Themes that Emerge from the Film 'Spirited Away' that are Relevant to Today’s World

Student Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Reflection Paper: Spirited Away
Some films stick with someone’s mind from childhood to adulthood. Studio Ghibli creates fond memories and magic adventures even for adult audiences, and Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is no exception. The film centers on a ten-year-old girl, Chihiro, who wanders into another world in full control of the spirits, transforming humans into beasts. The paper examines the various themes that emerge from the film that are relevant to today’s world.
The theme of concern about the environment is demonstrated constantly in the Spirited Away film. The movie demonstrates the results of the destructive actions against the environment and their harmful effects on people and society. One of Chihiro’s encounters demonstrates environmental concerns. It occurs when Chihiro is catering to spirits in the bathhouse, where she is required to bathe the “stink spirit” with an awful smell (Reinders 38). In the process, Chihiro notices a “thorn” in the spirits side, where she cooperates with other workers to pull out a lot of garbage like a bicycle, car tires, a fridge, and other items. This demonstrates the items thrown into water bodies like rivers, and no one notices them until the situation worsens. The film demonstrates that humans do not need to wait until more destruction has been done. They can wake up and start cleaning the environment before it is too late.
Additionally, the movie references Japanese cultural folklore as well as early Japanese styles of entertainment. Miyazaki indicates that Japanese design and tales are a major source of creativity. He is guided by the belief that it is wrong to drive all the traditional items into a “small folk world,” and hence the need to incorporate Japanese folklore into everyday conversations (Reider 8). One of the outstanding folk beliefs is kamikakushi, a term that means hidden by deities. In Japanese folklore, when children disappeared and could not be traced, it was assumed that they had met with kamikakushi. The belief was that the sudden disappearances could be attributed to the spirit realm (Reider 9). The film borrows heavily from Noh and Kabuk, traditional theatre arts that formed a source of entertainment for the old Japanese culture. The animation approach in Spirited Away borrows heavily from the often-glamorous costumes of the performers.
Despite its fantastical approach, Spirited Away demonstrates the importance of resilience through the character of Chihiro. The girl has difficult childhood and manages to triumph all the circumstances. Children face challenges like being unloved, abandoned, and judged, making them vulnerable to despair (Miyazaki). Chihiro is not different because he faces the same challenges. However, her resilience enables her to keep moving on and not give up the struggle for a...