Princess Mononoke has a variety of complex characters. San, for example, has intense emotions that are never hidden away from other people. She does not even try to hide her intense hatred for humans. I think that is because she was raised in the forest among the wolves. When she grew up, she was probably taught not to hide away her emotions because cutting off a part of herself would endanger her life. There is a good and evil going on inside of San. There is good and evil going on inside all of us, but San is more in tune with every aspect of
herself, and she is able to freely act upon what she feels without second-guessing herself. San grew up in the forest, it is and will always be her home and the only place she feels comfortable. She loves the forest and every animal and plant in it. She respects the life and death of every creature, except the humans. The good in her is heavily over-showered by the blinding hatred she feels for the humans. Her hate is not something that could ever fully disappear. Her hatred runs deep in her veins and she is not afraid to show it to
those she does not like. The evil inside her can not be scrubbed away by Ashitaka's
love and kindness. Perhaps, in time, she would be able to trust the humans.
Lady Eboshi is a completely different story. She is a woman of the city, of modern advances, and of tough opposition. Lady Eboshi cannot afford to be seen as weak in front of her enemies. She hides away her emotions and embraces her life with
statue-like grace. One cannot tell whether or not she is feeling vindictive, elated, or concerned. She keeps up a tough front so her enemies would think twice about messing with her. She took the
women out of prostitution and put them to good, honest work, she had the men do hard labor, and she gave the lepers care and jobs. All that good is also over-shadowed by her hatred for
San, the wolf tribe, and any part of nature that gets in the way of her city's improvement. Ashitaka told her a few time that she has a demon inside her. I believe that demon was greed and hatred. He had to keep telling her about her demon because she could not recognize it inside her. She is not in-tune with every aspect of herself, so she would have never been able to see how the evil inside her was taking over the good.
Lovie Jean, you just so happened to find the most lovely picture of San. Anyways, you seemed to give great detail about the movie. The very first sentence says it all- Princess Mononoke has a variety of complex characters. I am pretty sure that every character is pretty complex in this film. I think that is part of what makes this movie so interesting. I like it how you compare and spoke of the two leading females of the film. I feel as though it goes along with what we spoke about in class, about women having a bigger role in this movie. I really enjoy that Princess Mononoke empowers women and actually gives us a voice, rather than degrading us or not giving us much of a part. Was that something you appreciated as well? Over all what did you think about the movie? Was this one of your favorite Hayao Miyuzaki films?
ReplyDeleteI like the two characters you have chosen to talk about in your blog because I have picked the same two. I liked what you said about San and her intensity, you can clearly see she is not afraid of anything and just has absolute hatred towards humans because she was in fact raised by wolves, and since the wolves can talk they probably told her what her parents did to her when she was a baby. It is very true about what you said about a good and evil in all of us, whether we believe it or not there is, just some of us are better at expressing it compared to others. Even though she has this intensity built up inside her she does have a good side to her, like you said she has a love for the forest and everything in it and she cares for it. So she does have some good inside her. I also like what you said about Lady Eboshi, she is a tough women and can’t afford to show a weak side, even though she is tough, she has a soft side she just uses her toughness to cover it up.
ReplyDeleteI agree that San is more in tune with every aspect of herself and that allows her to express her emotions more freely. Even though she cares for Ashitaka, her feelings for him do not negate the hatred she feels for humans. It’s interesting to see how being a human raised in the forest with animals has affected the type of person that she has become. I really like your observation on how Lady Eboshi is not so in-tune with herself like San is because she cannot recognize the darkness that is building inside of her. At times it overshadows the positive aspects about her. Both San and Lady Eboshi are strong women who do stop for the obstacles that are put in their way and they both do what they think is right for those they want to protect. I really liked your blog and all your observations about the two main characters of the film!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you said in your blog. There are many complex characters in Princes Mononoke. San does intensely show her emotions, she may have been raised that way. I think she has a sort of a good reason to have a hatred toward the humans. Morrow did say that San’s human parents threw San at her feet, as if they didn’t want her. She does indeed love the forest, which shows her good side. Maybe in time she will be able to trust humans, but for the time being she will slowly try to trust just Ashitaka, who has shown her kindness that has not been clouded by hatred. Lady Eboshi is definitely a completely different character. I agree with you that the demon inside her is indeed greed and hatred. She also, does not show her emotions. She wants to appear tough and not a force to be reckoned with to all her enemies. Her good and evil sides are not in-sync with each other. So, I think what she said at the end of the movie means that she will try to make her good and evils sides balance each other. This was one of my favorite movies from Hayao Miyuzaki!! What about you?
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