As discussed in prior posts, the major theme seen in Spirited Away is that of innocence. A young girl named Chihiro moves with her family to a new town and encounters the process of change and transition, some might say into an adult. The fantasy world in which she has to grow up so quickly is very colorful and imaginative, which also supports the theme of innocence of a child. Her task is to save her parents and return to the world she knows, which is a great deal of pressure and responsibility for just a child. But even with this great task, she grows and comes into her own as more of an adult. The difference in the fantasy world and her reality world is comparable to the world of innocence and childhood and the world of adulthood.
Spirited Away also portrays the hardships of adulthood, showing the monotonous routines most adults have to endure. Examples of this in the movie would be the bathhouse operation and the train scene.
I agree. Chihiro is a very innocent child, one who actually needs to learn more independence in order to live any sort of productive life. She acted really childish and whined a lot in the beginning until she gained the confidence to actually complete something in the end, which was to save her parents. I could tell she was a bit spoiled. She needed to seperate herself from her original environment with her parents letting her get her way in order to grow. It is similar to a high school senior going off to college. His or her parents are not around anymore to monitor the student and the student must choose then how to act accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the theme of hardships of adulthood through the daily 9-5 routine but it is very relevant. It seems boring at times as everything must be in place at all times for the day to run accordingly in a buisness such as a bath house or any other business these days.