alot of people will see Miyazaki's films as a PSA etc, but to be honest, I have always seen them as bearing more closeness to religiousness. The "environmentalist themes" that many do not like are the basis of the Shinto religion. A balance of humans and nature, ying and yang. When that balance is interrupted then you get your "villan" (Mononoke,Ponyo,Nausicaa).
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A_Fistful_of_Pennies — 14 years ago(January 02, 2012 05:27 AM)
Obviously people aren't hearing these environmentally-themed messages enough, because we continue to abuse our planet. These messages should serve as a reminder to everyone that they could be doing more (even those doing a lot) and those who are doing nothing need to change. It's easy to forget about when the consequences aren't immediate, but many environmental problems are already affecting us and we will have much bigger problems in the future if we don't all make some changes.
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Kantos_Kan — 14 years ago(January 06, 2012 12:57 PM)
I don't mind the message but the exaggeration of polution in this movie is ridiculous. I've spent quite a bit of time at many different beaches and have never seen anything slightly close to what they show in this movie. I do knwo that marine debris is a problem that does exist in some places but there is nowhere on earth that I know of where it is 2 feet deep under the surface. It's truly ridiculous and so I agree with the OP.
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Holkospinner — 14 years ago(March 05, 2012 11:13 AM)
This is one of the most ignorant things I have ever read. There are whole "islands" if garbage floating on the oceans. Do some research, you might want to google for ocean garbage patch for example. That the beaches you have been to were not littered like that is irrelevant. What is seen in the movie is more of an understatement.
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Holkospinner — 14 years ago(March 05, 2012 11:06 AM)
No, I am not getting tired of this at all.
This seems to be an American issue because Americans apparently don't like having pointed out to them that they are the biggest polluters per capita of the world. Some Americans are like little children who get cranky when they are called out for their recklessness or are even proud of being reckless.
Or even better, some think that the sole idea of protecting the environment keeps big coperations from exploiting everything to the maximum and everyone who does not agree with that is a beep commie.
Miyazaki is a shintoist and that respect for nature and animals is everpresent in his work. Good thing. -
PopSixSquish — 12 years ago(January 13, 2014 04:04 PM)
^ This.
Tired of environmental themes? How about tired of the NEED to be concerned about what we do to the planet that gives us life in the first place?
I don't blame Fujimoto one bit for trying to get as far away from other humans as possible.
"If you don't have anything nice to saycome sit by me!" -
delopowitz — 13 years ago(July 13, 2012 10:18 PM)
I'm going to skip the debate I noticed while skimming through and just give my opinion If they go out of their way to insert a message, yeah, it's annoying. Ponyo and a lot of other movies mention pollution in a passing way (Fujimoto griped about humans being filthy, which told us something about him we knew he didn't like his own race much anyway). You see debris everywhere you go these days. It is, as they say, what it is. To mention it isn't a message, it's observation. This is what the world looks like. This is the chronicle of the time. That's how I see it. If it bothers you to see this sort of thing in a movie, ask yourself if what they portray is accurate, and excessive they make be getting preachy, or it may be the world as it really is.