Spirited Away

Spirited Away is a basic right of passage story for a young girl making a difficult transition. Chihiro is moving to a new town with her parents and obviously this transition is difficult for someone her age. Chihiro is thrown very quickly into a new fantasy world in which she has to grow up quickly to save her parents and return to the world she knows. All while trying to complete this enormous task, she is learning a little about herself and becoming an adult. Haku tells her to never look back or their efforts will have been in vain--just as she can never look back to the want of childhood and must look forward to growing up. The fantasy world representing her childhood and reality that of her adulthood.

I found the scenes in which Chihiro had to clean the spirits to be most interesting. These spirits seemed to be consumed with dirt, filth, and trash which almost seemed to be normal to the workers of the bathhouse. I have almost no knowledge on Japan or Japanese culture, but I couldn't help but wonder if there were some connection with consumerism? Or pollution? I am more likely to believe consumerism as well because her parents turned into pigs...